The Byzantine Islamic Transition in the Negev JSAI 35

The Institute of Asian and African StudiesThe Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation

Offprint from

JERUSALEM STUDIES INARABIC AND ISLAM

35(2008)

Gideon Avni

The Byzantine-Islamic transition in theNegev: an archaeological perspective

THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEMTHE FACULTY OF HUMANITIES

JSAI 35 (2008)

THE BYZANTINE-ISLAMIC TRANSITIONIN THE NEGEV:

AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

Gideon AvniIsrael Antiquities Authority

and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The early Islamic conquest of southern Palestine and the transition fromByzantine to Islamic rule in this border region is briefly mentioned inseveral historical sources. The traditional view saw this process as partof the rapid, swift and sometimes violent campaign of the Islamic mili-tary forces emerging from central Arabia and conquering Palestine andthe surrounding regions within a decade.1 Following the conquest, theextensive Byzantine settlements of the Negev, which included large vil-lages, farms, and complex agricultural systems were allegedly abandonedand completely deserted.

Recent accumulated archaeological data from the Negev provides astrikingly different scenario, evincing a slow and gradual process of trans-formation between the 6th and 9th centuries CE. Excavations of thelarge settlements (frequently labelled as the Negev Roman and Byzan-tine towns2), agricultural villages and farms, and nomadic encampments,as well as extensive field surveys, provide abundant new data for the eval-uation of the transition from Byzantine to Islamic rule in this area (fig.1).

The purpose of this paper is to explore the transformation of settle-ments in the Negev during the early Islamic period, based on the existingarchaeological evidence, focusing on two main questions:

1. The impact of the Islamic conquest on the Byzantine settlementsof the Negev.

2. Aspects of continuity and change in the settlement patterns and

1For discussions of the early Islamic conquests, see Donner 1981; Kaegi 1992; Gil1992:45–70. A typical 19th century description of the conquest is provided in Muir1898:45.

2These were in fact large villages, except for Elusa which was the main urbancenter of the district.

1

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in the religious affiliation of the Negev population during the earlyIslamic period.

The evolution of archaeological evidence

The traditional historical view that saw the Islamic conquest and theByzantine–Islamic transition as an abrupt political and cultural changewas generally adopted by archaeologists working in Palestine during the19th and the first half of the 20th centuries. Many western scholars sawthe conquest as a cause of a rapid decline in settlement and culture, andconcluded that the demise of the Classical and Byzantine cultures in theLevant was the result of the Islamic conquest.3 This traditional view isreflected also in a number of studies of the Byzantine settlements in theNegev, which saw the Islamic conquest as causing the total abandonmentof sites.4

Only during the 1970s and 1980s, with the emergence of new archae-ological evidence of the continuity of settlements in the Negev from theByzantine to the early Islamic period, an alternative approach gradu-ally developed. Renewed excavations in the Negev “towns” of Rehovot(Ruheibeh), Nessana, ↪Avdat (Oboda), and Mamshit (Mampsis) refinedthe existing chronological conclusions concerning the demise and aban-donment of these sites following the Islamic conquest. Large-scale re-gional surveys conducted in the northern Negev, the Negev Highlandsand the ↪Arava Valley, provided new data for the Byzantine and earlyIslamic settlement patterns.5

Based on his excavations at Ruheibeh, Tsafrir came in 1984 to thefollowing conclusion about the process of settlement transformation inthe Negev:

3Islamic archaeology was a rather neglected field in Israeli archaeology until the1970s. Apart from few small-scale excavations of Islamic sites (for example at Ramlaby Kaplan, Rosen-Ayalon and Eitan; at Abu-Gosh by de-Vaux, and at Khirbet el-Minya by Grabar and Rosen-Ayalon), archaeological research in Israel concentratedmainly on Biblical and Classical sites. Thus, the contribution of archaeological exca-vations to the knowledge of the Byantine-Islamic transition was very limited.

4For example: Avi Yonah 1934; Negev 1977, 1986.5The “Negev Emergency Survey” was initiated in 1979 following the Israeli-

Egyptian peace accord and the redeployment of the Israeli army in the Negev. Ap-proximately 1500 square km were systematically surveyed between 1979 and 1989,revealing more than 10,000 sites from different periods. For various survey reports seeAvni 1992; Cohen 1981, 1985; Govrin 1991; Haiman 1986, 1991, 1993, 1999; Rosen1994; Lender 1990; Baumgarten 2004. And see Magness 2003 for a general evaluationof the late Byzantine and early Islamic sites discovered in the course of the surveys.

The Byzantine-Islamic transition in the Negev 3

Certainly the collapse of settlement did not occur during theUmayyad period (640–750), although the process of declinecan already be discerned at that time. . . . The picture that Isee is one of decline beginning with the Muslim conquest.6

Additional archaeological data from surveys and excavations conductedin the Negev during the last 20 years suggest considerable changes inthe previously accepted paradigms for the settlement processes in thisregion, stressing the continuity of settlements with slow and gradualchanges between the 6th and 9th centuries.7

The Negev “towns”

The large settlements of the Negev Highlands attracted the attention ofscholars from the beginning of modern exploration of this area in the 19th

century. The first surveys revealed the remains of six large sites: Elusa,the capital of the district, Sobota (Subeita-Shivta), Nessana, Ruheibeh(Rehovot), Oboda–↪Avdat and Mampsis (Kurnub–Mamshit).8 Shivtaand Nessana were extensively excavated between 1934 and 1937.9 Thediscovery of the Nessana archives, containing numerous administrativedocuments written between 512 and 689, provided a major source forunderstanding the local history of the Negev in that period.10 Additionallarge-scale excavations were conducted at Shivta, ↪Avdat and Mamshitduring the 1960’s, but unfortunately these were not fully published, andno data on the stratigraphy and chronology of the unearthed remainsis available.11 The next wave of excavations, conducted at Mamshit,12

Rehovot,13 ↪Avdat,14 and Nessana,15 is fairly well documented, but notyet fully published.

The partially published reports of the excavations of these sites showa considerable diversity in the time of the demise and abandonmentof settlements. While A. Negev’s conclusion on Mamshit was that the

6Tsafrir 1984:70–71; translated by Magness 2003:1.7Avni 1994, 1996; Rosen and Avni 1997.8For the early descriptions, see Musil 1907; Woolley and Lawrence 1914–15. See

Shereshevski 1991 for a summary of previous researches (Woolley and Lawrence).9Baly 1935; Colt 1962.

10Kraemer 1958.11Negev 1977, 1988, 1993a, 1993b, 1993c, 1997.12Ginni 2004:234–244.13Tsafrir 1988; Tsafrir and Holum 1988.14Fabian 1998; Korjenkov, Fabian and Becker 1996; Ginni 2004:245–255.15Urman 2004

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town was abandoned well before the Islamic conquest,16 and ↪Avdat wasdeserted shortly after the conquest,17 the archeological evidence fromNessana and Shivta points toward a clear continuity of settlement up tothe 8th or 9th centuries.18

A recently published re-evaluation of the Byzantine and early Islamicceramic sequences from the Negev suggests that in most sites the set-tlement continued well into the early Islamic period, and that sites werenot abandoned following the Islamic conquest.19 For example, the re-evaluation of the ceramic evidence from Mamshit shows that the sitewas still inhabited in the 7th century and was not deserted before theIslamic conquest.20 ↪Avdat was not destroyed and abandoned around630, as previously claimed by Negev,21 and evidence of the continuity ofsettlement during the 7th century is provided by recent excavations. Thedestruction of ↪Avdat might have been caused by an earthquake in thefirst half of the 7th century, but certainly not by a violent conquest.22

The excavations at Rehovot show continuity of the settlement into the8th century. And since the inhabitants of the latest phase of occupationwere identified as squatters, it appears that some time after 700 thetown was already deserted.23 However, a re-evaluation of the finds showsconsiderable evidence of occupation at least until the mid-8th century.24

Firm evidence for the continuity of the large settlements in the Negevcomes from Shivta and Nessana. The short preliminary report of the ex-cavations in Shivta25 show that the site was continuously inhabited fromByzantine to early Islamic times. The churches were still in use duringthe 7th and probably the 8th century. Burials in the churches contin-ued at least until 679, as evident by the latest burial inscription fromthe Northern Church.26 Recent surveys at Shivta show no evidence ofviolent destruction, but of a gradual abandonment, which left the ex-isting architectural remains in situ.27 The accumulated archaeologicalevidence suggests that the town was continuously inhabited from Byzan-tine times until the 9th century and perhaps into the 10th century.28 The

16Negev 1988:7–8.17Negev 1993a:1165.18Baly 1935; Colt 1962:21–24; Urman 2004:105–110.19Magness 2003.20Magness 2003: 188–90.21Negev 1997:9.22Fabian 1998; Ginni 2004:255.23Tsafrir, 1988:8, Tsafrir and Holum 1988.24Magness 2003:191–94.25Baly 1935; see also Negev 1993c.26Negev 1981: 47–67, 1993c:1406–1407.27Segal 1983; Hirschfeld 2003.28Magness 2003:185–187.


early Islamic mosque installed near Shivta’s southern church29 (fig. 2)is another clear piece of evidence of the continuity of the settlement be-yond the Byzantine period. It seems that the church and the mosquefunctioned side by side during the early Islamic period. A number ofinscriptions in Arabic, dated to the 9th century, were found in the wallsand columns of the mosque30.

The extensive excavations at Nessana provided further evidence forthe continuity of settlement into the early Islamic period. The chronol-ogy of the late Byzantine and early Islamic settlement was based mainlyon the dated documents discovered at the archives of the northernchurch.31 Colt and Kraemer concluded that intensive building activ-ity was conducted at Nessana at the beginning of the 7th century, andthat the settlement was inhabited until the mid-8th century.32 Basedon her re-evaluation of the finds and the results of the recent excava-tions at the site, Magness suggested that Nessana was not deserted inthe mid-8th century, and the town continued to flourish until the 10th

century.33 The preliminary results of the recent excavations support thislate chronology.34

Judging from the archaeological data, it seems that not even one ofthe Negev towns was affected by the Islamic conquest. No hint of aviolent invasion or destruction, or even a slight change in the materialculture is found in the large-scale excavations of the sites. The archae-ological findings point to an uninterrupted pattern of settlement whichcontinued from the Byzantine period into the later stages of the earlyIslamic period.

There are, however, different patterns of continuity within the region.While the occupation of Mamshit and ↪Avdat continued into the end ofthe 7th century, but with a considerable decline of their urban systems,Nessana and Shivta continued to flourish up to the 9th or even the 10th

century. The reason for this regional diversity might be explained bydifferences in the economic stability of local authorities in the towns,or by the impact of several earthquakes that had greater effect on theeastern towns of Mamshit and ↪Avdat.35

29Avni 1994:90–91.30For a brief preliminary description of some inscriptions, see Baly 1935. Other

inscriptions are stored at the Rockefeller Museum archives and await proper publica-tion.

31Kraemer 1958.32Colt 1962:20–25; Kraemer 1958:31–35.33Magness 2003:180–185.34Oked 1993; Urman 2004.35Fabian 1998.

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Agricultural villages and farms

The extensive archaeological surveys in the Negev have revealed a largenumber of sites that were constructed either in the late Byzantine period(end of 6th century), or in the 7th and 8th centuries.36 A number of agri-cultural farms and villages were excavated in the Negev Highlands (fig.1), revealing a similar chronological sequence: the sites were establishedat the end of the Byzantine or the beginning of the early Islamic period,and were abandoned by the 9th century.

At Nahal La↪ana, in the central Negev Highlands, a village containingsix structures and surrounded by agricultural terraces and dams was ex-cavated.37 The main building contained nine rooms constructed arounda central spacious open courtyard. The building was gradually expandedand new rooms were added. In one of the rooms a round mih. rab wasconstructed and the space was used as a small indoor mosque. The in-stallation of the mih. rab was done at a later stage of the occupation of thesite, when the main building was already in use. The pottery, coins andradiocarbon dating of finds show that the structure was in use betweenthe 7th and 9th centuries.38

At Nahal Mitnan, in the western Negev Highlands (about 30 kmnorthwest of Mizpeh Ramon), another agricultural farm was excavated.39

The farm, situated on the banks of a terraced wadı, included the mainfarm house complex, measuring 15x33 m and had additional agriculturalinstallations around it. In one of the excavated rooms a glass weightbearing the name of ↪Abd al-Malik b. Yazıd, governor of Egypt, anddated to 751–753, was found.40 The ceramic and numismatic finds showthat this farm was inhabited during the 7th and 8th centuries, but it isimpossible to determine whether it was established before or after theIslamic conquest.41

Another agricultural village was excavated in the upper part of NahalBesor, near Sede Boker.42 It includes five units of residential buildingslocated near a wide wadı and spread over an area of 0.8 hectare. A num-ber of agricultural installations, animal pens, threshing floors and water

36See mainly Haiman 1995a, 1995b, Avni 1992, 1996; Rosen 1994, Lender 1990;Nahlieli, Israel and Ben-Michael 1996; Ben-Michael, Israel and Nahlieli 2004.

37Nahlieli, Israel and Ben Michael 1996.38Magness 2003:148–149.39Haiman 1995a.40Lester 1990.41Magness 2003:154.42Ben Michael, Israel and Nahlieli 2004.


cisterns were found near the village. Most of the buildings consist of sev-eral square or rectangular rooms built around an open courtyard. Twolarge residential buildings (areas A and C) were partly excavated,43andanother small building (area B) was located between these units. Astanding stone was found in one of the rooms in this building (room 14)positioned against the wall opposite the entrance (fig. 3). It seems thatthis room was used as a small pagan shrine, in which a local deity in theform of a standing stone was worshipped.

Several Arabic inscriptions were found near the site, one of themmentioning the name Hisham b. ↪Abd al-Malik.44 The finds from theexcavation included a considerable amount of pottery, coins, stamps,and other small finds, dating the occupation of the site to the 7th–9th

centuries.45

One of the largest early Islamic villages in the central Negev High-lands was found at Sede Boqer. This settlement contained about 80dwellings spread on the slopes along small wadis facing the large Zinplain, which may have been used for agriculture. An open-air mosquewas constructed on top of a hill located in the center of the complex.46

The mosque consisted of a rectangular hall (5x12 m) facing south with aslight alignment to the east, with a round mih. rab installed in the south-ern wall. A square courtyard was built in front of the mosque. The wallsof the open mosque were originally no higher than 1 m (fig. 4). Hundredsof Arabic inscriptions were found in and around the structure, most ofthem predating the construction of the mosque.

The site was excavated in 1982–1988 by Y.D. Nevo, who interpretedthe architectural remains as cultic installations used by the local nomadsof the Negev during the 7th and 8th centuries.47 Based on the style ofbuildings and the numerous inscriptions found around the mosque, Nevosuggested that Sede Boqer was a major cultic site, and his finds supportthe revisionist approaches to the development of Islam, supposedly prov-ing that formative Islam evolved only at a later stage and not before the8th century.48

Nevo’s interpretation of the Sede Boqer site was strongly rejected bymost archaeologists working in the Negev. The similarity of the architec-tural components at Sede Boker and other neighboring villages in whichthe agricultural features are very prominent, ruled out the possibility of

43Ibid, 109*.44Sharon 1999:174.45Ben Michael, Israel and Nahlieli 2004: 121*–122*.46Cohen 1981: 62–67, sites 92 (the settlement) and 94 (the mosque); Avni 1994:88–

89.47Nevo 1985, 1991.48Nevo and Koren 2003.

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a main cultic center in which all the structures had a ritual function.Many installations which were explained by Nevo as having cultic signif-icance are in fact typical to most other sites in the region and they havea clear domestic or agricultural use.49 Likewise, the pottery and smallfinds are typical of domestic daily use, and are not cultic in nature.50

The only outstanding feature of this site is the large concentration ofinscriptions incised on the local limestone bedrock. The inscriptions werelocated mainly on the hill in which the mosque was later constructed.Two of the dated inscriptions were found directly under the walls of themosque, and clearly antedate its construction. Both of them bear thedate 165 AH (781/782).51

The pottery, coins and inscriptions found at Sede Boqer show thatthe settlement was inhabited between the late 7th and the 9th centuries.52

The mosque was constructed in the late 8th century, when most of thedwellings were already fully developed and had been inhabited for abouta century.

South of the permanent settlements in the central Negev Highlands,hundreds of nomadic and semi-nomadic encampments were surveyed anddocumented.53 Two of these sites, located south-west of Makhtesh Ra-mon, were excavated, revealing a similar chronological sequence as thewestern and central Negev Highlands settlements (fig. 5).54 The Nahal↪Oded site, located on a wadı terrace, extends over an area of 10 hectares.It contains several clusters of round and elliptical structures, each builtfrom a stone wall up to 1 m high. In the center of the settlement, onerectangular solid structure was built, of the typical type prevailing inthe northern and central Negev Highlands.

Several cooking and storage installations were constructed near thedwellings. A large stone stele, 0.8 m high and 0.6 m wide was installednear one of the round structures (fig. 6). The stone was flanked by twosmaller stones, and in front of it was a paved area made of small flatstones. Ash stains, organic matter, shards and small fragments of glasswere found nearby. It seems that this area functioned as a small culticshrine within the village. The remains of an ancient encampment werefound nearby, containing the remains of seasonal location of tents, andno solid structures.

A small cemetery was found on a higher terrace, containing several

49Haiman 1995b:49–50.50Magness 2003:139.51Sharon 1990:9*; Nevo 1985:5–9, 22–24. One inscription is precisely dated to 1

Dhu al-H. ijja, 165/17 July, 782.52Magness 2003:140.53Avni 1992, 1996; Rosen 1994.54Avni 1996: 33–54; Rosen and Avni 1997.


simple shaft graves dug in the ground, and positioned in an east westdirection. In several excavated graves the bodies of the deceased werefound laid on their side and facing south, in a typical Islamic burialposition. Another stelae installation was found on top of a low ridgenear the cemetery, containing three standing stones facing the steepslope to the north of the site. It seems that these cultic installationsfollow the long tradition of the desert standing stones prevailing in theNegev, Sinai and northern Arabia.55

An open-air mosque was constructed on a prominent hill southwest ofthe settlement, at a distance of about 300 m from the main concentrationof dwellings (fig. 7). Unlike other mosques in the Negev Highlands, thisone did not included a round mih. rab niche, but three standing stoneslocated at the southeastern wall, opposite the entrance.56

A similar site was excavated near Har ‘Oded, to the east of Nahal‘Oded. This site included 16 round and elliptical structures, the remainsof tent encampments, and an open mosque located on top of a hill about100 m from the settlement.57

The ceramic and numismatic finds and radiocarbon dating suggestthat both sites were settled before the Islamic conquest, sometime to-wards the end of the 6th century, and were inhabited on a seasonal basisuntil the 9th century.58

Following the surveys and excavations in the Negev Highlands twoalternative models were suggested for this extensive early Islamic settle-ment expansion. In Haiman’s opinion, the occupation of the Negev inthis period is indicative of a designed settlement project that was em-barked upon in the 7th and 8th centuries by the Umayyad central gov-ernment. The aim of this project was to reinforce the southern border ofPalestine and create a barrier of permanent agricultural settlements inthe peripheral regions.59 Avni and Rosen explain the wave of new set-tlements as the outcome of an internal regional process associated withthe complex relationships between settlers and nomads in the NegevHighlands.60

Early Islamic settlements were discovered also along the ↪Arava Val-ley, in two main concentrations — at the northern ↪Arava, in the areaof Hazeva and ↪Ein Yahav and at the southern ↪Arava, as part of thesettlement system connected to the urban center of Ayla–↪Aqaba.

55For the cultic meaning of standing stones in the Nabatean cultures see Patrich1990; Avner 1984.

56Avni 1994:84; 1996:40.57Avni 1996:41–44; Rosen and Avni 1997:42–56.58Rosen and Avni 1997:85–86; Magness 2003:164–167.59Haiman 1995b.60Avni 1996: 75–91, Rosen and Avni 1997:87–91.

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In the northern ↪Arava, five large early Islamic sites were discoveredin the course of the Negev Emergency Survey. Excavations were con-ducted at the Nahal Shahaq site, near the spring of ↪Ein Hazeva.61 Thesettlement consists of ten rectangular buildings, built of mud bricks onstone foundations — a different construction method than the one pre-vailing in the Negev Highlands. The finds included pottery, coins, leadornaments, metal artifacts, stone and wooden vessels, and remains ofwoven textiles and ropes. A stamped bulla bearing an impression of anofficial seal with the name “by Yazıd” was found in a dump near oneof the structures. The settlement was occupied from the 7th to the 9th

centuries, and it seems that the inhabitants cultivated the arable areasnear ↪Ein Hazeva.62

A considerable number of early Islamic sites were discovered in thecourse of surveys in the southern ↪Arava. Excavations were conducted inseveral settlements and industrial sites that were apparently connectedwith early Islamic Ayla.63 Besides agricultural villages, evidence of min-ing of copper and gold was also discovered.64

Six early Islamic villages have been discovered in the vicinity of Eilat,about 5–10 km from Ayla, and one of them — the Eilot village — wasexcavated.65 The site contained several dozens of square and rectangularstructures, arranged in several clusters.66 Four residential complexeswere excavated, each consisting of one to three rooms arranged on aneast-west axis and opening onto a common courtyard. Various storageand cooking installations were found near the buildings. The plan ofthe site attests to the rural character of the village, and the finds pointto a relatively long period of inhabitation between the 8th and 10th

centuries. It seems that this system of early Islamic agricultural villageswas developed as part of the agricultural hinterland of Ayla.67

Remains of large agricultural farms, cultivated through the use ofqanats or foggara were found in the southern ↪Arava, at Yotvata and↪Evrona. These large farms, consisting of underground water tunnelsseveral km long,68 represent intensive early Islamic agriculture in theextreme desert conditions of the southern ↪Arava. They are strikinglydifferent in character in comparison with the extensive agricultural sys-tems of the Negev Highlands.

61Israel, Nahlieli and Ben Michael 1995.62Magness 2003:169–170.63Avner and Magness 1998.64Idem: 40–45.65Avner 1995.66Idem:105–106; Avner and Magness 1998:40.67For the excavations at early Islamic Ayla, see Whitcomb 1994; 1995.68Porath 1987; Porath, forthcoming; Avner and Magness 1998:46–49.


The southern ↪Arava surveys and excavations have shown that thesettlements in this region flourished between the 8th and 11th centuriesas part of the hinterland of Ayla. The question whether this was astate initiated project, as the large farms of Yotvata and ↪Evrona mightindicate, or a natural growth of the agricultural and industrial hinterlandof Ayla, is still under debate.

Discussion

What was the settlement pattern in southern Palestine on the eve ofthe Islamic conquest, and how was the Negev affected by the large-scale geopolitical changes of the 7th century? Several short historicaldescriptions describe the situation at this border area during the end ofthe Byzantine period and the penetration of Islamic military forces tosouthern Palestine in 634.

Both the archaeological evidence and a number of historical sourcesshow that the southern coastal plain, the northern Negev and the cen-tral Negev Highlands were densely inhabited in the 6th century.69 Thepopulation of these areas was supported mainly by agriculture and thelocal manufacture of its goods, mainly oil and wine.

The question of the large-scale international trade crossing the Negevtowards the sea ports of Gaza and Ashqelon is under debate. The archae-ological evidence from the Negev shows that the major trading routescrossing these areas were not extensively used during the Byzantine pe-riod and most commercial activity was local in nature. In a survey con-ducted along Darb el-Ghazza, the main desert road leading from Aylato Gaza, along the western ridges of the Negev Highlands, no evidenceof major commercial activity on the eve of the Islamic conquest wasfound.70 This route, consisting of networks of paths, was probably oneof several desert routes used by Christian pilgrims on their way fromPalestine to Mount Sinai.71 Similar conclusions arise from the evalua-tion of the archaeological surveys conducted in the ↪Arava. No evidence

69For the Gaza region, see Bitton-Ashkelony and Kofsky 2004. For the wine indus-try in this region, see Mayerson 1985; for the agricultural estates near Ashqelon, seeIsrael 1995; Johnson and Stager 1995. For the central Negev Highlands, see Mayerson1960; Rubin 1990; Shereshevski 1991. See also Kraemer 1958 for the evidence of theNessana Papyri.

70Meshel 1981.71See for example Nesana Papyrus 89, which is a partial account of the income

and expenditures of a caravan travelling from the Negev to Southern Sinai and back:Kraemer 1958:251–258; Avni 1996:78–79.

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was found here for extensive commercial activity in the 6th century, andthe nature of sites evinces a local pastoralist settlement pattern. Itseems that the ↪Arava route was used only by the local inhabitants ofthe region. The conclusion drawn from both the archaeological evidenceand local historical sources is that the western Negev or ↪Arava Valleyroads were not used for large-scale international trade by the end of theByzantine period.

The problematic aspects of the pre-Islamic large-scale trade werepresented by Crone, who argued that no large-scale incense trade fromArabia to the Mediterranean existed on the eve of the Islamic conquest.72

It seems that the archaeological findings from the Negev support thisview.

The penetration of the Arab military forces of the area of Gaza in633–634 is mentioned briefly in several sources.73 This resulted in aviolent clash with the local Byzantine army at Dathin, probably nearGaza, on 4 February, 634. The Byzantine forces were defeated by theArab conquering army, and the Byzantine commander was slain in thebattle.74

Kaegi supports the view that ↪Amr b. al-↪As. crossed to Gaza fromthe ↪Arava Valley, striking wells and settlements on his way.75 Mayersonsuggested three alternative routes that might have been used by theArab forces leading them from Ayla to Gaza. He concluded that thedirection of the attack on Palestine was not along the well-known directroad from Ayla to Gaza, the western Darb Ghazza route, but throughsome secondary lesser known routes going deep into Sinai and thencenorthward to the district of Gaza.76 However, no archaeological evidencefor violent destruction was found — neither in the Negev Highlands, inSinai, along the Darb Ghazza route, nor along the ↪Arava Valley route.

So how did the trade caravans (if they existed at all) and, later on,the Arab forces cross the Negev on their way to Gaza? As no evidencefor extensive trans-Negev trade was found, we can presume that eitherthis large-scale trade did not exist or that alternative routes outside theNegev were used.

Looking at the results of excavations and surveys in neighboring re-gions, a similar picture of settlement emerges for the late Byzantineand early Islamic periods. The archaeological findings from Jordan andsouthern Syria point toward a system of locally oriented towns and agri-

72Crone 1987, 1992.73See Donner 1981:114–17; Kaegi 1992:88–94; Gil 1992:49; Mayerson 1964.74Kaegi 1992:88–94; Donner 1981:115; Gil 1992:49–50; Mayerson 1964:166–169.

For a different view of the battle see Nevo and Koren 2003:98–100.75Kaegi 1992:93.76Mayerson 1964:198–199.


cultural villages, with temporary nomadic settlements and encampmentsin their vicinity.77 As in the Negev, the recent archaeological data fromthese regions does not give any hint of large-scale commerce on the eveof the Islamic conquests, nor of violent destruction during the conquest.

Moreover, the archaeological data bears no indication of a break ordramatic change in the settlement sequence between Byzantine and Is-lamic rule. A clear pattern of continuity is evident from the archae-ological record in the Negev and neighboring regions. The extensiveByzantine settlement of the Negev Highlands continued to flourish inthe early Islamic period, with some regional diversity — the large settle-ment of the eastern zones, ↪Avdat and Mamshit, had declined already inthe 7th and 8th centuries, while the large western settlements of Shivtaand Nessana continued to exist until the 9th or 10th centuries. Newagricultural villages and farms were constructed in the 7th century, andthe process of sedentarization of nomads was accelerated. The southern↪Arava sites reveal a different settlement process, showing a consider-able expansion of settlements between the 7th and 10th centuries, whichincluded the introduction of new irrigation systems hitherto unknownin these regions.78 This network of settlements and industrial sites waspart of the hinterland of ↪Ayla.

The archaeological record from the Negev contains a clear indicationof the abandonment of Christian and pagan religious practices and adop-tion of Islamic ones in these fringe regions. The Byzantine period wascharacterized by a widespread introduction of churches and monaster-ies to the Negev towns,79 alongside continuing traditional pagan culticpractices among the inhabitants of small villages and nomadic encamp-ments.80 The discovery of a considerable number of early Islamic open-air mosques in the Negev bears clear evidence of a process of a religiousand cultic transformation,81 but it seems that most of these mosqueswere installed relatively late in the chronological sequence of early Is-lamic settlements. For example, the mosque at Shivta was installednear the still functioning southern Church.82 Although there is no clearevidence for the date of construction of the mosque, it seems that thebuilding was in use not earlier than the 8th century, and continued tofunction in the 9th and 10th centuries. The open-air mosque at Sede Bo-

77See for example the summaries of the large-scale research conducted in Jordan:Walmsley 1988, 1992, 2001; Watson 2001; Whitcomb 2001; Schick 1992.

78Porath 1987; Porath, forthcoming.79Negev 1974; Rubin 1990.80Avner 1984:130–131.81Avni 1994.82Baly 1935; Avni 1994:87–88.

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qer was constructed only by the end of the 8th century,83 and the indoorsmall mosque at Nahal La↪ana was installed within an existing structureprobably at the same time.

A clear indication of a transitional stage from the traditional stelecult to the open mosques is found in the Nahal ↪Oded site describedabove, where the stelae cultic installations were replaced by an open-airmosque with a standing stone in the place of the mih. rab.

A similar transformation is evident at the Nahal Besor site: the in-door cultic installation found within one of the dwellings (see above)probably represents the continuity of an earlier desert cultic traditionwhich was later on developed to the open-air mosque found nearby atSede Boqer.

It seems that the transformation from stelae cult to the open-airmosque represents the gradual transition from the old pagan cultic tra-ditions of the desert nomads to Islam. Nevo’s far-reaching interpretationconsidered this process of change as representing much wider religiousphenomena, which included both nomads and settlers in the Negev andneighbouring regions. In his opinion, the archeological finds from theNegev provide a new interpretation of the history of early Islam: theArabs were pagans at the time of the conquests, and soon afterwardsthey adopted a very simple form of monotheism which gradually devel-oped into Islam. Many Arabs remained pagans, and an active paganArab cult existed in the Negev which is represented in many cultic sitesand installations.84

As pointed out above, Nevo’s interpretation of all the dwellings dis-covered at Sede Boqer being cultic installations contradicts the evidencefrom all neighboring sites, showing that these structures were in factdwellings inhabited by the local population. The comparative archae-ological data proves that similar structures were found at many sitesin the Negev Highlands, with a clear connection to agricultural villagesor pastoralist encampments. It seems that the Sede Boqer site and thenearby open-air mosque should be evaluated in the local context of cul-tural and religious evolution, rather than being taken as representativeof a large-scale profound religious and cultic transformation. It seemsthat the local population of the Negev gradually absorbed the profoundreligious changes occurring in the central areas of Palestine and Syria.The reflections of this religious transition were evidenced in the Negevin a relatively late stage, towards the end of the 8th century.

Another site which was interpreted as representing a meaningful earlyIslamic religious transformation is the open-air mosque discovered at

83Avni 1994:88–89.84Nevo 1985, 1991, Nevo and Koren 2003.


Be↩er Ora in the southern ↪Arava.85 This installation, no more than amarking on the ground with lines of stones, has in it two round niches— one facing to the south and the other to the east (fig. 8). It hasbeen suggested that this structure represents an early open mosque inwhich the direction of the mih. rab was moved from the eastern side tothe southern side of the structure; it was suggested that this is thefirst indication of the change in the direction of prayer in early Islamicreligious practices from east to south.86 Excavations conducted at thesite87 could not confirm this suggestion. It seems that the fragmentarynature of this structure, and the fact that it was constructed in a remotedesert site should restrict any far-reaching interpretations, and it seemsmore plausible that this is another peripheral desert site which representsonly local cultic traditions.

Judging from the archaeological data, it seems that the ancient tra-dition of stelae cult was practiced by the Negev nomads throughout theNabatean and Byzantine times, and was gradually altered into the openmosque cult during the early Islamic period. As shown by Avner andPatrich, this tradition was not restricted only to the Negev and it can befound in neighboring areas like southern Jordan and northern Arabia.88

Christian religious practices were extensively expressed in the Negevlarge settlements, where a number of churches were found. At the agri-cultural villages, farms and especially within the pastoralist sites of thecentral and southern Negev Highlands and the ↪Arava Valley, no evidencefor Christian presence was traced in archeological excavations. The in-habitants of these fringe areas continued to practice the traditional stelaecult throughout the Byzantine period. The coming of Islam had no realimpact on the older cultic practices, except for the fact that mosqueswere introduced to this area. It seems that the traditional cults contin-ued to predominate, with the mosques facing to the south replacing thestanding stones facing to the nearby hill.89 The practice of installingdesert open mosques continued into the modern period: contemporaryBedouin desert open-air mosques are often characterized by a standingstone placed at the center of the mih. rab.90

To what extent can these conclusions from the Negev be appliedto other neighboring regions? Comparative analysis of the archaeolog-ical data from the Negev and the results of numerous excavations con-

85Rothenberg 1972:221–222; Sharon, Avner and Nahlieli 1996.86Sharon 1988:230–233; Bashear (1991) pointed out the possibility that the struc-

ture was used for prayer by both Christians and Muslims.87Sharon, Avner and Nahlieli 199688Avner 1984; Patrich 1990.89Cf. Crone 1987:240–241.90See, for example, Waechter et. al. 1938: pl. 10, plan 1

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ducted in Jordan shows many similarities in the settlement patterns andchronology of the religious and cultural changes. The slow and grad-ual penetration of Islam to these areas is reflected in the continuityof the Christian religious presence in the large settlements of both theNegev and Jordan.91 The new archaeological data from both regionsdramatically reshapes the traditional views of the demise of the Byzan-tine settlements and shows similar patterns of continuity in settlementsand material culture from the Byzantine to the early Islamic period.

Summary

What is the main contribution of archaeology to our understanding ofthe larger picture of cultural and religious changes in southern Palestineduring the turbulent 7th and 8th centuries? The main fact to be empha-sized is that the accumulated archaeological evidence shows no hint of aviolent destruction of settlements in the course of the Islamic conquest.It points rather towards a very slow and gradual transformation from theextensive Byzantine settlement system which included large villages andfarms, and continued to exist in early Islamic times, to a pattern of no-madic fringe population that prevailed in this area during later medievaltimes.

The religious transformation also reflects processes of slow penetra-tion of formative Islam, which gradually replaced both the pagan ste-lae cult in the nomadic encampments, and the Christian churches andmonasteries in the larger settlements. This process took place betweenthe 7th and 9th centuries, indicating a long period of a coexistence ofboth religious practices.

Although the data from the Negev represents a rather regional andlocal history, as Kraemer has concluded in his evaluation of the Nessanapapyri,92 the pattern of settlement and cultural transformation which isevident in this region can be used as a model for the evaluation of histori-cal processes in other regions of the Near East. Although a typical fringearea, the extensive surveys and excavations conducted in the Negev pro-vide a firm ground for a detailed evaluation of the historical processtaking place in this region between the 6th and 10th centuries. The re-gional factor is dominant when evaluating the impact of the early Islamicconquest and the political, cultural and religious transitions between theByzantine and Islamic regimes. In this sense the model represented by

91Schick 1992, 1995.92Kraemer 1958:23.


the archaeological evidence from the Negev can and should be used forsimilar evaluations in other regions of the Near East; this, in turn willlead to a better understanding of the Byzantine–Islamic transition.

Fig. 1. The Negev in Byzantine and early Islamic times:sites mentioned in the text

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Fig. 2. Shivta — early Islamic mosque adjacent to the southern church

Fig. 3. Nahal Besor — home shrine with standing stone


Fig. 4. Sede Boker — general view of the mosque

Fig. 5. The Har ↪Oded site — typical nomadic site in the southernNegev Highlands

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Fig. 6. Nahal ↪Oded — round structure and standing stone shrine

Fig. 7. Nahal ↪Oded — open-air mosque


Fig. 8. Be↩er Ora mosque

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