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Ramon Crater is the worlds biggest karst crater, located at the pick of Mount Negev, in the heart of Israel's Negev Desert, some 85 km south of the city of Beer-Sheva. The Ramon Crater is 40 kilometers long and 2 to 10 kilometers wide, shaped like an elongated heart. It is a part of the Ramon Nature reserve that includes also the surrounding Negev mountains. The only settlement in the area is a small town of Mitzpe Ramon (In Hebrew: מצפה רמון - Ramon Observation Point) standing over the northern wall of the crater. The name Ramon comes from the arabic word "Ruman" meaning "Romans", and probably linked to an ancient trading route once used by the Roman Empire.
The crater formation began hundreds of millions years ago when the ocean that covered the Negev Desert began to retreat north. First, there was a hump-shaped hill; Water and other climatic forces slowly and steadily flattened the curve on top. Much later (only some 5 million years ago), the Arava Rift Valley was formed and rivers changed their course. As they did so, they carved out the inside of the crater.
In the desert the erosional power of water by far exceeds that of the occasional rain hitting the sharp edges of the craters. The crater bottom deepens fast while the walls retain their vertical angle, gradually increasing in height. As the crater deepened, lower and more ancient rock strata were exposed; At the bottom of Ramon Crater some rocks are as old as 200 million years.
The crater is 500 m. deep, and encompasses the vast diversity of mountains and rocks having fantastic colors and forms. High and impressive mountains rise at the borders of the crater - Har Ramon (Mt. Ramon) in the southern end, Har Ardon (Mt. Ardon) in the northeastern end, and two beautiful table mountains - Har Marpek (Mt. Marpek), and Har Katom (Mt. Katom) are along the southern wall.
Some clay hills have impressive yellow and red colors. Several hillsides in the northeastern corner of the crater were once entirely covered by ammonite fossils (ammonites were spiral-shaped sea creatures who lived under water 50 to 90 million years ago, ranging from the size of snails to that of tractor wheels). However, too many tourists passed these places that wished to pick a fossuil and a souvenir, and today there remained only a few small ones.
Ein Saharonim (Saharonim Spring), to the north of ha-Minsara, is the lowest spot in the crater and contains its only natural water source. On a hill on the other side of Ein Saharonim stand the ruins of a large prehistoric stone structure, Khan (hospice) Saharonim. The crater lay along the ancient Spice Trail, a trade route used by the Nabateans 2,000 years ago. Traders and their camels spent the night at the inn before continuing on to Gaza port.
The water springs are visited by Asiatic wild Asses (also called Onagers) and by Ibex (mountain goats). Ibex often climb from the crater to the nearby town of Mitzpe Ramon and walk along the bordering streets paying no attention to people.
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