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Avdat ( he, עבדת, ar, عبدة, ''Abdah''), also known as Abdah and Ovdat and Obodat, is a site of a ruined Nabataean city in the
Negev The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southe ...
desert in southern
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. It was the most important city on the
Incense Route The Incense Trade Route was an ancient network of major land and sea trading routes linking the Mediterranean world with eastern and southern sources of incense, spices and other luxury goods, stretching from Mediterranean ports across the Levant ...
after
Petra Petra ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرَاء, Al-Batrāʾ; grc, Πέτρα, "Rock", Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: ), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is an historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is adjacent to t ...
, between the 1st century BCE and the 7th century CE. It was founded in the 3rd century BCE, and inhabited by
Nabataeans The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic language, Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabian Pe ...
,
Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
,
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
s, and during the early Islamic period.Yedioth Ahronoth (6 October 2009)
"Avdat National Park vandalized"
Retrieved on April 3, 2012.
Avdat was a seasonal camping ground for Nabataean caravans travelling along the early Petra–Gaza road (Darb es-Sultan) in the 3rd – late 2nd century BCE. The city's original name was changed to Avdat in honor of
Nabataean The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Lev ...
King
Obodas I Obodas I (Nabataean Aramaic: ''ʿŌbōdaṯ''; grc, Ὀβόδας) was king of the Nabataeans from 96 BC to 85 BC. After his death, Obodas was worshiped as a deity. Life Obodas was the successor of Aretas II, from whom he inherited the war with ...
, who, according to tradition, was revered as a deity and was buried there.


History

Before the end of the 1st century BCE a temple platform (the acropolis) was created along the western edge of the plateau. Recent excavations have shown that the town continued to be inhabited by the Nabataeans continuously from this period until its destruction by earthquake in the early 7th century CE. Sometime towards the end of the 1st century BCE the Nabataeans began using a new route between the site of Moyat Awad in the
Arabah The Arabah, Araba or Aravah ( he, הָעֲרָבָה, ''hāʿĂrāḇā''; ar, وادي عربة, ''Wādī ʿAraba''; lit. "desolate and dry area") is a loosely defined geographic area south of the Dead Sea basin, which forms part of the borde ...
valley and Avdat by way of Makhtesh Ramon. Nabataean or Roman Nabataean sites have been found and excavated at Moyat Awad (mistakenly identified as Moa of the 6th century CE Madeba Map), Qatzra, Har Masa, Mezad Nekarot, Sha'ar Ramon (Khan Saharonim), Mezad Ma'ale Mahmal and Grafon. Avdat continued to prosper as a major station along the
Petra Petra ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرَاء, Al-Batrāʾ; grc, Πέτρα, "Rock", Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: ), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is an historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is adjacent to t ...
- Gaza road after the Roman annexation of Nabataea in 106 CE. Avdat, like other towns in the central
Negev The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southe ...
highlands, adjusted to the cessation of international trade through the region in the early to mid 3rd century by adopting agriculture, and particularly the production of wine, as its means of subsistence. Numerous terraced farms and water channels were built throughout the region in order to collect enough run-off from winter rains to support agriculture in the hyper-arid zone of southern Palestine. At least five wine presses dated to the Byzantine period have been found at the site.ael In the late 3rd or early 4th century (probably during the reign of
Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...
) the
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
army constructed an army camp measuring 100 x 100 m. on the northern side of the plateau. Elsewhere at the site, an inscription was found in the ruins of a tower describing the date (293/294 CE) and the fact that one of the builders hailed from Petra. Around this time a bath house was constructed on the plain below the site. The bath house was supplied with water by way of a well, tunneled 70 meters through bedrock. Sites along the Petra-Gaza road were apparently used by the Roman army in the 4th and 5th centuries when the road continued to function as an artery between Petra and the Nabataean Negev settlements. Pottery and coins from the late 3rd to the early 5th century have been found at Mezad Ma'ale Mahmal, Shar Ramon and Har Masa and Roman milestones line part of the road between Avdat and Shar Ramon. A fort with four corner towers was constructed on the ruins of early Nabataean structures north of Avdat at Horvat Ma'agora. Milestones have been found on along the Petra Gaza road north at Avdat between Avdat and Horvat Ma'agora and further up the road towards
Halutza The ancient city of Halasa or Chellous ( gr, Χελλοὺς), Elusa () in the Byzantine period, was a city in the Negev near present-day Kibbutz Mash'abei Sadeh that was once part of the Nabataean Incense Route. It lay on the route from Petra t ...
(Elusa). The early town was heavily damaged by a major (probably local) earthquake, sometime in the early 5th century CE. In the ruins of this destruction a Nabataean inscription, in black ink on plaster, was found bearing a blessing of the Nabataean god,
Dushara Dushara, (Nabataean Arabic: 𐢅𐢈𐢝𐢛𐢀‎ ''dwšrʾ'') also transliterated as Dusares, is a pre-Islamic Arabian god worshipped by the Nabataeans at Petra and Madain Saleh (of which city he was the patron). Safaitic inscriptions imply he ...
. The inscription was written by the plasterer, one Ben-Gadya. This is the latest Nabataean inscription ever found in Palestine. A wall was built around the later town, including a large area of man-made caves, some of which were partially inhabited in the Byzantine period. Under
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
rule, in 5th and 6th century, a citadel and a monastery with two churches were built on the acropolis of Avdat. Saint Theodore's Church is the most interesting
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
relic in Avdat. Marble tombstones inserted in the floor are covered with
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
inscriptions. St. Theodore was a Greek
martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
of the 4th century. The Monastery stands next to the church and nearby a lintel is carved with lions and it marks the entrance to the castle. During an investigation of a 2 hectare residential sector, evidence of intensive activity in the Early Islamic period, ca. CE 650–900, was uncovered.


Historical sites


Temple Precinct


Temple of Oboda

The building complex known as The Temple of Oboda sits on the acropolis of the city. The temple was built as a dedication to the deified Nabataean king
Obodas I Obodas I (Nabataean Aramaic: ''ʿŌbōdaṯ''; grc, Ὀβόδας) was king of the Nabataeans from 96 BC to 85 BC. After his death, Obodas was worshiped as a deity. Life Obodas was the successor of Aretas II, from whom he inherited the war with ...
. The temple stands adjacent to the east of two other buildings: a Christian chapel and a second temple known as the “western temple.” The temple dedicated to the cult of Obodas the King was built with a hard-limestone in the year 9 BCE during the reign of Obodas II. The temple is a tripartite structure: consisting of a porch, hall and adytum; its overall dimensions are . The building was divided into four rooms. The first and second rooms were unequal subdivisions of the adytum (debir), the first room is the eastern room which is the smaller of the two measuring at . The second room was the western room and the larger of the two rooms measuring . The third room was the hall (hekhal), an oblong shape measuring , which is now completely covered by a Talus. The fourth room is the porch (‘ulam) divided into two compartments one facing west measuring approximately and the other facing east measuring approximately were divided by a wall. A worshiper entered through the porch, which faces south, proceeded through the hall to the rooms of the adytum at the northern end. The worshiper then turned about face toward south to worship the images of the deities placed in niches in the wall. The western room contained two niches which may have contained the images of two Nabataean gods Allat and Dushura. The other room contained a larger single niche where it is believed the defied image of Obodas the King was worshiped. The temple was built to be his eternal resting place and the center of worship for his cult.


Southern Basilica

Located on the southern flank of the upper city or the acropolis, it was dedicated to Saint Theodoros.


Northern Basilica

Larger of the two relatively preserved Byzantine churches, the northern Basilica, is located along the outer northern flank of the Temple Precinct.


Fortress

The Byzantine era fortress lies to the north-west of the Temple Precinct, roughly covering an area of 2500 square meters.


Byzantine Quarter

It lies to the south-east of the Avdat Acropolis.


Today

Avdat was declared a
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
by
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
in June 2005, but on 4 October 2009 the site suffered extensive damage when hundreds of artifacts were smashed and paint smeared on walls and an ancient wine press. Two Bedouin men were later indicted for causing NIS 8.7m worth ($2.3 million) of damages to the site. The men sought to avenge the demolition of a nearby relatives' home by Israeli authorities. Avdat was also the filming location of ''
Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...
''.


References


Bibliography

*Ben David, H. (2005) "The Paved Roman Road from Petra to the Arava", ''Cathedra'' 116: 31–48. *Cohen, R. (1980) "The Excavations in ‘Avdat 1977", ''Qadmoniot'' 49–50:44–46 *Cohen, R. (1982) "New Light on the Date of the Petra-Gaza Road", ''Biblical Archaeologist'' 45:240–247. *Cohen, R. and A. Negev (1976) "Avdat", ''Hadashot Arkheologiyot (Archaeological Newsletter)'' 59–60:55–57 *Erickson-Gini, T. (2002) "Nabataean or Roman? Reconsidering the Date of the Camp at Avdat in Light of Recent Excavations", in Freeman, P.W.M., Bennett, J., Fiema, Z.T., and Hoffmann, B. (eds., 2002) ''Limes XVIII – Proceedings of the XVIIIth International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies held in Amman, Jordan (September 2000)'' BAR Int. Ser. Vol. I. Oxford. : 113–130. *Fabian, P. (1996) "Evidence of Earthquake Destruction in the Archaeological Record – The Case of Ancient Avdat", in ''Big Cities World Conference on Natural Disaster Mitigation in Conjunction with the Tenth International Seminar on Earthquake Prognostics, Abstracts, Jan. 5–10, 1996, Cairo, Egypt'': 25. * *Korjenkov, A.M., Fabian, P., and Becker, P. (1996) "Evidence for 4th and 7th Century AD Earthquakes, Avdat Ruins (Israel): Seismic and Historical Implications", ''Annual Meeting of the Israel Geological Society, Eilat, March 18–21, 1996'':.52. *Korjenkov, A.M. and Mazor, E. (1999a) ‘Seismogenic Origin of Ancient Avdat Ruins, Negev Desert, Israel’, ''Natural Hazards'' 18: 193–226. *Negev, A. (1961) "Nabatean Inscriptions from ‘Avdat (Oboda)", ''
Israel Exploration Journal The ''Israel Exploration Journal'' is a biannual academic journal which has been published by the Israel Exploration Society since 1950. It primarily covers research in archaeology, but also history and geography relating to Israel and the surrou ...
'' 11: 127–138. *Negev, A. (1963) "Nabatean Inscriptions from ‘Avdat", ''Israel Exploration Journal '' 13: 113–124. *Negev, A. (1963) "Chapters in the History of ‘Avdat", ''Elath'': 118–148. (Hebrew). *Negev, A. (1966) ''Cities of the Desert''. Tel Aviv. *Negev, A. (1967) "Oboda, Mampsis and Provincia Arabia", ''Israel Exploration Journal '' 17: 46–55. *Negev, A. (1969) "The Chronology of the Middle Nabatean Period", ''
Palestine Exploration Quarterly The Palestine Exploration Fund is a British society based in London. It was founded in 1865, shortly after the completion of the Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem, and is the oldest known organization in the world created specifically for the study ...
'' 101:5–14. *Negev, A. (1974) ''The Nabataean Potter’s Workshop at Oboda''. Bonn. *Negev, A. (1974) "The Churches of the Central Negev: An Archaeological Survey", ''
Revue Biblique ''Revue Biblique'' is an academic journal published by the École Biblique, an institute of a French community of Dominicans based in Jerusalem. The journal was established in 1892 by Pierre Batiffol and Marie-Joseph Lagrange Marie-Joseph Lagr ...
'' 81:400–422. *Negev, A. (1977) "The Excavations at ‘Avdat 1975-1976", ''Qadmoniot'' 37: 27–29. (Hebrew). *Negev, A. (1978) "The Greek Inscriptions from Avdat (Oboda)", ''
Liber Annuus ''Liber Annuus'' is a yearly academic journal of theology and Biblical archaeology published by Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and c ...
'' 28: 87–126. *Negev, A. (1981) ''The Greek Inscriptions from the Negev''.
Studium Biblicum Franciscanum Studium Biblicum Franciscanum (English: Franciscan Biblical Studies) is a Franciscan academic society based in Jerusalem. It is a center of biblical and archaeological research and studies. Organization Founded in 1924, the Studium Biblicum Fr ...
. Collection Minor N. 25, Jerusalem. *Negev, A. (1986) Late Hellenistic and Early Roman Pottery of Nabatean Oboda. Qedem 22. Jerusalem. *Negev, A. (1991) "The Temple of Obodas: Excavations at Oboda in July 1981" "
Israel Exploration Journal The ''Israel Exploration Journal'' is a biannual academic journal which has been published by the Israel Exploration Society since 1950. It primarily covers research in archaeology, but also history and geography relating to Israel and the surrou ...
, Vol. 41, No. 1/3, pp. 62–80 Published by: Israel Exploration Society Article Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/27926214 *Negev, A. (1996) "Oboda: A Major Nabatean Caravan Halt", ''ARAM'' 8:1 & 2: 67–87. *Negev, A. (1997) ''The Architecture of Oboda, Final Report''. Qedem 36. Jerusalem.


External links


Pictures of AvdatAvdat on UNESCO: Desert Cities in the NegevAvdat map info & photos
{{authority control Nabataean sites in Israel Nabataean architecture World Heritage Sites in Israel National parks of Israel Ancient sites in Israel Ramat Negev Regional Council Former populated places in Southwest Asia Caravanserais in Israel Protected areas of Southern District (Israel) Buildings and structures in Southern District (Israel)