Nitzana () is an educational

youth village A youth village () is a boarding school model first developed in Mandatory Palestine in the 1930s to care for groups of children and teenagers fleeing the Nazis. Henrietta Szold and Recha Freier were the pioneers in this sphere, known as youth ...

and institutional settlement in southern

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Located in the western

Negev The Negev ( ; ) or 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 southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort town, resort city ...

desert, adjacent to the

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

ian border, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Ramat HaNegev Regional Council Ramat HaNegev Regional Council () is a regional council in the Negev desert in Israel. With around 8,000 residents spread across 20 villages, the council is geographically the largest in Israel, covering more than 20% of Israel's landmass. The ...

. In it had a population of .

Ancient Nitzana

Ancient

Nessana Nessana, Modern Hebrew name Nizzana, also spelled Nitzana (), is an ancient Nabataean city located in the southwest Negev desert in Israel close to the Egyptian border. It started by being a Camel train, caravan station on the ancient Incense Road ...

was founded by the

Nabataeans The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ) were an ancient Arabs, Arab people who inhabited northern Arabian Peninsula, Arabia and the southern Levant. Their settlements—most prominently the assumed capital city o ...

in the 3rd century BCE. There are traces of a large first century BCE building with a monumental staircase. The settlement was a trading post on the Aila to Gaza route. In the early 2nd century CE Roman emperor

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

diverted this trade from Aila to

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

. Despite this loss, Nessana grew under

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

rule. In the late 3rd century the fort was enlarged with stables for horses and camels. In the 4th century a church was built attached to the north end of the fort. It was dedicated to SS Sergius and Baccus. In the 7th century a second church, dedicated to the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, was built 60m south east of the fort. Al Auja before 1956

The tax register for 587–9 CE indicates that the town had 1,500 inhabitants, with 116 houses. This was a time of prosperity with the route from Gaza to Aila reopened and pilgrim traffic to

Saint Catherine's Monastery Saint Catherine's Monastery ( , ), officially the Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Catherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai, is a Christian monastery located in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. Located at the foot of Mount Sinai ...

. A find of late Byzantine papyri has given much detail of the life of the town. However, following the arrival of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

the town went into a slow decline and by the 8th century it had ceased to exist.

Modern village

The modern village was founded in 1987 by Aryeh Eliav, a former member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

for several left-wing parties, and was named after the Nabatean city. It also gives its name to the Nitzana Border Crossing, formerly Auja al-Hafir. It was the site of Operation Volcano in 1955, an Israeli raid against Egyptian positions. On 18 June 2012 an Israeli was killed in a terrorist attack near the village.Victim of Nitzana Attack Identified
Israel National News, 18 June 2012 Nitzana1

References

{{Authority control Community settlements Youth villages in Israel Populated places established in 1987 1987 establishments in Israel Populated places in Southern District (Israel)

Ancient Nitzana

Modern village

See also

References