Editing Avdat (section)

{{Short description|Archaeological site in Israel}}
{{Infobox ancient site
 |name = Abdah
 |native_name = {{Script/Hebrew|עבדת}}
 |alternate_name = Ovdat<br />Eboda
 |image = DJI 0019 6530b.jpg
 |alt = 
 |caption = Aerial view of the acropolis
 |map_type = Israel
 |map_alt = 
 |map_size = 280
 |coordinates = {{coord|30.794|34.773|display=inline,title}}
 |location = [[Southern District (Israel)|Southern District]], [[Israel]]
 |region = [[Negev]]
 |type = Settlement
 |part_of = 
 |length = 
 |width = 
 |area = 
 |height = 
 |builder = 
 |material = 
 |built = 3rd century BCE
 |abandoned = 
 |epochs = 
 |cultures = [[Nabataeans|Nabataean]], [[Roman Empire|Roman]], [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]], [[Bilad al-Sham|Early Islamic]]
 |dependency_of = 
 |occupants = 
 |excavations = 
 |archaeologists = 
 |condition = In ruins
 |ownership = 
 |management = 
 |public_access = 
 |website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
 |notes = 
| designation1          = WHS
| designation1_offname  = [[Incense Route - Desert Cities in the Negev]] ([[Elusa (Haluza)|Haluza]], [[Mamshit]], Avdat and [[Shivta]])
| designation1_date     = 2005 <small>(29th [[World Heritage Committee|session]])</small>
| designation1_number   = [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1107 1107]
| designation1_criteria = iii, v
| designation1_type     = Cultural
| designation1_free1name = Region
| designation1_free1value = [[List of World Heritage Sites in Europe|Europe and North America]]
}}

'''Avdat''' or '''Ovdat''' ({{langx|he|עבדת}}), and '''Abdah''' or '''Abde'''  ({{langx|ar|عبدة}}), are the modern names of an [[archaeological site]] corresponding to the ancient Nabataean, Roman and Byzantine settlement of '''Oboda''' (''[[tabula Peutingeriana]]''; [[Stephanus Byzantinus]]) or '''Eboda''' ([[Ptolemaeus]] 5:16, 4)<ref name= JVL>[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/avedat "Avedat (Ovdat; Ar. "Abde")"] in ''[[Encyclopaedia Judaica]]'' 2008, The Gale Group. Via [[Jewish Virtual Library]], accessed 11 May 2024.</ref> in the [[Negev]] desert in southern [[Israel]]. It was inhabited with intermissions between the 3rd century BCE and the mid-7th century CE by [[Nabataeans]], in their time becoming the most important city on the [[Incense Route]] after [[Petra]], then by [[Ancient Rome |Roman]] army [[veteran]]s, and [[Byzantine]]s, surviving only for a few years into the [[Timeline of Palestine region#Early Muslim period |Early Muslim period]].<ref name= JVL/><ref name=YA>Yedioth Ahronoth (6 October 2009). [https://archive.today/20130108023231/http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3785795,00.html "Avdat National Park vandalized"]. Retrieved on April 3, 2012.</ref><ref name=Bucking>{{cite journal |last1= Bucking|first1= Scott|last2=Fuks|first2= Daniel|last3= Dunseth|first3=Zachary C.|author4= Schwimer Lior|last5= Erickson-Gini|first5= Tali |title= The Avdat in Late Antiquity Project: uncovering the Early Islamic phases of a Byzantine town in the Negev Highlands |journal=[[Antiquity (journal)| Antiquity]] |year= 2022 |volume= 96 |issue= 387 |pages= 754–761 |doi= 10.15184/aqy.2022.46 |doi-access= free |s2cid= 248168993}}</ref> Avdat was a seasonal camping ground for Nabataean caravans travelling along the early Petra–Gaza road ([[Darb es-Sultan]]) in the 3rd – late 2nd century BCE. The city's original name{{which |date= May 2024}} was changed in honor of [[Nabataean]] King [[Obodas I]], who, according to tradition, was revered as a deity and was buried there.<ref>[http://nabataea.net/ehistory.html Nabataea: Early History]. Retrieved on April 3, 2012.</ref><ref name= Neuwirth>{{cite book|last1=Neuwirth|first1=Angelika|author-link1=Angelika Neuwirth|last2=Sinai|first2=Nicolai|last3=Marx|first3=Michael|title=The Qur'an in Context: Historical and Literary Investigations Into the Qur'anic Milieu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GcgCErhKGrAC|year=2010|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-17688-1|page=233}}</ref>