The Museum of Bedouin Culture — Joe Alon Center

The story

The Museum of Bedouin Culture is located at the Joe Alon Center, on the edge of the Lahav forest in the northern Negev, close to the west of Kibbutz Lahav. The center is an educational and tourist institution for the knowledge of the country and for acquaintance with the Negev, and the museum in it is the main part of its fame. It is named after the pilot Joe Alon, was designed by the architect Zvi Lishar and was dedicated in 1985. The beginning of the collection is in exhibits gathered by the archaeologists Avner and Orna Goren in the years in which they lived near Mount Sinai. The museum was founded in order to document the traditional way of life of the Bedouin, on the assumption that Bedouin society is undergoing a rapid transition from traditional nomadism to settlement in permanent localities. In the display are work tools, weaving, jewelry and coffee vessels, and beside it a traditional Bedouin tent in which a sheikh hosts the visitors with bitter coffee and sweet tea. The Council for Conservation of Heritage Sites in Israel counts the center in the list of its sites.

• Bedouin
• Museums
• Intangible heritage