ניצנה | |
 Tel Nizana | |
  Shown within Israel | |
| Location | Southern District, Israel |
|---|---|
| Region | Negev |
| Coordinates | 30°52′34.03″N 34°25′58.20″E / 30.8761194°N 34.4328333°E |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Founded | 1st century BCE |
| Abandoned | 7th century CE |
| Cultures | Nabataean, Roman, Byzantine |
Nessana,[1] Modern Hebrew name Nizzana,[2] also spelled Nitzana (Hebrew: ניצנה), is an ancient Nabataean city located in the southwest Negev desert in Israel close to the Egyptian border. It started by being a caravan station on the ancient Incense Road, protecting a western branch of the road which allowed access to Egypt to the west via the Sinai, and to Beersheba, Hebron and Jerusalem to the northeast.[1] It was first used by Nabataean merchants, and later also by Christian pilgrims.[1]
Nessana was among the earlier Nabataean towns of the Negev, established as caravan stations in the late the 4th or the early 3rd century BCE,[1] annexed in 106 CE by the Romans, who garrisoned the site, and inhabited by Byzantine Christians from the fourth century at the latest, until after the Arab Muslim conquest of the seventh century. Relatively few stones remain at the site because most were recycled into buildings in Gaza throughout the centuries.
- ^ a b c d Negev, Avraham; Gibson, Shimon (2001). "Nessana; Auja el-Hafir". Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land. New York and London: Continuum. pp. 367–368. ISBN 0-8264-1316-1. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
- ^ "Byzantine Tombstone Discovered in Negev". 11 January 2021.