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Do not climb on the buildings.
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Do not harm flora, fauna or inanimate objects.
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Keep the area clean. Place garbage in the proper
receptacles.
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Obey the signs.
“After the frankincense is collected, it is conveyed by camel to Sabota,
and one of the gates of the city is opened to receive the merchandise. The
kings enacted a permanent law that it is a serious crime for a camel bearing
frankincense to divert from the main road. In Sabota, the priests levy a tithe
on the frankincense for the god known as Sabis and it is not permitted to
bring the medicaments to the market before payment of the tithe. In fact,
to this was done to cover public expenses, because on certain days of the year,
the god hosts grand feasts. From here, the merchandise may be conveyed
through the land of the Gebbanites only, and therefore tax must be paid to
the king of this people as well. Their capital is Thomna, which is 1487 miles
[2380 km] from Gaza in Judea, located on the coast of the Mediterranean.
The journey is divided into 65 stages [36.6 km], at each of which is a rest
station for the camels. Regular portions of frankincense must be paid to the
priests of the lands, their kings, and their scribes. In addition, portions are
also taken by guards at gates and their servants. In addition to these, they
must pay all the way, in one place for water, elsewhere for a place at the
way station, and also for food. Thus, expenses come to 688 denarii even
before reaching the Mediterranean. Then our imperial tax officials must be
paid again. Because of this, the price of good frankincense can be six denerii
per liter, average frankincense can be five denarii, and the third type can be
three denarii” (Pliny, Historia Naturalis, 12:32: 63-65).
The Roman historian Pliny the Elder described the route in the first century
CE thus:
National Park
SHIVTA
Welcome to Shivta National Park
World Heritage Site
Do not damage the antiquities.
There is no spring at Shivta and not even a single well. It is surrounded
by a desert of rock and sand. But those who passed through Shivta’s
gates in the Byzantine period 1,500 years ago and more would
have felt as if they had come to a great oasis. In every surrounding
valley the inhabitants raised grapes, fruit trees, wheat, barley
and herds of sheep and goats. They built a beautiful community
of wide streets, churches, and spacious stone dwellings. A truly
amazing accomplishment, considering the residents of Shivta lived
in the desert, dependent solely on the collection of rain water. Their
resourcefulness is astonishing even in our day. It is not surprising that
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) included Shivta in its exclusive list of World Heritage Sites,
inscribed on July 15, 2005.
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The History of Shivta
All oceeds
pr
will be used
protect
nature
and heritage
Walk only on marked trails.
“The Incense Route – Desert Cities in the Negev” was inscribed as
a UNESCO World Heritage Site in its Durban, South Africa committee
meeting on July 15, 2005. The listing includes the Incense Route from Moa
in the Arava to Avdat in the Negev Highlands (about 65 kilometers) and the
ancient cities of Avdat, Haluza, Shivta, and Mamshit. Most of the inscribed
road is included within the Tzinim Cliff Nature Reserve and the desert cities
are national parks.
The Incense Route begins in Oman and Yemen, and spans a total of 2,400
kilometers. It passes through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the Negev, and ends at
the port of Gaza. The road and its branches bustled from the third century
BCE to the fourth century CE.
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee inscribed the Incense Route
based on the following criteria:
the two types of local stone available. The lower part of the walls, to a
height of approximately two meters, are built of hard, roughly dressed
limestone, while the upper portions are made of soft, well-dressed
limestone. The walls are thick (approximately 70 cm), and provided
excellent insulation. In the corner of the courtyard the opening of
a cistern was found, which is typical in Shivta. Geometric decorative
patterns on the lintels and doorjambs were also common.
Shivta is also mentioned in two papyri found in Nizana. One mentions
30 donors from the Negev who raised money to build the monastery
of St. Sergius in Nizana. Nine of the donors were from Shivta, which
attests to its strong economic status. The second papyrus, a copy of
which was sent to Shivta, was written at the end of the seventh century
CE, after the Muslim conquest. Its purpose was to organize a delegation
of landowners in the Negev to protest the heavy taxes imposed by the
new government. Shivta continued to exist after the Muslim conquest,
but its residents gradually deserted their homes until finally, in the ninth
century CE, it was completely abandoned.
The meaning of the name Shivta is unclear. The name Sobeita (in Greek,
Sobota) derived from a common Nabatean first name, Shubitu.
“The Incense Route – Desert Cities in the Negev”
World Heritage Site
The date of Shivta’s founding is unclear. Archaeological hints of
the dating are few – one inscription and mainly Nabatean pottery,
evidence that the Nabateans first settled here during the early
Roman period (the first century BCE to the first century CE). Most
of the buildings at the site were constructed later, in the fourth to
fifth centuries CE, when Shivta began to flourish. During that time,
when Christianity came to the Negev, the entire region prospered,
especially after the borders of the Byzantine kingdom stabilized and
the country was secure. The Negev was probably more humid and
rainy at that time than it is today.
Shivta’s first settlers, the Nabateans, were an Arab tribe. At first, most
of the Nabateans were nomads, raising camels, sheep and goats. They
accumulated a great deal of wealth when they developed the Incense
Route in the Negev leading to the ports of Gaza and Rhinocorura (elArish). But in the first century BCE the Romans learned to sail from
India to Egypt and from there to the Nile, which created competition
to the Incense Route that was under Nabatean control. Commerce on
the Incense Route continued until the fourth century CE. When use of
the road ended and Christianity came to the Negev (at the beginning
of the Byzantine period – the fourth century CE), many Nabateans
converted, and thereafter derived their main livelihood from farming.
It was then that the great wave of agriculture engulfed the Negev, with
the establishment of farms and magnificent settlements.
Shivta, too, flourished at that time, with a population of more than
2,000. Its economy was based mainly on agriculture and services for
pilgrims who came to worship at saints’ relics in its churches.
Shivta is called Sobeita in a book from the fifth century CE, the
Narraitones. The book, by a monk named Nilus, tells the story of his
son Theodolus, who was abducted in southern Sinai and after many
adventures came to Sobeita, where he was offered for sale. One of
the villagers bought him and sold him to the bishop of Haluza, who
returned him to his father.
www.parks.org.il
Writer: Ya’acov Shkolnik; Consultant: Prof. Yizhar Hirschfeld;
Editing: Dr. Tsvika Tsuk; Production: Adi Greenbau;
Site map: courtesy of Prof. Yizhar Hirschfeld, the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem; Photographs: INPA Archive;
Translator: Miriam Feinberg Vamosh
INFORMATION SERVICE
*3639
The pools
The silent remains of the cities, the forts, the road and the milestones, the
caravansaries and the sophisticated agricultural systems along the Incense
Route in the Negev are an outstanding universal value example of the
hospitable desert environment that flourished here for 700 years.
The road is a globally valuable and extraordinary example of traditional
land use (Criterion 5).
The Nabatean cities and commercial routes constitute persuasive evidence
of the economic, social, and cultural significance of incense – frankincense
and myrrh – and of spices and various merchandise transported from the
Far East and the Arabian Peninsula to the Hellenistic and Roman world. In
addition to the road’s commercial nature, it also impacted ancient cultures,
bringing together people and worldviews.
The Incense Route is unique testimony to a culture that has disappeared
(Criterion 3).
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Please follow these rules:
Rules of Safety and Behavior
in the National Park
Touring Route at Shivta National Park
1. The Colt Expedition building – A stone structure located
south of the parking lot. It was built by the archaeological expedition
of New York University and the British School of Archaeology in
Jerusalem, under the direction of Dunscomb Colt (a scion of the
famous weapons-manufacturing family). The expedition dug at Shivta
from 1934 to 1936. The Modern Greek inscription over the door says:
“Good fortune. From his own funds Colt built [this house.]” The building
served as the expedition headquarters. Most of the expedition’s finds
and all its logs were burned in a fire here during the Arab Revolt that
broke out in 1936. Today the building serves as an inn and provides
desert hospitality.
2. “The Western Gate” – Unlike the other desert settlements,
Shivta was not surrounded by a wall and no fortifications of any
kind were unearthed. Nevertheless, the settled area of Shivta, which
covered about 22 acres, was clearly separated from the surrounding
desert by its outer houses, built in a continuous, wall-like line. The
entrance to the street ahead of you, like the rest of the streets leading to
the edge of the settlement, served as a kind of gate. The curving streets
of Shivta give it the appearance of an unplanned settlement, but some
sort of organization can still be perceived. The main street crosses the
entire settlement from the Northern Church to the Southern Church
and beyond, to the southern edge of the settlement.
3. “The Stable House” – This is a large dwelling built around an
interior courtyard. A staircase reveals the existence of upper residential
stories. The house got its name from one of the rooms, in which feeding
and watering troughs were integrated into the walls. They show that
this part of the house was used as a stable.
An expedition headed by Prof. Y. Hirschfeld, which surveyed Shivta in
2000, identified 170 dwellings here. The houses were spacious; the
area of each one, including the courtyard, reached an average of 360
square meters.
4. “The Pool House” – This building received its name because
it borders on Shivta’s public pools. The house is an example of highquality construction at Shivta. The builders used to good advantage
5. The Pools Square – Two large pools take up most of the
square. One was excavated and the other is still full of earth. The
water for the pools, whose capacity was 2,035 cubic meters, reached
them via channels, which
can still be seen. The main
aqueduct to Shivta entered the
settlement from the northeast
and channeled the water to
two destinations: the Northern
Church and the Pools Square.
The cisterns in the courtyards of
the dwellings were private, but
the pools were public property.
Their maintenance was carried
out by turn, as indicated
by an inscription on a clay
sherd discovered by the Colt
expedition, which read: “[the
community or the council] to
Flavius Garmus, son of Zakarkios
[peace]. You completed one task Clay ostraca with an inscription
for the pools.” From the date mentioning the cleaning of the pools
of the inscription, it appears (courtesy of the Israel Exploration
Society)
that Flavius cleaned the pools
in October of the year 600. This is, in fact, the most suitable month
for this task, since before the rainy season the water level in the pools
would have dropped and its bottom would be dry.
6. The Southern Church – The square leads to the Southern
Church which was apparently built atop a cultic structure from the
Nabatean period. The Southern Church does not have an atrium
(the forecourt of a church) since the two pools in the square already
existed and diminished the available area. The square in front of the
church served as a kind of forecourt.
The nave was in basilica style – a long hall bisected by two rows of
columns that separated it from side aisles. The nave was paved with
marble slabs, and the side aisles with limestone slabs. The church
originally had one apse (the semicircular niche on the eastern end
where the rites were performed). Two square rooms were built
alongside the apse, as was usual in the fourth century in the other
Negev cities. Later, apparently at the beginning of the sixth century,
apses replaced these rooms. They had small niches in which special
boxes were placed containing relics of saints. These side apses were
decorated with paintings of saints. The archaeologists Woolley and
The Southern Church
Lawrence (“of ARABIA”), who visited Shivta in 1914, identified them
as a depiction of the transfiguration of Jesus, with Peter and John
kneeling at Jesus’ feet. Other paintings depict Moses and Elijah. Some
red paint is all that remains of these images now.
A baptistery was built north of the church, used for the baptism of
infants as well as adults, some of whom were from the nomadic
population.
7. The Mosque – North of the baptistery and adjacent to it, the
remains of a hall can be seen featuring two rows of columns, three
columns on each side. A prayer niche (mihrab) facing south, toward
Mecca, is very close to the baptistery. The builders of the mosque
were careful not to damage the baptistery; it can be assumed that
the church and the mosque functioned simultaneously. The mosque
clearly served Muslims who settled in Shivta, or inhabitants who
chose to convert to Islam. The mosque is evidence of continuity
of settlement in Shivta in the early Muslim period, until the ninth
century CE.
8. “The Governor’s
overnor’s House”
ouse”
– The “Governor’s House”
is the nickname for a private dwelling with a tall tower preserved to
a height of eight meters. The ceiling of the tower is almost twice as
high as that of a normal dwelling; assuming it had three stories, at
its full height the tower stood about 21 meters tall. The decorations
on the lintel (which was found in another location in Shivta) of the
restored entrance are in excellent condition, as are the stone slabs of
the ground-floor ceiling.
9. Lookout – The lookout affords a beautiful view of Shivta and its
ruins, including the Central Church and the Northern Church, as well
as Mount Safun and Mount Raviv to the southwest.
10. The Northern Square
– Based on the appearance of
the structures in and around the large square, this was the center of
Shivta’s social and economic life. On the southern part of the square
an isolated building was found, containing two rooms, the northern
of which had a stone bench. Professor Y. Hirschfeld proposed that the
building was a king of “Kiosk” that served for social encounters where
people could enjoy a drink together. Other possibilities include use as
the headquarters of officials or as a millhouse.
The Orchard
“The governor’s house”
The Northern Church
In the eastern part of the square a wine press was found, to the north
of which was a structure with a large courtyard and stone benches
around its walls. More stone benches were found in another room
in this building. This structure may have served as the council house
(bouleuterion) of Shivta, where gatherings were held to discuss
matters of the day.
The nave and some of the walls were covered in marble. The
excavations revealed a bronze chandelier, a hint of the magnificence
of the church. In both sideapses, niches were found in which boxes
were kept containing sacred objects. A side entrance in the southern
wall leads to two chapels. In one, a large, cruciform baptismal font was
discovered, hewn entirely out of one piece of rock. Marble tombstones
indicate the burial places of clergy here.
11. The Northern Church
– This church, located at the
northern edge of Shivta, is the largest church found at the site. Its
walls are preserved to a height of about 10 meters and are supported
on the outside by slanting stone walls. The letters alpha and omega,
the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, are inscribed on
the entrance gate, alluding to the words of Jesus “I am the first and
the last.”
The church is built in basilica style, like the Southern Church.
The entrance to the nave is through a square atrium, surrounded
by columns and two-storey rooms, which apparently served as
a monastery. In the center of the atrium is the stump of a column,
which was apparently a stand for a decorative vase (kantaros).
12. The Central Church
– The Central Church is relatively
small, and was apparently integrated into an existing residential
quarter. Its three doorways face directly onto the street. To the east
and south, adjacent to the church, are dwellings connected to each
other by doorways. In Shivta, as a rule, churches were built alongside
dwellings.
13. “The Arch House”
– “The Arch House” is the most
impressive example in Shivta of roofing with stone slabs. You can enter
the house through the doorway and courtyard to a room with stone
arches on which whole ceiling slabs are placed.
14. The western wine press
– The western wine press
features a large treading floor paved with stone slabs. This is where
the grapes were pressed. The juice flowed through a narrow opening
and clay pipes toward jugs placed in large settling tanks next to the
treading floor. Cells were found around the press, in which the farmers
would place their fruit and wait their turn at the press. The cells were
slanted outward, so juice from the grapes would not flow to the
treading floor or to neighboring cells, but remained in the possession
of their owner.
The Northern Church – reconstruction (courtesy of the Israel Exploration
Society)
The orchard is located about 800 meters north of Shivta. You
can reach it on foot, via a trail edged with stones. The trail
leaves Shivta near the western wing of the Northern Church.
You can also reach the area of the orchard by car, via an
unpaved road branching off from the access road to Shivta,
about 900 meters from the parking lot. This is the place to get a
living impression of arid-land agriculture, which was based on
the collection of rain water.
The orchard is a reconstruction of an ancient farm. It was
planted by a team headed by Professor M. Even-Ari in the
1950s, utilizing the sophisticated system of ancient agricultural
terraces. Remains of farm buildings were found near the
terraces. The team required about 2,000 work-days to build
the terraces, which is equivalent of a year or two of work by a
family with three or four sons.
The first plantings took place here in the rainy season of 19581959. The species planted included carob, fig, almond, plum,
olive, pomegranate, terebinth, peach, apricot and grape. They
were not irrigated; they got all the water they needed from
surface runoff slanted toward the orchard, just as it was done
in ancient Shivta. The more successful species were the figs,
grapes, pomegranates and olives, but carob flourished best of
all.
Dovecotes (columbaria
(columbaria)
On the edges of the agricultural areas of Shivta in the past,
four or five dovecotes (columbaria), in the form of round
or square towers rose to a height of eight to ten meters.
Thousands of doves could be raised in each tower. They
produced large quantities of droppings, rich in phosphorus,
which were used for fertilizer in the vineyards, orchards and
vegetable gardens. The doves were also used for food.
Today, the remains of two columbaria can be seen. The
western one is located on a hill about 300 meters northwest
of Shivta (about 100 meters west of the access road to the
site). The southern one is located on a hill south of Nahal
Zeitan, about 400 meters south of Shivta. Only half of this
columbarium has been excavated.
The western press is located not far from the parking lot, and is
the starting-point and the end of the tour of Shivta.
Dovecote (columbarium)