Editing Avdat (section)

==History==
Before the end of the 1st century BCE a temple platform (the acropolis) was created along the western edge of the plateau. Recent excavations have shown that the town continued to be inhabited by the Nabataeans continuously from this period until its destruction by earthquake in the early 7th century CE. Sometime towards the end of the 1st century BCE the Nabataeans began using a new route between the site of [[Moyat Awad]] in the [[Arabah]] valley and Avdat by way of [[Makhtesh Ramon]]. Nabataean or Roman Nabataean sites have been found and excavated at Moyat Awad (mistakenly identified as Moa of the 6th century CE Madeba Map), Qatzra, Har Masa, Mezad Nekarot, Sha'ar Ramon (Khan Saharonim), Mezad Ma'ale Mahmal and Grafon.  
 
Avdat continued to prosper as a major station along the [[Petra]]-[[Gaza City|Gaza]] road after the Roman annexation of Nabataea in 106 CE. Avdat, like other towns in the central [[Negev]] highlands, adjusted to the cessation of international trade through the region in the early to mid 3rd century by adopting agriculture, and particularly the production of wine, as its means of subsistence. Numerous terraced farms and water channels were built throughout the region in order to collect enough run-off from winter rains to support agriculture in the hyper-arid zone of southern Palestine. At least five wine presses dated to the Byzantine period have been found at the site.

In the late 3rd or early 4th century (probably during the reign of [[Diocletian]]) the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] army constructed an army camp measuring 100 x 100 m. on the northern side of the plateau. Elsewhere at the site, an inscription was found in the ruins of a tower describing the date (293/294 CE) and the fact that one of the builders hailed from Petra. Around this time a bath house was constructed on the plain below the site. The bath house was supplied with water by way of a well, tunneled 70 meters through bedrock. Sites along the Petra-Gaza road were apparently used by the Roman army in the 4th and 5th centuries when the road continued to function as an artery between Petra and the Nabataean Negev settlements. Pottery and coins from the late 3rd to the early 5th century have been found at Mezad Ma'ale Mahmal, Shar Ramon and Har Masa and Roman milestones line part of the road between Avdat and Shar Ramon. A fort with four corner towers was constructed on the ruins of early Nabataean structures north of Avdat at Horvat Ma'agora. Milestones have been found on along the Petra Gaza road north at Avdat between Avdat and Horvat Ma'agora and further up the road towards [[Halutza]] (Elusa).

The early town was heavily damaged by a major (probably local) earthquake, sometime in the early 5th century CE. In the ruins of this destruction a Nabataean inscription, in black ink on plaster, was found bearing a blessing of the Nabataean god, [[Dushara]]. The inscription was written by the plasterer, one Ben-Gadya. This is the latest Nabataean inscription ever found in Palestine.

A wall was built around the later town, including a large area of man-made caves, some of which were partially inhabited in the Byzantine period. Under [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] rule, in 5th and 6th century, a citadel and a monastery with two churches were built on the acropolis of Avdat. Saint Theodore's Church is the most interesting [[Byzantine]] relic in Avdat.  Marble tombstones inserted in the floor are covered with [[Medieval Greek|Greek]] inscriptions.  [[Theodore Stratelates|St. Theodore]] was a Greek [[martyr]] of the 4th century.  The Monastery stands next to the church and nearby a lintel is carved with lions and it marks the entrance to the castle.

During an investigation of a 2 hectare residential sector, evidence of intensive activity in the Early Islamic period, ca. CE 650–900, was uncovered.<ref name=Bucking/>