Islam.
Rome actually scattered the Jewish people from Israel. Islam came 330 years later.
/bingo
The sudden abandonment (in the article, “abandoned overnight”) was obviously from the Islamic scourge after these farms had been thriving a while.
The redemption of the Negev in the 20th century came about through lots of hard work and careful, regular hand watering by the residents of the kibbutzim. Nasser wanted to annex the Negev to Egypt, but the Pan-Arab attempt to annihilate the Jews didn’t work out for the bastards.
Bingo. The moslem armies wiped out extensive irrigated farms in Egypt and Libya.
They say in the article 1500 years ago. But that’s within the margin of error for when the moslem armies swept through about 650 AD