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Har Karkom, “Mount Saffron” in English, bulges from the Negev Desert, near today’s border between Israel and Egypt. On this imposing mountain, 2,795 feet above sea level, the author discovered the greatest concentration in the Negev of rock art—signs, symbols and figures of humans—etched into the stone over the centuries. Much of this rock art had religious themes. When this rock art is added to other archaeological finds of Har Karkom—standing stones, altars, temples, and encampments—a picture forms of a religious center unique in all the Negev and Sinai.

Sixty miles from the nearest settlement, Har Karkom can be reached only by camel or by desert vehicle.