Incense Route - Desert Cities in the Negev

Map

Exploring the Incense Route - Desert Cities in the Negev: A Journey Through Ancient Trade Routes

The Incense Route - Desert Cities in the Negev, designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2005, offers a fascinating glimpse into the ancient world of trade, culture, and civilization that thrived in the harsh yet fertile lands of the Negev Desert in southern Israel. This region, situated at the end of the Incense Route, served as a crucial nexus connecting Arabia to the Mediterranean during the Hellenistic-Roman period (3rd century BC to the 2nd century AD).

More to come…

UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site

The four Nabatean towns of Haluza, Mamshit, Avdat and Shivta, along with associated fortresses and agricultural landscapes in the Negev Desert, are spread along routes linking them to the Mediterranean end of the incense and spice route. Together they reflect the hugely profitable trade in frankincense and myrrh from south Arabia to the Mediterranean, which flourished from the 3rd century BC until the 2nd century AD. With the vestiges of their sophisticated irrigation systems, urban constructions, forts and caravanserai, they bear witness to the way in which the harsh desert was settled for trade and agriculture.

UNESCO Justification of the World Heritage Site

Criterion (iii): The Nabatean towns and their trade routes bear eloquent testimony to the economic, social and cultural importance of frankincense to the Hellenistic-Roman world. The routes also provided a means of passage not only for frankincense and other trade goods but also for people and ideas.

Criterion (v): The almost fossilised remains of towns, forts, caravanserai and sophisticated agricultural systems strung out along the Incense route in the Negev desert, display an outstanding response to a hostile desert environment and one that flourished for five centuries.

Encyclopedia Record: Incense Route – Desert Cities in the Negev

Incense Route – Desert Cities in the Negev is a World Heritage-designated area near the end of the Incense Route in the Negev, southern Israel, which connected Arabia to the Mediterranean in the Hellenistic-Roman period, proclaimed as being of outstanding universal value by UNESCO in 2005. The trade led to the development of ancient towns, forts and caravanserai en route, apart from agricultural development.

Read more on Wikipedia