It is one of the most spectacular geological formations in the desert. It is located approximately 85 kilometers south of the largest city in the Negev-Beersheba. The crater is 40 kilometers long, 9 kilometers wide, and 300 meters deep. It has the shape of an elongated heart.
The crater was created by land erosion. Hundreds of years ago, the Negev Desert was covered by the ocean. As the waters receded north, a hill in the form of a hump was exposed. The hump was gradually flattened by water and climatic conditions. The flowing water had gouged out the interior of the crater (softer rock), the bottom of which was deepening at a much faster rate than the surrounding walls.
As the crater deepened, the oldest rock deposits were exposed, which were up to 200 million years old. At the deepest point of the crater, there is the only natural water source - Ein Saharonim, which supplies most of the wild animals living there.
