Shivta

Shivta (שבטה), originally Sobata (Σόβατα) or Subeita (شبطا), is an ancient city in the Negev Desert of Israel located 43 kilometers southwest of Beersheba. Shivta was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in June 2005, as part of the Incense Route and the Desert Cities of the Negev, together with Haluza/Elusa, Avdat and Mamshit/Mampsis. The name Shivta is a modern Hebraization, given by the Negev Naming Committee in the early 1950s. The Greek name Sobata was mentioned in the Nessana papyri. Long considered a classical Nabataean town on the ancient spice route, archaeologists are now considering the possibility that Shivta was a Byzantine agricultural colony and a way station for pilgrims en route to the Saint Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula. A few Roman-period ruins have been discovered, but most of the archaeological findings date to the Byzantine period. Shivta's water supply was based on surface runoff collected in large reservoirs. Roman ruins from the first century BCE have been unearthed in the southern part of the town. Three Byzantine churches (a main church and two smaller ones), two wine-presses, residential areas and administrative buildings have been excavated. Traces of a mural of Christ's transfiguration were discovered in the apse of the southern church, as well as remains of a colourful 6th-century mosaic and a beardless depiction of Jesus in the northern church. The wine presses at Shivta give an insight into the scale of wine production at the time. According to the calculations of archaeologists, the Nabatean/Byzantine village of Shivta produced about two million liters of wine. Adjacent to the site is a large farm that uses Nabatean agricultural techniques of irrigation, sowing and reaping. In the early 6th century, grape production in the Negev for the so-called vinum Gazentum ('Gaza wine' in Latin) experiences a major boom, due to the high demand for this product throughout Europe and the Middle East.