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TODD BOLEN/BIBLEPLACES.COM

CITY OF TOMBS. A southern outpost of the Nabatean kingdom, ancient Hegra (modern Madain Saleh) features more than a hundred well-preserved monumental tombs dating from the first century BCE to the first century CE. Cut into the sandstone, these funerary monuments bear witness to a variety of Hellenistic and Near Eastern decorative influences. Inscriptions from later centuries, however, indicate the presence of early Jews who had settled in the city. Among the inscribed artifacts at Hegra is also this sundial, which bears a short Aramaic inscription naming the Jewish citizen, Manasseh bar Nathan, who donated the device to the town.