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RENEWED EXCAVATIONS

In 1999–2000 an area located east of the Byzantine town wall and the north tower at Oboda was excavated on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority. The excavation was directed by T. Erickson-Gini. It revealed a residential quarter with a series of dwellings covering an area of approximately 0.25 a.

EXCAVATION RESULTS

Three definitive architectural phases were revealed in the residential quarter. To the first phase belong three rooms of an early structure (rooms 24, 27–28, 44) located on the eastern edge of the area and dated to the first century CE, possibly a Nabatean caravansary or residential structure. Some of the stones used in this structure were very large and the building appears to have covered an area of at least 40 sq m, including a large central courtyard.

A house and courtyard 19 from the second phase (rooms 6–7, 12–13) were uncovered a few meters west of this early building. The walls were preserved to almost their full height and a stone-lined channel was located in the courtyard. A coarse ware krater of a type generally dated to the later first century CE was buried below the earthen floor in an interior room. Coins found below floors of other rooms in the house date to the late second–early third centuries CE. The pottery recovered in the building indicates that it was occupied from the late first or early second centuries CE until its abandonment in the early third century. A small bronze statuette was found in room 13. A small chamber located under a stairwell in this structure appears to have served as a pantry (room 6). It contained at least 60 complete pottery and glass vessels that appear to have been stacked on wooden shelves, including late Nabatean painted ware bowls, Nabatean unguentaria, and Eastern terra sigillata wares, together with vessels dated to the early third century CE. Several Nabatean and Late Roman cooking pots were also uncovered. Large animal bones were found in the upper layer of this deposit, possibly cuts of salted meat that hung above the shelves. The material finds from this phase belong to the latest period of international trade along the Petra–Gaza road and include the latest form of Nabatean unguentaria, used to package perfumed oils produced at Petra before the collapse of international trade routes through Arabia, Egypt, and Syria in the third century CE.

The architecture and material finds from the third occupational phase, dating to the fourth century CE, differ radically from those found in earlier phases. The change appears to be the result of the shift in the economic base of the inhabitants of the site by the end of the third century CE, when they were compelled to turn to agricultural production following the collapse of international trade through the region. In this phase, three rooms of the earlier house were completely filled in, and thin plaster floors were laid over the fill (rooms 6, 12–13). Only one room of the earlier structure appears to have been utilized in the fourth century CE (room 7), and it apparently collapsed in the 363 earthquake. The surface above the collapsed debris, which filled this room to its full height, was used late in that century.

Also during this phase, starting around 300 CE, the area between the earlier structures and the northern tower, which was probably constructed in the late third century CE, was built up and occupied. A narrow alley ran from east to west towards the tower; at least five simple dwellings were constructed on either side of it. These dwellings had irregular plans, their main feature being a raised central courtyard surrounded by rooms cut into the bedrock. Earthen floors over bedrock were encountered in all the rooms except for one (room 11), which was stone paved. A stone lintel with a tabula ansata was found on the floor of this room. A primitive depiction of a man working an olive-oil press was scratched onto the stone. Several rooms contained arch springers and evidence of ceilings constructed of stone slabs. Glass windowpanes were found near one of the dwellings. Some structural damage, probably resulting from the 363 CE earthquake, is evident in the blockage of a few doorways and the collapse of one of the rooms, as described above (rooms 4, 7, 17). On one of the plaster walls of room 23 were several lines of Nabatean script written in black ink. This inscription, found in a context dated to the late fourth or early fifth century CE, is the latest known Nabatean inscription in the Negev. The translation of the inscription reads: “In good memory and peace from Dushara. To our Lord Senogovia. [?]. Gadio his son. Plasterer. Nani.”

A courtyard area to the northeast of these dwellings contained two large clay tabuns. In the courtyard of one dwelling (room 38), the stone base of a large oven and stone workbench were found. The central courtyards of the dwellings were apparently used for food preparation, as the upper halves of Gaza wine jars dating to the fourth century CE were used as braziers in all the courtyards. Intact pottery vessels and oil lamps were found in situ throughout the houses. Other finds from this phase include grinding stones, bronze spatulae, and glass bracelets.

Archaeological evidence suggests that the inhabitants of these dwellings may have been connected to the Late Roman military presence in Oboda. Parts of three terracotta plaques with impressed military scenes were recovered, along with a type of jar that may have been used to ration wine or some other liquid, numerous examples of which were found in the Late Roman fort at ‘En Ḥaẓeva, together with plaster seals. A study of the ceramic finds reveals a strong relationship with Petra and southern Jordan, at least until the 363 CE earthquake devastated that area. Beit Natif style lamps were found together with lamps produced in southern Jordan around this date. The extensive use of Gaza wine jars, mainly in secondary use as braziers, indicates that the inhabitants of the residential quarter were fully integrated into the inter-regional trade of agricultural produce, particularly wine, by the end of the fourth century.

The numismatic and ceramic evidence uncovered in this third phase indicate that the dwellings were destroyed in a violent earthquake several decades after that of 363 CE. Following this second, local earthquake, the area was abandoned and many of the building stones were robbed. The town wall, encountered above the ruins of the buildings on the western edge of the excavated area, was later constructed sometime in the early fifth century CE.

SUMMARY

The 1999–2000 excavation of the residential quarter has provided a wealth of information about the site in the Early Roman through early Byzantine periods, during which the site appears to have been occupied continuously. In addition, the excavations revealed information concerning the important transitional phase in its history, when its inhabitants were forced to abandon their principal means of livelihood with the cessation of international trade through the region in the third century CE. The succeeding period in the fourth century CE witnessed the rapid expansion of agricultural production and inter-regional trade of agricultural products, particularly wine, in the wake of the large-scale Late Roman military build-up in the eastern provinces. At Oboda this military build-up may be reflected in the erecting of the southern and possibly northern tower around 293/4 CE, as well as the construction of the large military camp located northeast of the acropolis. (This camp was excavated extensively in 1999–2000 on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority.)

An examination of the ceramic finds reveals that the economic transition that took place in the third and early fourth centuries CE did not affect ties between the inhabitants of the site and Petra and southern Jordan. A decline in wares originating in southern Jordan found at Oboda in the later fourth century appears to have occurred in the period following the 363 CE earthquake. By the beginning of the fifth century CE, when the residential quarter was destroyed and abandoned, Oboda had already become fully integrated into the inter-regional economic network of southern Palestine.

TALI ERICKSON-GINI

Main publications: A. Negev, The Architecture of Oboda: Final Report (Qedem 36), Jerusalem 1997; ibid. (Reviews) BAR 24/6 (1998), 56. — NEA 61 (1998), 182. — BAIAS 17 (1999), 93–94. — AJA 104 (2000), 154. — BASOR 318 (2000), 84–85; T. Erickson-Gini, Crisis and Renewal: Settlement in the Negev in the 3rd and 4th Centuries CE, with an Emphasis on the Finds from the New Excavations in Mampsis, Oboda and Mesad ‘En Ḥazeva (Ph.D. diss.), Jerusalem (in prep.); P. Fabian, The Development of the Roman Army at the Limits of the Empire: The Annexation of the Nabatean Kingdom and Its Implications—Avdat as a Test Case (Ph.D. diss.), Beer Sheva (in prep.).

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