The Wilderness of Judea or Judah was located on the eastern slopes of the mountains of Judea. On the eastern side of these mountains, rainfall was scarce making the area suitable for supporting only very small numbers of people. Unlike the deserts we might think of covered with sand dunes, the Wilderness of Judea was a rocky, dry area. The presence of wells and oases along with the occasional rain shower did allow for small groups of nomadic or semi-nomadic peoples to use the area.
In the Hebrew Bible the wilderness of Judea is sometimes referred to as Jeshimon (1 Sam. 23:19, 26:1). David used the wilderness as a place to pasture sheep implying that limited vegetation was available for brief sojourns (1 Sam. 17:28). David also escaped to the wilderness of Judea when Saul was seeking to kill him (1 Sam. 22:1-26:25)
Photographs from the Davka Israel Graphics Collection