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Dec. 15, 2006
A cool jewel in the desert
Ancient Nabatean town draws its visitors from all over Israel.
EDGAR ASHER ISRANET
Israel has some of the oldest and most interesting archeological
cities and sites in the world. Apart from the most popular tourist
destinations, such as Jerusalem, Masada, Akko and Megiddo, the country
has hundreds of other places and museums that reflect the fact that
Israel is the home of the world's three great monotheistic religions.
There are many sites that could well have applied to them the traditional
guide book description of "worth a detour" or "worth
a visit." Some of the locations are real treasures, waiting
quietly to be discovered, each one having the merit of that "wow"
factor when seen for the first time by a visitor who did not have
any special expectations. Such a place is Mamshit, a 2,000-year-old
city situated in the northern part of the Negev Desert, seven kilometres
east of Dimona.
Mamshit, or Kurnub as it is known to the Arabs, or Mampsis to the
Greeks, is reached by a one kilometre, well-paved and maintained
road leading off from the main road to Eilat. It would take a little
more than two hours to
drive there from Tel-Aviv or Jerusalem. The whole area is carefully
maintained by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA). A very
modest entrance fee will gain entrance to a 10-acre walled city,
which in turn is set in a 370-acre national park that incorporates
the streams and dams that made it viable to live there 2,000 years
ago.
The setting of Mamshit, against the soft desert hills and azure
sky, is spectacular. Although there is still a lot to be done to
reconstruct fallen buildings, there are enough houses, shops and
public buildings to give the visitor a very good idea of what the
city looked like in the first century CE, when it was established.
Mamshit is built on a hill, therefore, it is easy to see from various
points on its higher elevation the streams and remains of the dams
that enabled the citizens of the ancient city to collect and store
enough water in the rainy season to tide them over in the dry, hot
summer months.
The city's history has three main periods. The first, in the first
and second centuries CE, was the Nabatean period. Mamshit was strategically
located on the Nabatean trade routes, making it a very important
city. Most of the buildings seen today were built in the later part
of this period, including the largest house discovered in the city.
The house is an impressive 1,600 square metres in area, with its
courtyards, stairways and stables clearly indicating that it was
owned by a very wealthy individual. It was in this house that archeologists
discovered some 10,500 silver coins struck between 222 and 275 CE.
The next residents of Mamshit were the Romans, who built the present
wall around the city, and they remained there until the end of the
fourth century CE. From the fifth to the seventh century CE was
the city's Byzantine period. Two churches were built at the time
and used until the Arab conquest in the seventh century CE. At about
this time, the city fell into disrepair and virtually ceased to
exist. It was not until 1936 that the British Mandate government
established the Desert Mounted Police, with the aim of supervising
the movement of Bedouins and Jews in the northern Negev. The British
built a police station over the ruins of an ancient Nabatean building
on one of the highest parts of Mamshit.
As was to be expected from a trading people like the Nabateans,
the city has a main street full of shops and stores which must have
provided a good living to the owners from passing trade, as well
as supplying the local residents. Both the Nabateans and the Romans
made good use of the water surging down the steep gorge running
along the southwest of the city during the rainy season. Today,
the remains of a pool and bathhouse testify to the ingenuity of
the area's previous inhabitants.
As with all national treasures like Mamshit, the INPA, in this case
in partnership with archeologists from the Hebrew University, are
slowly rebuilding the city to how they thought it looked 2,000 years
ago. Groups come from all over Israel to stay in simple, but very
adequate, overnight accommodation just outside the walls, to watch
a sound and light show and also take a guided tour at night with
an experienced guide through the city's streets, with each visitor
holding a lantern supplied by the local INPA staff.
The ancient city of Mamshit has certainly been brought back to life
and rightly deserves the traditional tour guide book accolade of
"worth a detour."
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