Iris Barazani, Tour Guide and Actress in Residence at Shivta

I met Iris for the first time about a year ago. We were taking a class for tourism operators together and one of our first exercises was to introduce ourselves and describe our work in less than two minutes. Given the mumbo-jumbo most of us were able to come up with, it turns out this is not such a simple task. But

Iris’ presentation was lucid; this woman certainly knew who she was, what she was doing and how to keep a crowd interested! To me, it was love at first sight.

For a few months, I had seen advertisements for her  brand new theatrical tour of the Nabatean city of Shivta and since I have always had a special soft spot for the place and have wanted to know more about it, I decided to go for it. 

The tour lasts about 2 hours during which she assumes the character of three different Nabatean personages, she stays in character from start to finish, her delivery is in flawless English with a trace of what could be a Nabatean accent, her stories are compelling and incredibly informative.

A few weeks later, we were still meeting during classes and I saw her arriving a bit late, looking tired but with sparkling eyes.

‘Where do you come from’, I asked?

‘I took a group for my favorite tour. In Beer Sheva‘. 

‘Beer Sheva?’ I repeated in disbelief, wondering what could make a tour of the place where I do my grocery shopping so interesting.

‘But Beer Sheva has it all; Abraham, the Ottomans, WW1, a modern city expanding at the speed of light, and it has Beit Eshel‘.

‘What is Beit Eshel?’ I asked, for I had never heard of the place. She has done her own research on Beit Eshel and is without a doubt th expert so I was asking the right person. It is one of the three Jewish settlements surreptitiously established in the Negev in the early 40’s when the British had forbidden the Jews to settle the area.  The settlement was under a hard siege during the War of Independence, and it was abandoned a few years later in difficult and sad circumstances. Its short and dramatic role in the creation of the Negev is hidden and largely forgotten but if you can gather a small group, Iris will take you there and tell you its story.

‘Is it as important as Revivim?’ I asked.  Revivim is another one of the three settlements; I find its history is fascinating and the reconstructed site is one my favorite destinations in the Negev.

‘More interesting, more mysterious and sadder’ she answered mysteriously.

This I must see for myself!

Iris lives in the small community of Kadesh Barnea in the Nitzana Salient. She arrived with her family in 2011 from Jerusalem where she had started her career as a tour guide. Although she still takes groups all over Israel and maintains a special connection to Jerusalem, she now focuses more on the Negev Highlands seen from a pioneering point of view (from the 40’s to this day), or from it’s original inhabitants the Bedouin, with whom you will be able to connect through her as they mostly don’t speak English.

And of course, she offers tours of the Nitzana Salient, getting people to know what she calls the secret desert as it has to be the least-known area in Israel, even to Israelis. Country of dunes and lunar sceneries, an agricultural area planted deep into the desert, as well as the culinary and crafts scene that has developed there. Being the coordinator for tourism in the area, she knows it like the back of her hand. 

You can contact Iris Barazani by email: irisbarazanitours@gmail.com or by phone +972503016969

The cost of a theatrical tour of Shivta is 600 sh