Mampsis Mamshit (Kurnub)
|
|
The remarkable ruins of ancient Mampsis (Hebrew Mamshit, Arabic Kurnub), the most northerly Nabataean town in the Negev, are prominently situated on a hill 42km/26mi southeast of Beersheba and 6km/4mi southeast of Dimona. Excavations by Abraham Negev between 1965 and 1973 brought to light a Nabataean settlement which had undergone little change in Byzantine times, so that its original character is better preserved than at Avdat, Nizzana or Shivta.
History
The town of Mampsis was founded during the period when the Nabataeans, from their capital at Petra, set out to colonise the Negev. It prospered in the first century A.D. as a trading town with a caravanserai, stables, residential areas and administrative buildings. After the fall of Nabatene in 106 the Romans built barracks here. In Byzantine times (when Mampsis featured on the mosaic map at Madaba) the old Nabataean system of irrigation was brought into use again, as it was at Avdat, and two churches were built. The town was destroyed during the Arab conquest in the seventh century.
In 2005 Mamshit was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Incense Route and Desert Cities in the Negev.
History
The town of Mampsis was founded during the period when the Nabataeans, from their capital at Petra, set out to colonise the Negev. It prospered in the first century A.D. as a trading town with a caravanserai, stables, residential areas and administrative buildings. After the fall of Nabatene in 106 the Romans built barracks here. In Byzantine times (when Mampsis featured on the mosaic map at Madaba) the old Nabataean system of irrigation was brought into use again, as it was at Avdat, and two churches were built. The town was destroyed during the Arab conquest in the seventh century.
In 2005 Mamshit was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Incense Route and Desert Cities in the Negev.
Read More
Read Less
