Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies desert-friendly. Around half the students are Israeli, with the other half from around the world. Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies The Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies is a faculty within the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research and part of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. It is located in Midreshet Ben-Gurion in the centre of the Negev desert in Israel and was established in 1999. The school offers Master's degrees (both MA and MSc) in Desert Studies, with subjects including physics, ecology, water management, biochemistry, architecture and social science, all with a desert slant. Over
Negev Bedouin to Baghdad during the subsequent Abbasid reign. Most of the Negev Bedouin tribes migrated to the Negev from the Arabian Desert, Transjordan, Egypt, and the Sinai from the 18th century onwards. Traditional Bedouin lifestyle began to change after the French invasion of Egypt in 1798. The rise of the puritanical Wahhabi sect forced them to reduce their raiding of caravans. Instead, the Bedouin acquired a monopoly on guiding pilgrim caravans to Mecca, as well as selling them provisions. The opening of the Suez canal reduced the dependence on desert caravans and attracted the Bedouin to newly formed settlements that sprung