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Coming west from Petra, a caravan would stop in Avdat,
whence it could proceed to Nessana and Egypt or northwest to Elusa and Gaza.
After amassing much wealth from this enterprise, the Nabateans underwent a
social revolution in the 2nd century BC. Whereas before
they had outlawed agriculture and the building of houses, believing that
such possessions made people vulnerable to the mafia, they had reached a point
where they had become the mafia. Or at least some among them had,
especially a godfather entitled Aretas, who around 168 BC became their first
king. By the end of the 1st century BC, they had gone into sowing and building.
The former camel stations, Avdat, Nessana and Elusa, became major cities.
In the 1st century AD, Shivta (Subeiba) was added
(map above), and perhaps Ruhebe (Rehovoth: the date of its founding is still
uncertain). Mamshit (Mampsis) became a full-scale Nabatean city only after 106
AD, that is, after the Romans had annexed the Nabatean realm,
shifting the trade route to the King's Highway (Trajan's Way). Mamshit sat
then on the important side road from Petra to Hebron and Jerusalem.
A tour of Avdat
There is an excellent 8-minute film at the Visitors' Center in
the lower parking lot. On the way up to the acropolis, we see to the right an
ornate tomb, which French researchers called the "Tomb of Obodas." The name
Avdat derives from a Nabatean king named Obodas, probably Obodas III (30 - 9
BC). Uranios, a geographer of the 1st century AD, wrote that the Nabateans
deified Obodas and that his grave is here. He was the one, most likely, who
transformed the place from a camel station to a city. His work was continued by
Aretas IV (9 AD - 40 AD, the same Aretas whose ethnarch
tried to nab the apostle Paul in Damascus).
On reaching the upper parking lot, we ascend a Roman tower,
completely preserved (note the ends of wooden beams, visible while
ascending the stairs). It was so strongly built that it survived the 4th-century
earthquake that brought down the houses around it. In an inscription over the
door, the builder seeks the grace of Zeus-Obodas. He also gives the date,
equivalent to 294 AD.
The Roman city here endured from 250 - 320 AD. It reflected
an expansion of the Empire's southern defenses toward the edge of the habitable
desert.
From the tower we get a view of the acropolis. The Byzantines
refurbished it, and most of what we see today belonged to them. The platform on
the west, however, where the many pillars stand, was originally Nabatean, built
to accommodate their temple.
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We walk through the Roman ruins to the wine press. With less than
100 mm. of rain, where could the grapes have come from? The answer lies nearby.
We see, south of the press, an experimental farm founded by Michael Evenari.
 The
experimenters used Nabatean techniques, clearing the slopes and guiding
run-off into the valleys, where vineyards and orchards waited. This
run-off alone supplies the orchards we see today. We can imagine the
same on a large scale throughout the area. Elsewhere - in Mamshit, for
example - where they had a wadi nearby, the Nabateans dammed it,
catching the winter floods. The Byzantines later expanded the farms. Not
only did they have a larger settled population, but they had to provide
for large caravans of pilgrims traveling between Jerusalem and St.
Catherine's Monastery in Sinai. |
Having tread our grapes, we walk north toward a gate in the acropolis:
 We
enter a large courtyard, in the middle of which is a cistern that can hold 200
cubic meters. Donkeys would have hauled the water in for storage as a safety
precaution, in case of siege. The concept was that any besiegers would run out
of water long before the people sheltering here.
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 Here
is the view to the north. The range on the horizon is the northern rim
of the Zin riverbed above Ein Avdat.
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 From
the same spot, turning left, we can view, through two gates, the northwest
corner of the acropolis.Where we see today a line of
acacias in a wadi (where deep roots find groundwater left by the floods of
winter), we may picture a Nabatean caravan en route to Elusa and Gaza, or later
a Byzantine pilgrim caravan returning from Sinai to Jerusalem.
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We use the middle gate in the courtyard's western wall and enter
the western section. On the south side we find the Church of Saint Theodorus.
It is a basilica, facing east. The raised floor of
the central apse contains the remains of an altar. At the level of the
congregation, there is a small round platform for the preacher.
There were no seats. People would normally
stand throughout the Byzantine service, which sometimes lasted for seven hours
or more. "And now we are entered on our travail and anguish," wrote Paul of
Aleppo in the 17th century on entering Orthodox Russia (which preserved many of
the Byzantine ways), "For all their churches are empty of seats. There is not
one, even for the bishop; you see the people all through the service standing
like rocks... God help us for the length of their prayers and chants and Masses,
for we suffered great pain, so that our very souls were tortured with fatigue
and anguish." (Ridding, p. 14)
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 Four
men were buried beneath the floor of the church, whose stone pavement includes
their tombstones. These give dates, ranging from 541 AD until 618. The church
must have
been
built, then, by 541. Just after 618, the Persians invaded this part of the
country and put an end to Avdat. The uppermost archaeological stratum in the
church consisted of ash from the wooden roof.One of the
stones, belonging to a 17-year-old named Germanos, is of special interest. At
the bottom of the inscription is a seven-branched candelabra (menora), the
definitive symbol of Judaism in antiquity, but it is flanked by two crosses.
This is an enigma. One might think, "A Jewish Christian!" But already in 180 AD,
the Church Father Irenaeus had established it as a heresy to retain one's
Judaism after converting to Christianity. A heretic would not have been buried
in a church.
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Leaving
the Theodorus church and its riddle, we encounter on the west a reconstructed
portal, which opens onto a platform built by the Nabateans for their temple and
re-used by the Romans for the same purpose. The portal contains two Nabatean
"horn capitals," such as abound in Petra. This is a simple, bare-faced capital
whose four corners spring out like horns, between which a small boss pokes.
The lintel includes the engraving of a typical Roman sign with
ear-like projections on its sides (under which the nails were driven when such
signs were made of wood). Dating from 268 AD, the inscription includes a phrase
(no longer visible), "All the friends of Obodas." (Keel
p. 331.)
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 On
the north side of the platform is a cross-shaped baptistry, lined with marble
slabs. It belonged to yet another church a few steps to the east.
The atrium contains a cistern, in which were found the pieces of
the pillars that have now been reconstructed. The single apse includes a bench
for the priests, and the presiding priest has his own seat in the middle. Here
at least the clergy were permitted to sit.
As in the Church of Theodorus, the uppermost layer that the
excavators found was ash from the wooden roof.
From this North Church we can see, on the slope north of us, the
openings of many caves, about 300, cut into the soft stone. These were
dwellings, or the back rooms of such, in the Byzantine period. Some, no doubt,
served as lodgings for pilgrims on the route between Sinai and Jerusalem. The
residential part of the city extended down the slope, due west of the acropolis,
to a bathhouse near today's highway.
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 At
the southwest end of the acropolis we find a staircase leading down through a
house into another area of caves, a few of which can be visited. The lowest was
the winery of a house. In its back room is a broad shelf with scoops, as in an
egg container, to hold jars in which grape juice would ferment.
The Persians invaded between 618 and 620, putting an end to
Avdat. The bathhouse at the foot of the city (a bit north of today's gas
station), contained a small spring where Beduin stopped through the ages. They
preserved the name. (Keel
p. 319.)
Throughout the Negev, don't leave valuables in the bus or car!
Avdat is a national park.
Telephone: 08-6555684
Nature Reserves and National Parks (Main office: 02/500-5444)
Opening hours:
April 1 through September 30, from 8.00 -
17.00. (Entrance until 16.00)*
October 1 through March 31, from 8.00 - 16.00. (Entrance until 15.00)*
*On Fridays and the eves of Jewish holidays, the sites close one hour earlier.
For example, on a Friday in March one must enter by 14.00 and leave by 15.00.
One needs a hat, good walking shoes, and plenty of water.
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© 2003
Near East Tourist Agency
(NET)
Text © 2003
Stephen Langfur
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