Ancient Agricultural Remains in the Central Negeb: The Teleilât el-'Anab

Recently, President Glueck has attempted an explanation of the teleildt el-'anab and has come to the conclusion that their purpose was " to help control the run-off of the rainwater from the slopes above by helping to deflect all of it to predetermined goals."' This theory came into being almost simultaneously with a similar one of a team of scientists of the Hebrew University (Tadmor, Evenari, Shanan and Hillel; hereafter cited as Tadmor),2 and Glueck has generously acknowledged the priority of its work. This writer, however, feels that a distortion arises from viewing the Nabataeans or Byzantines of the Negeb as "scientific" and efficient agronomists armed with hydrological and