This difference affected the way civilization developed, in fact, on the contrary with respect to the Onawas, here the populations were mainly sedentary and specialized in agriculture and breeding.
The area is inhabited since 1000 B.C. (colonized by the Philistines), and the nearness to the Mediterranean sea played an important role in terms of influence and cultural exchange with other cultures; for this reason its vernacular architecture is elaborated and rich of characteristics coming both from the Middle East and from the Greek and Roman cultures. The presence of florid cultures, to which correspond a pyramidal society, has all over the centuries enriched the architectural diversity among the different social status: we can find a simple peasant house (composed by one or two rooms), a complex peasant house (often more than one story in height) or a courtyard house (complex plan).