Hurvat Haluqim

Haluqim is located in the central Negev, approximately 2 kilometers from Sede-Boker, along the road to Yeruham. The site is spread along three tributaries of the Nahal Haro’a, but only the eastern side of the settlement is preserved and included in this presentation. The sites consists of a building consisting of a circular ring of rooms – a so-called “fortress” – two houses and two watch towers – a well preserved Roman tower built over part of the foundations of an Iron Age tower. All the buildings, except for the Roman tower that is dated to the second-third centuries CE, date to the early Iron Age, probably the tenth century BCE.

The site was first surveyed by E. Anati in 1953, and then by Y. Aharoni in 1958. Rudolph Cohen surveyed the site in 1965 and then excavated the site in 1971-1972 for the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums.