Tel Nitzana

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Tel Nitzana
German-Turkish Hospital (1906–1917), built on the ruins of the Byzantine military camp of Nessana.

Tel Nitzana ( Hebrew תל ניצנה; Tell means settlement hill) is an ancient settlement hill in Israel on the border with the Sinai Peninsula in the immediate vicinity of Nitzana . The ancient settlement of Nizana ( Νιζάνα ) or Nessana was located here . It is one of the regional association Ramat Negev ( Hebrew מועצה אזורית רמת נגב Mo'azza Asorit Ramat Negew ).

Research history

First excavations took place from 1935 to 1937 under the direction of Harris Dunscombe Colt . In the summer of 1986, Dan Orman and Joseph Shereshevsky started digging up the remains of the settlement. During the excavations, the foundations of residential buildings, stairs to the top of the hill and a church and a chapel were uncovered. Today the area is designated as a national park.

In 2006, the Archaeological Museum opened in the nearby desert town of Nitzana ( Hebrew נִצָּנָה, ניצנה) named after Ben-Zion Chalfon in the western Negev desert .

history

The Israeli Palmach , around 1948. Egyptian prisoners. Image from the Palmach inventory

The roots of the earliest settlement history go back to the 3rd century BC. BC as the city of the Nabataeans .

The settlement was a trading post on the way from Eilat to Gaza . In the early 2nd century AD, Emperor Hadrian moved the trade route from Eilat to Damascus . Nevertheless, Nitzana grew under Byzantine rule. In the late 3rd century AD, the fortress was expanded with stables for horses and camels. In the 4th century the church was fortified to the north end of the settlement. In the 7th century St. Mary's Church was added 60 m southeast of the fortress.

Papyrus finds

During excavations from 1935 to 1937, a larger complex of 6th and 7th century scrolls in Greek and Arabic were discovered at this point, which provide information about everyday life and life in post-Nabatean society between 505 and 689 AD , the last phase of Byzantine administration and the earliest phase of Arabic Islam. The writings have best documented this of all previous finds in this area of ​​the Negev. The tax register from 587 to 589 shows the city with 1,500 inhabitants and 116 houses. At that time the route from Gaza to Eilat was restored and pilgrims were visiting St. Catherine's Monastery.

Private documents and testimonies of a predominantly official character were found, including a text fragment by Virgil and a Latin-Greek glossary of the Aeneid , fragments of the Gospel of John ( Papyrus 59 ) and finds from church archives of the early 7th century as well as the personal papers of a Georgios, son of Patrikios and archives of a military unit, the number of the most loyal Theodosians . The name of research shows that the most Nabataean inhabitants of the city were converted to Christianity during the first century and Romanized. It also documents the takeover of rule by a Byzantine patriarch. Many place names in the Negev are only known from these scriptures. One of the more recent scrolls describes the minting of coins under Abd al-Malik , whose caliphate replaced Roman supremacy with military force.

After the arrival of Islam, the population steadily decreased until the settlement was abandoned in the 8th century.

literature

  • Excavations at Nessana (Auja Hafir, Palestine)
    • Vol. 1: Harris Dunscombe Colt (Ed.), Princeton University Press, Princeton 1962.
    • Vol. 2: Lionel Casson , Ernest L. Hettich: Literary papyri. Princeton University Press, Princeton 1950.
    • Vol. 3: Casper J. Kraemer: Non-literary papyri. Princeton University Press, Princeton 1958.
  • Dan Urman (Ed.): Nessana. Excavations and studies. Vol. 1, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Press, Jerusalem 2004.

Web links

Commons : Tel Nitzana  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Irfan Shahid: Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fifth Century. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington 1989, p. 143: III The Nessana Papyri.
  2. ↑ Excavations at Nessana (Auja Hafir, Palestine) Vol. 2: Lionel Casson, Ernest L. Hettich: Literary papyri. Princeton University Press, Princeton 1950; Vol. 3: Casper J. Kraemer: Non-literary papyri. Princeton University Press, Princeton 1958; Brief summaries in Jodi Magness: The Archeology of the Early Islamic Settlement in Palestine. Vol. 1 :. Agriculture in the Nessana papyri. 2003, p. 90 ff .; Irfan Shahid: Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fifth Century. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington 1989, p. 143.
  3. ^ Irfan Shahid: Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fifth Century. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington 1989, p. 143 ( online at Google Books .)
  4. ^ Eva R. Hoffman: Late Antique and Medieval Art of the Mediterranean World. Wiley, 2007, pp.?.

Coordinates: 30 ° 52 ′ 33.6 "  N , 34 ° 25 ′ 57.5"  E