OBODA: a MAJOR NABATEAN CARAVAN HALT Oboda, and Not

ARAM, 8 (1996), 67-87 67

OBODA: A MAJOR NABATEAN CARAVAN HALT

AVRAHAM NEGEV

Oboda, and not Eboda as it has very often mistakenly been named,1 is the best known, and most fully described Nabatean caravan halt. It contained most elements present in a major caravan halt.2 As indicated by coins found in the Nabatean potter’s workshop3 and by pottery found in various loci at Oboda4, Nabatean Oboda was in existence from the late fourth to the second century BC. Small quantities of Hellenistic pottery were found all over the site. No solid architecture pertaining to the Early Nabatean period has been observed at Oboda, and the occupants of the site at that time seem to have lived in tents. Remains of an early fireplace of such an encampment were discovered beneath the floors of a first century BC. or AD. house in the vicinity of the Nabatean military camp (see below).5 Whether Oboda already served as a caravan halt at this early period is yet to be determined by research. Oboda was possibly abandoned for the greater part of the first century BC. It was reconquered by the Nabateans in the early part of the second half of the first century BC. The course of events at this time is not entirely clear. The Petra-Gaza caravan route runs northwestwards from Petra towards the large caravan station of Calguia, where it crossed the Arava.6 Thence, the road ran on to Mezad Qazra, Mezad Har Masa, Mezad Neqarot, and Maliatha. It then climbed the cliffs of the Ramon Crater at Mezad (Ma‘ale) Mahmal, and from there it ran over Mezad Grafon along the Oboda plateau.7 At this last section, the road is about seven meters wide. It was cleared of surface stones, and was furnished with curb stones along both sides. At certain sections, the road

1 A. Negev, “Oboda – The City of Obodas the God”, in K. Fitchen and G. Foerster, editors, Judaea and the Greco-Roman World in the Time of Herod in Light of Archaeological Evidence, (Acts of a Symposium Organized by the Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Archaeological Institute of Goetingen at Jerusalem November 3rd-4th 1988), Oboda, A. Negev, “The City of Obodas the God”, 219-220. 2 A. Negev, The Architecture of Oboda Final Report, (Qedem Monographs of the Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University, 36, Jerusalem). 3 A. Negev, The Nabatean Potter’s Workshop at Oboda, (Bonn, 1973), 23. (Further: Negev, Potter’s Workshop). 4 A. Negev, The Late Hellenistic and Early Roman Pottery of Oboda. Final Report, (Qedem Monographs of the Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University, 22, Jerusalem, 1986), 4-9. (Further: Negev, Late Hellenistic). 5 For a description of Nabatean encampments in the Negev, see A. Negev, Nabatean Archae- ology Today, (New York University Press, 1986), 20-22. (Further cited: Negev, Nabatean Archaeology). 6 For the route: Y. Tzafrir, and others, Tabulae Imperii Romani Iudaea – Palaestina, (Eretz Israel during the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine Periods). (Further: Tabulae). 7 Tabulae, p. 96 for the identification of H. Moa, Moyet ‘Awad with Calguia. 68 OBODA: A MAJOR CARAVAN HALT was marked by uninscribed milestones.8 Since I was not aware of Meshel's and Tzafrir’s survey, I also dealt with this caravan route, dating it to the first century AD.9 R. Cohen, who excavated a major fort guarding it, revised the date of its use upwards, dating it to the second century AD.10

THE OBODA CARAVAN HALT. [Fig. 1]

THE NABATEAN MILITARY CAMP. [Fig. 2] [Fig. 3] [Fig. 4] The road winds along the plateau, and ends at the southern gate of the military camp. This camp is one of the objects which had already attracted the attention of some of the scholars who visited Oboda in the early part of this century. They were the first to describe it and to draw its plan. Since 1959 I have per- sonally carried out trial digs there.11 It measures approximately 100 by 100 m. The camp is flanked by four large rectangular towers at the corners, and there are additional smaller towers in between. Its main gate on the south was built of hard limestone ashlars, which have a grainy quality. Stones of the same type were employed in the construction of the main temple at Oboda. There are 37 rooms and halls which were built in the interior of the camp, abutting on the walls. The interior southwestern corner of the camp is occupied by a large rectangular structure, the nature of which has not yet been ascertained. The camp is crossed by a via principalis, which runs from north to south. To the east of the wide via principalis are four barracks of ten rooms each, arranged five in a row, and set back to back. In the wide streets separating the barracks from each other, there were probably sheds for the dromedaries and the draught camels. The camp seems to have had only one gate. On account of the typically Nabatean and Early Roman pottery which was found on the floors of the gate and of some of the barrack rooms, I dated this structure to the first century AD. That the Nabateans indeed had a regular army, commanded by centurions, chiliarchoi, strategoi, and hipparchoi, may be inferred from the Nabatean epitaphs found at the Nabatean cemetery of Medain Salih.12 The Medaba epitaph makes it clear that the Nabateans had military camps. We know from it that a ahirwm br, a camp commander, commanded the camps at Luhito and ahdby, about which Cantineau writes: “est-ill impossible, en lisant ahdby, de penser a la ville de ‘Abdeh, ancienne ‘Oboda, dans le Negeb?”13 I again excavated at the camp in 1977, together with R. Cohen. Cohen con- cludes: “The potsherds hitherto found in casemate rooms, in the towers, and in 8 For a detailed description of the road see Z. Meshel and Y. Tzafrir, “The Nabatean Road from ‘Avdat To Shaar Ramon I”, PEQ, 106 (1974), 103-118; II-III, PEQ, 107 (1975), pp. 3-21. 9 A. Negev, “The Date of the Petra = Gaza Road”, PEQ, 88 (1966), 89-98. 10 R. Cohen, “New Light on the date of the Petra-Gaza Road”, BA, 45 (1982), 240-247. 11 A. Negev, Tempel, Kirchen und Zisternen, (Stuttgart, 1983), 69 (aerial photograph), 72. (Further cited: Negev, Tempel, Kirchen). 12 A. Negev, “The Nabatean Necropolis at Egra”, RB, 83 (1976), 203-236. 13 J. Cantineau, Le Nabatéen, II, (Osnabrueck, 1978, reprint of Paris, 1930), 44-45. A. NEGEV 69

Fig. 1. General view. Background: Nabatean temples, Byzantine churches and Late Roman- Byzantine citadel; Foreground, right: Nabatean military camp and animal sheds; Foreground, left: potter’s workshop and sheds for sheep, goats, and camels.

Fig. 2. The Nabatean military camp, looking south-southwest. 70 OBODA: A MAJOR CARAVAN HALT

Fig. 3. Nabatean military camp, looking East. On the right, the main gate. Note the partial streets.

Fig. 4. Nabatean military camp. The main gate in rooms in the casemate wall. A. NEGEV 71 the gate, were not numerous, but nevertheless, there is no doubt that they are of the 1st-2nd centuries AD. By the way, not a single complete vessel was found. I think that there is no conclusive evidence for the construction of the camp in the first century AD. It is only by the resumption of the excavations that this problem, so important for the history of Oboda, will find its final solution”. Cohen goes on to say: “The main problem today is whether the camp – which is in fact a large citadel, and not a temporary camp – was built in the times of the Nabatean kingdom, or after the annexation of the kingdom in AD 106. In the whole of the Nabatean kingdom, not a single military camp or a citadel of such a magnitude was hitherto discovered. If it will be proved that the camp was indeed built by the Nabateans, it will shed new light on the military power of the Nabateans, and on Oboda’s special role in the Nabatean military setup. Nevertheless in its external plan the camp is reminiscent of plans of Roman fortresses, and for this reason one may not altogether rule out the possibility that the camp was built by Romans at the beginning of the 2nd century AD. If this is proven, it may point out the strength of the Roman military deployment in the Negev mountains in the 2nd century AD.”.14 I totally reject Cohen’s conclusions. It is true that not a single complete pottery vessel was found in the excavations of the camp. Since when, however, is this an impediment to the correct dating of pottery? The volumes on which the dating of the Nabatean pottery of Oboda is based15 contain 181 items in one volume, and 1201 pieces of pottery in the other. These are all mainly broken vessels. Does this mean that the chronology of the Nabatean pottery of Oboda is faulty? I wonder. Moreover, almost every piece of pottery found in the camp passed my hand and eyes (at times even the tip of my tongue), and these are in no way different from the pottery found in the Nabatean potter’s workshop and in other loci at Oboda. Do we have to re-date these as well? Publishing the pottery found in the camp, which is exclusively at Cohen’s disposal in the stores of the Authority of Antiq- uities in Jerusalem, would help finally to resolve this important problem. Oboda is epigraphically very rich. This epigraphic richness begins in the early 1st century AD. It continues in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD. These two centuries are extremely rich in Nabatean-Aramaic and Greek- Nabatean inscriptions.16 In this way, the great Nabatean activities, which began at the end of the first century BC, continued uninterrupted until the very end of the third century AD. Not all of it is indeed connected with the caravan

14 R. Cohen, “The Excavations at Avdat in 1977”, Qadmoniot, XII (49-50), 1980, 44 (Hebrew, my translation, A.N.). (See further: Cohen, Qadmoniot, 1980). 15 See Negev, Potter’s Workshop, 23; Negev, Late Hellenistic, (1986), 4-9 16 A. Negev, “Nabatean Inscriptions from ‘Avdat (Oboda)”, IEJ, 11 (1961) no. 8, 135-136 (A.D. 98/99); IEJ, 13 (1963), no. 10, 113-117 (A.D. 88/89); no. 11, 117-118 (A.D. 107, after the Roman Conquest of Arabia; no. 12, 119-120 (A.D. 126). [Further cited: Negev, IEJ, 11, 13, 1961, 1963]. This is then followed by Nabatean-Greek inscriptions found in the old temple: A. Negev, Greek Inscriptions from the Negev, (Jerusalem, 1981), no. 1b, 12 (AD 267/8); an inscription from the burial cave, no. 10, 24-25 (AD 241); from the tower, no. 13, 27 (AD 293/4). [Further cited Negev, GIN] 72 OBODA: A MAJOR CARAVAN HALT trade, but Nabatean life continued without any sign of Roman occupation, or even of their presence, at Oboda. I suggested elsewhere that a possible reason for the abandonment of the Nabatean camp by the Nabateans is connected with very grave events which occurred at Egra in northern Arabia by the middle of the 1st century AD. I suggested that soldiers and commanders of the Nabatean troops were summoned to assist in repelling the newly arriving Arab tribes. This attempt, I believe, failed, and the Nabatean soldiers never returned to the abandoned military camp at Oboda.17 It is at that point, by the middle of the 1st century AD rather than at the beginning of the 2nd century AD, that the camp of Oboda was abandoned.

RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF EBODA – A TEMPLE OF OBODAS (?) [Fig. 5] Every major Nabatean trade center had at least one religious shrine. This was so in the cases of Egra and Iram.18 Oboda was not different. It seems that the first

Fig. 5. The Oboda sacred compound. Sketch plan prepared for the 1989 season of excavations.

17 See Negev, RB, 83 (1976), 228-231. 18 See Negev, RB, 83 (1976), 228-231 for Egra, and A. Negev, in H. Temporini and H. Haase, Aufstieg und Niedergang der Roemischen Welt, II,8, (1977), 566-568. A. NEGEV 73 institutions which existed at Oboda were the military camp just referred to above, and the first Nabatean temple. There is more than one indication that the deified king Obodas was worshipped at Oboda, and that it was perhaps even the main center of the cult. Stephanus of Byzantium characterises Oboda as a place of Nabateans, and notes that in his fourth book on Arabia, Uranios describes it as the place “in which Obodas the deified king was buried”.19 Uranius possibly dates to the 1st century BC.20 A confirmation for the cult of Obodas comes in the Nabatean-Arabic inscription found quite recently in the immediate region of the city of Oboda.21 In this inscription, Obodas the god is mentioned twice. In July 1989, a particular building was discovered to have served as the temple of the god Obodas.22 This building was in fact known almost from the beginning of the investigation of Oboda, and I examined it several times in the past, but [Fig. 6] I never knew its real function. It was only during the 1989 excavations, on seeing its composite plan, that I recognized in it a tripartite temple typical of southern part of the Nabatean kingdom.23 [Fig 6.] Except for

Fig. 6. Location of first Nabatean temple. Foreground: South Church on the left, main gate of the Late Roman-Byzantine citadel. Between the two are the adyton (fully preserved at the back), the Late Roman supporting wall, covering the hall, and the foundations of the porch. North of the Temple of Obodas, walls of the temple of Aprodite (?) can be seen.

19 Stephan Von Byzanz, Ethnika, (Graz, 1958), 482,15-16. 20 S.v Uranios in Der Kleine Pauly, col. 1205. 21 A. Negev, with contribution by J. Naveh and S. Shaked, “Obodas the God”, IEJ, 36 (1986), 56-60. 22 A. Negev, “The Temple of Obodas: Excavations at Oboda in July 1989”, Negev, IEJ, 41 (1991), 62-80. [Further cited: Negev, IEJ, 41 (1991)]. 23 For plan, photographs, and description, see Negev, IEJ, 41 (1991), 67-79. 74 OBODA: A MAJOR CARAVAN HALT door frames and other finer architectural details, made of ashlars, all other parts were built totally of rather large hammer-dressed blocks of stone. In the excavations at Mampsis in 1990, we learnt that this mode of construction is typical of the Middle Nabatean Period (c. 30 BC – AD 50/70), or rather of the early part of it.24 [Fig. 7] [Fig. 8]

Fig. 7. Tripartite plan of temple.

It seems that when this temple was built, there were still very few buildings at Oboda. The temple opened to the south, from where the caravan route came. A little to the northeast of the temple, where later the Late Roman-Byzantine citadel was later built, there was a projecting rock which the French scholars Jaussen-Savignac-Vincent identified as a rostrum, from which the commander addressed his soldiers. Near this rock, we found two libation altars with Nabatean inscriptions.25 On one side of the stone, a ‘house’ (ahrd) is mentioned, perhaps referring to a shrine.

24 A. Negev, “The Mampsis Gymnasia and their later History Preliminary Report and Inter- pretation”, in Early Christianity in Context. Monuments and Documents, edited by F. Manns and E. Alliatta, (Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Collectio Maior 38, Jerusalem, 1993), 256-258. (Further: Negev, Mampsis Gymnasia) 25 Negev, IEJ, 11 (1961). Inscription no. 7a-c, pp. 133-134. A. NEGEV 75

Fig. 8. Foundations of porch.

OTHER TEMPLES.[Fig. 9] [Fig. 10] [Fig. 11] At some time in the Middle Nabatean Period, an enormous religious compound, was built at the western part of the acropolis hill.26 The construction of temple, or temples, necessitated engineering works on a major scale. The rock was levelled off, huge retaining walls were built, and three elaborate entrances were made which gave access to the sacred compound from all directions. This beautiful eagle's-nest dominated the scenery on almost all sides. If the earlier temple was dedicated to the new god, Obodas, who gave the city its name, the new temple was probably dedicated to the traditional god Dushara. This was in all probability the work of Obodas III (30-9 BC), the builder of many Nabatean temples. This is quite certain, because all dedicatory inscriptions found in various parts of the compound date to Aretas IV (9 BC – AD 40), and 76 OBODA: A MAJOR CARAVAN HALT

Fig. 9. Court of temple of Dushara(?), looking northwest.

Fig. 10. Southwestern access to temple of Dushara(?) A. NEGEV 77

Fig. 11. Camel, sheep and goats’ sheds to the southeast of town. one even dates to this monarch’s second regnal year.27 Whereas the temple gates and the large porch were preserved, very little of the temple itself remains. Of the temple proper, very few stones remain in place. Most of the stones, many of which bear architectural decorations, were reused for the construction of the nearby North Church, the cathedral of Oboda, founded in about the middle of the fourth century. Since the time which elapsed between the destruction of the pagan temples28 and the construction of the church was very short indeed, the Christian authorities and the new believers destroyed the old “abomination” to the very foundations, thoroughly concealing the stones of the temple in the interior of the walls of the new church. When some paving stones were lifted up, some beautifully decorated architectural members came to light. In Nabatean times or in the later pre-Christian period of Oboda, the local cult also included Apis and Aphrodite.29 It seems that, as in the classical world, the Nabatean temples provided services performed today by the bank- ing system.30

26 For a detailed description of the construction of the acropolis temples, see The Architecture of Oboda Final Report, (Qedem Monographs of the Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew Uni- versity of Jerusalem, 36, Jerusalem, 1996), (in print). 27 Negev, IEJ, 11 (1961), ,No 1, pp. 127-128 (9 B.C.-A.D. 40); No. 2, pp. 128-129 (same date); No. 2, pp. 129-130 (8 BC). 28 Negev, GIN, No 13, pp. 26-27. The cult of Zeus-Oboda persisted at Oboda until as late as AD 293/4. 29 Negev, GIN, No. 8, pp. 23-24 (Apis), No. 7, pp. 20-23 (Aphrodite). 30 See Negev, RB, 83 (1976), 203-236. 78 OBODA: A MAJOR CARAVAN HALT

THE ECONOMY OF OBODA

CAMELS, SHEEP AND GOATS. [Fig. 11] [Fig. 12] Oboda had been a major center for the production of whatever was connected with the proper functioning of the caravan trade. As early as the 1958- 1961 excavations we discovered a small cave in the middle of what we named

Fig. 12. Detail of above. the Roman Quarter. It was full of a chemical substance identified by Dr. R. Bloch, the chief chemist of the Israel Potash Company at the Dead Sea, as saltpeter, that is, potassium nitrate, a substance essential for the preservation of meat. As this chemical substance is not readily available in its natural form, it must be obtained by combining potassium and nitrate. The only technique for doing so known in ancient times was to burn plants and to mix the ashes with human and animal urine. The very large quantities of saltpeter found at Oboda, and the later discovery of additional small caves on the acropolis, containing a large quantity of the same substance, led Dr. Bloch to suggest that the potassium itself was brought from the Dead Sea, which was very well known to the Nabateans.31 Mrs. Lisle Evenari, the wife of Professor Evenari, our scholarly neighbor at Oboda, used this material to cure meat. The result of her efforts was fairly edible. At that time (1969) we were excavating the large religious compound on the acropolis, and Dr. Bloch suggested in one of his frequent visits that, in view of

31 See Diodorus of Sicily, II,48,6-9, for a detailed description of the lake. A. NEGEV 79 the lack of proper refrigeration, the numerous temples in the Greek and Roman world, those at Oboda included, provided meat-curing facilities in addition to their other duties. We knew, of course, that the Nabateans were the best herds- men of all the Arab tribes.32 During our work at Oboda, and on subsequent visits, we noticed the presence of numerous enclosures of different sizes, which were enclosed by rather low walls and made of field stones. These, we assumed, were enclosures for breeding camels, sheep and goats. Being occupied in other parts of the site, we paid little attention to these rather roughly-made enclosures. However, examining a few of these, we observed places in the corners where the tents of the attendants could have stood. The pottery found scattered on the surface was notably from the Middle Nabatean Period, that is to say, the first century AD, and was similar to that found in the nearby potter’s workshop. My general assumption was that it was in these enclosures that the inhabitants of Oboda bred camels, sheep and goats for for their own use. I was able truly to judge the full scope of this phenomenon only when I was invited to climb into the basket of a large balloon during the excavations of the temple of Obodas in 1989. This finally convinced me that our work at Oboda will not be complete without proper aerial photographs. In the same year, 1989, and the following year, I joined Gabi Laron, the photographer of our institute, for a series of flights over Oboda. The sight was astounding. On all sides the terrain was strewn with enclosures of every size. There were more than thirty enclosures on the plateau, some twenty enclosures on the slopes on the south and southeast, and about the same number to the southwest. There are more enclosures beyond the limits of the aerial photograph from which we made a plan, and their number must exceed one hundred. The enclosures mea- sure some 23 by 25, 23.0 by 27.3, and 38 by 39 meters respectively, and the largest measures 45 by 35 meters.33 This certainly means that the very large number of installations does not represent just the need for camels, sheep and goats in Oboda. Oboda may be considered to have been one of the main cen- ters of supply for caravans. Camels were used as animals for riding, warfare and transport, and provided meat for food and wool for various uses. The sheep and goats supplied milk products, meat for eating and drying, wool for clothing and tents, and skins for clothing and water skins. Oboda must have supplied the needs of all the caravans bound for the Mediterranean. While in the air, we noticed a perfectly rounded structure north of the city, a small distance to the northwest of the Nabatean military camp. To me it looked like a water reservoir. I asked the pilot of the helicopter to enable me to examine it and we soon landed nearby. On approaching the round structure,

32 Diodorus of Sicily XIX,94,4-5, on breeding of camels and sheep. 33 The enclosures were measured by Mrs. Tali Gini of the Israel Antiquities Authority. I wish to thank her for her help. 80 OBODA: A MAJOR CARAVAN HALT

I soon observed that there are no stones at all in the whole structure, and that it is composed of fine sand and dust, arranged in a perfect circle. This round structure measured 25 meters in diameter. [Fig 13] Its purpose appeared to me

Fig. 13. Horse-training enclosures. suddenly, like a mirage. In front of my eyes there rose a tall pole, to which a galloping horse was tethered by means of a long rope. This was a perfectly made horses’ training ground. Later, on examining the aerial photograph, I noticed that around this horses’ training ground there were traces of additional similar structures which had gone out of use. This brings immediately to mind the two most elaborately built stables of Mampsis.34 Whether this training ground is contemporaneous with the Nabatean military camp (the first half of the first century AD), or whether it belongs to the same time to which the Mampsis stables date (the late first second century AD), is still unknown. The choice of a site for this horses’ training ground seems to have been very suc- cessful. Firstly, there was a supply of water. Lacking any permanent sources of drinking water, Oboda depended totally on rainwater collected in cisterns. The water-collection system of Oboda extends over a rather large area. Huge cisterns are found at the foot of the northern slope of Oboda. The circular training grounds are located just above the path leading from these cisterns. Another advantage of placing the training ground at such a large distance from

34 A. Negev, The Architecture of Mampsis Final Report, Vol. I: The Middle and Late Nabatean Periods, (Qedem Monographs of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 26, Jerusalem, 1988), frontispiece and 79-81, 90-91,. 93, 95, 98-107, 133-141. A. NEGEV 81 the city was that it was far from people who might have frightened the wild animals, and it did not aggravate the clouds of dust which troubled the city anyway. I very much hope that trial digs will be made in both the enclosures and horses’ training ground, in order to establish their dates.

POTTERY PRODUCTION. [Fig. 14] [Fig. 15] Something which is typical of every major Nabatean site is the enormous number of heaps of discarded broken pottery. This is the case in Petra, Elusa,35

Fig. 14. Potter’s workshop (on right), caravansary (left) and Oboda.36 When we visited the Nabatean military camp on various occa- sions, we noticed that the southwestern corner is practically completely covered by countless Nabatean painted potsherds and Early Roman potsherds. These must have been thrown into this tower by the laborers who cleaned the camp in the times of Diocletian and Constantine the Great, before destroying its walls for the construction of the citadel on the acropolis.37 The pottery found here is of excellent quality, and it seems to have been used by people of considerable affluence, something which could have been true of the soldiers of the military camp. The huge amounts of pottery found at Oboda (as in any other major Nabatean site of the first century AD) derive from a triple system of production. A) For the regular households (and in the case of Oboda, the

35 A. Negev, “Survey and Trial Excavations at Haluza (Elusa)”, 1973, IEJ, 26 (1976), 89. 36 See Negev, Potter’s Workshop, 9-10. 37 Negev, Tempel, Kirchen, 163-167. 82 OBODA: A MAJOR CARAVAN HALT

Fig. 15. Potter’s workshop. military camp should be listed in this section); B) The temples; and C) The cemeteries. Whereas potsherds resulting from regular usage should be as- signed to A), the other two sections are very wasteful as far as pottery is con- cerned. Due to religious exigencies, especially in the case of pottery used in the cemetery, all vessels used for cultic purposes were considered ritually unclean, and were discarded after being used just once. This accounts for the enormous quantities of pottery found by researchers studying ancient Naba- tean cities.38 As against this, there is the pattern found in the small town of Mampsis. In the absence of a temple, it is only the Nabatean cemetery which is the source for the large quantities of pottery found there. The pottery, and the coins found with it, date it to the first half of the first century. Very little of the pottery is later than that date, but none is later than the end of the first century.

“CAVERNE DE TOLERANCE” [Fig. 16] In their survey of Oboda in 1904, Jaussen, Savignac and Vincent described a cave which they named, on account of a scene engraved on its lintel, the “Caverne de Tolerance”.39 The lintel of the cave was decorated with a scene

38 While a student of archaeology, I participated in the excavations of the large Jewish necropolis of Beth Shearim, where we witnessed to the same phenomenon of large amounts of broken pottery. 39 A. Jaussen, R. Savignac, H. Vincent, “Abdeh (4-9 fevrier 1904)”, RB, I (1904), pl. I, plan (the cave is marked G); II (1905), 74-77 (description). A. NEGEV 83

Fig. 16. The tavern near the Nabatean military camp. of two totally naked woman, between whom there stands a man with some kind of weapon (a lance?), or a thyrsus, in his right hand. The French scholars made some suggestions as to the symbolic value of the decoration, and Vin- cent suggest that the Caverne de Tolerance was a tavern, and that the armed man depicted on the lintel was its guard. If the weapon is identified as a thyrsus, it will also not be out place in this context. The location of this cave is not known any more. I mentioned this cave because in the course of our excavations at Oboda in 1975-76 the following was discovered:40 “While looking for Nabatean tombs in the northwestern part of Nabatean city in 1975, we discovered the remains of a large Nabatean house (Area B). Up to this time, the remains of 16 rooms had been unearthed, and among these there was a great number of small cubicles. This house was built of hammer dressed stones both inside and outside, in contrast to the common feature of Nabatean domestic architecture, in which outer walls were built of ashlars as a rule. As against the poor construction of the walls, of which only the lower parts remain, the pottery – which is that found in the nearby local potter’s workshop – is of excellent quality. The pottery is all from the first half of the first century AD, i.e., from the Middle Nabatean Period. Underneath the floors of the rooms, pottery from the Hel- lenistic period was found.”

40 A. Negev, “The Excavation at Avdat in the years 1975-1976”, Qadmoniot, X (1977), 27- 28. (Hebrew) 84 OBODA: A MAJOR CARAVAN HALT

It is very likely that it is this house which warrants identification as a tavern. It is less than one hundred meters from the Nabatean military camp, and is dated to one and the same period by the pottery found in both. Among the 16 rooms which we cleared there, there was a kitchen with large ovens. There were some larger rooms which may be identified as drinking and dining halls, and in the vicinity there were small cubicles, two by two to three meters large, large enough to place a rug or a small carpet on their floors, and large enough to accomadate a couple of lovers. Let us examine this from another perspec- tive. Oboda in the Nabatean period could not support a population larger than 1000 people. The local military numbered at least 500 soldiers. This means that there was no place at Oboda for wives and children, and these must have lived somewhere else. In addition to these, the frequent changes in population due to the arrival of the caravans only adds weight to this identification. The Caverne de Tolérance and our institution, if properly identified, would seem to have been a partial solution to the problem posed by the limitations, and fluc- tuations in the size, of the population. The cult of Aphrodite persisted at Oboda. An inscription was found in a tower of the Late Roman-Byzantine citadel which spoke of facing (the house) of Aphrodite with marble.41 Remains of a temple (?) of Aphrodite were discovered nearby.42 Epitaphs found in the en-Nusra burial cave on the southwestern slope of Oboda may have some bearing on this matter. One woman, Aurelia Moulche, who was of Nabatean parentage, died in AD 242.43 Another woman is described as a “jewel of the universe, energetic and clever”. This inscription is from 265 AD.44 Yet another inscription is a partially deciphered epitaph of a maiden who is referred to, among other qualities, as “most beautiful”.45 Is it only by chance that all persons whose epitaphs were preserved were women? Were they priestesses of the goddess?

WHERE DID THE LOCAL POPULATION AND THE CARAVANEERS LIVE? From the beginning of my work on the Negev and Nabatean Archaeology, I have argued that the Nabateans, from their very early beginnings until the end of the Middle Nabatean Period (about AD 50/70), were tent-dwellers. It is only with the arrival of the Nabatean Agricultural Revolution at the end of that century that they began to build proper dwellings. Discovering temporary encampments was not an easy matter, and it was only after a prolonged search that traces of an encampment were located at Oboda. In the vicinity of the

41 Negev, GIN, no.7, pp. 20-23. 42 Negev, IEJ, 42 (1991). Marked Temple C on Fig. 23, and see p. 66 for description. 43 Negev, GIN, No. 10, pp. 24-25. 44 Negev, GIN, No. 11, pp. 25-26. 45 Negev, GIN, No. 12, p. 26. A. NEGEV 85 tents there stood stelae representing household deities.46 [Fig. 17] This encampment is located at the northern end of the plateau, facing open spaces, and is well ventilated. There were probably many more installations of this kind, and it is for the archaeologists of the future to discover them. I think that it will be much more useful to look for more encampments, rather than looking for private dwellings of the first century AD.

Fig. 17. Remains of a Nabatean encampment.

It would have been very tempting to have looked for a caravanserai at Oboda. The only building answering to this description was discovered in 1977, in the vicinity of the Nabatean potter’s workshop. It is, however, safely dated to the second and third centuries AD,47 and the potter’s workshop has already been covered fully. I believe, however, that it will the fruitless to look for a caravansary of such an early date at Oboda. The caravaneers slept in tents, as the bulk of the population of Nabatean Oboda probably did, as had their forefathers. This is not easy to prove, and may be achieved only through extensive excavations.

THE END OF OBODA AS A CARAVAN HALT. Strabo, who died in around AD 19, writes: “Now the loads of aromatics are conveyed from Leuce Come to Petra, and thence to Rihonocolura, which is in

46 Negev, Negev, Tempel, Kirchen, 72-74; Negev, Nabatean Archaeology, 19-22. 47 Cohen, Qadmoniot, (1980), 46. 86 OBODA: A MAJOR CARAVAN HALT

Phoenicia near Egypt, and thence to the other peoples; but at the present time they are for the most part transported by the Nile to Alexandria; and they are landed from Arabia and India at Myus Harbour”(Geogr. XVI,4,24). This, apparently, marks the end of the Nabatean Indo-Arabian spice trade. There is no reason to believe that the cessation of Nabatean trade came at one moment, because prosperity still continued in the Negev for a great part of the first century AD. In fact, the evidence of Oboda points to the possible cessation of Nabatean trade. Earlier, we suggested that the Nabatean army evacuated the camp in around the middle of the first century AD, never to return. The generation between AD 50 and 70 saw the great revolution. At Oboda itself and in the region of the town, three pairs of large stone objects, identified by me as libation altars, were discovered.48 [Fig. 18] Disregarding the discussion concern-

Fig. 18. A pair of libation altars, found in a Nabatean farm in the vicinity of Oboda. ing the meaning of one word in the Nabatean inscriptions engraved on one or more sides of the stone object, it is evident that these pertain to the sphere of agriculture, a new phenomenon in Nabatean culture. They were found in the middle of large farm systems, in the vicinity of large farmhouses. The inscriptions – one of which is rather long – speak of the construction (on my reading), of a dam, by a religious (?) group, and a (religious?) festival was held on this occasion.49 All this took place between year 18 and year 28 of Rabel II (AD

48 Negev, Negev, Tempel, Kirchen, 90; Negev, Nabatean Archaeology, 46. 49 A. Negev, “Nabatean Inscriptions from Avdat (Oboda)”, IEJ, 11 (1961), 131-138; 13 (1963), A. NEGEV 87

88/89-98/99). The festivity was dedicated to Dushara, god of Gaia. This inscription helps by identifying the deity to whom the temple of Oboda was dedicated. Gaia could have been the place which bore this name in the vicinity of Petra, or simply the valley (aig) at Oboda in which agriculture was practiced. This was the final departure of the Nabateans of Oboda from international trade. The foundation of Provincia Arabia found a prospering Oboda. In addition to the new farming systems in the valleys around the city, construction in the city went on.50 This, however, belongs to a new phase in the history of Oboda.

50 Negev, IEJ, 117-119 (from AD 107), 119-120 (from AD 128).