The Israeli nuclear facility in Dimona is located in the Negev Desert.
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Dimona is named after the biblical city of the same name (see Joshua 15:22). Its name originates from the word “Domen”, meaning “Dung” or “Manure”.
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Indeed, nuclear energy is, quite literally, a pile of waste.
The biblical city of Dimona, the “Hill of Manure,” was likely a storage site for dung, which was considered a valuable resource for centuries, primarily as fuel.
The word “Domen” (“Manure”) appears six times in the Bible, always in passages referring to piles of corpses:
- “And the carcass of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.” (2 Kings 9:37)
- “And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.” (Jeremiah 8:2)
- “Speak, Thus saith the Lord, Even the carcasses of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them.” (Jeremiah 9:22)
- “They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcasses shall be meat for the fowls of heaven and for the beasts of the earth.” (Jeremiah 16:4)
- “And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.” (Jeremiah 25:33)
- “Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth.” (Psalms 83:10)
The word “Domen” can also be read as “Daman” (“Their blood”).
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In the Bible, “Dimon” is the name of a river:
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“For the waters of Dimon are full of blood: for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land.” (Isaiah 15:9)
Within the very root of the name “Dimona” lies the key to moving away from nuclear power: biomethane. This natural fertilizer, produced through the fermentation of organic waste, is a renewable energy source that is both cheaper and far safer than nuclear energy.