Situated on and around an acropolis on a ridge over the Negev desert, Avdat, now ruined, was the most important Nabataean city on the Incense Route, after Petra, from the 1st century BCE to the 7th century CE. The city's name honoured Nabataean King Obodas I who, according to tradition, was revered as a deity and was buried there. It was founded in the 3rd century BCE, and inhabited by Nabataeans, Romans, and Byzantines. It 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. A national park, Avdat was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in June 2005.
Avdat from the south
The Nabataeans (an Aramaic word meaning "cistern diggers") were an ancient people of Arab origin who plied the incense route from Yemen and Saudi Arabia to the port of Gaza fro the 4th century BCE, transporting and trading incense, spices, medicinal herbs, textiles and dyestuffs, silver and gold. One of their main centres was Petra, in what is today Jordan. Though nomadic originally, around the 1st century BCE they began to settle in permanent settlements in the Negev, making a living from commerce and trade. These permanent towns often grew up at the sites of former way stations, which were set at regular intervals - a day's camel train apart - along the spice route: Avdat was station number 62. But, because of changing economic factors, by the 3rd century CE they had turned exclusively to farming, their experience at desert living serving them well in developing a desert agriculture with minimal water.
At its height, the Nabataean kingdom included northern Arabia, Edom, Moab, the Negev and the Sinai; in 106 CE the kingdom became the Roman province of Arabia.
View north east from the south eastern lookout tower of the Citadel, Avdat, showing the Roman army camp, and the Nabatean settlement in the foreground. The camp's size is 100m square. It contains 8 long, multi-chambered structures. About 2,000 soldiers would have been stationed here, which is a large force - the size of one legion. The scholars debate if this was a Nabatean camp or a Roman camp. Near the camp are ruins of a large house, which may have served as the camp's brothel. The camp was in use until the middle of the 1st century CE, and abandoned following the decline of the Incense route, probably since the Nabateans could not afford any longer to finance the large number of soldiers.
Settlement in the Negev reached its peak during the Byzantine period, when Christianity became the official religion and was accepted by the Nabataeans. Nabataean script was soon replaced by Greek, fortresses and magnificent churches were built, and roads developed and farmlands expanded.
Avdat citadel walls from the Roman tower
By the 4th century CE, Avdat boasted storerooms for products of agriculture and viticulture, as well as workshops to process them, and a number of large water cisterns. After a huge earthquake struck the area in the early 7th century, destroying Avdat, it was abandoned. It was uncovered by Professor Michael Avi-Yonah in 1958 and by Professor Avraham Negev between 1959 and 1961.
Hover over the images in the slideshow below to see the captions.
