Excavations at the Nabatean Site of 'En Tamar

The 2006 salvage excavation carried out at 'En Tamar revealed evidence that the main structure in Area A should be dated to the Late Roman period, following the annexation of Nabatea in 106 CE. In addition, firm numismatic and ceramic evidence of an earlier Nabatean occupation was discovered in the southern part of the structure, in lower levels unrelated to any architectural features; the nature of this earlier Nabatean occupation is unclear. The pre-annexation finds include Nabatean coins pre-dating 106 CE, accompanied by Nabatean pottery dated to the Hellenistic and Early Roman periods. These artifacts may have originated in an earlier structure located elsewhere in the vicinity of Area A, or in an earlier phase of the same structure, as suggested by Cohen (1983). The presence of Hellenistic Nabatean pottery in Area A is of interest, as the previous excavations failed to detect it, although a Hellenistic Nabatean fort was excavated by Cohen 0.5 km south of Area A. The area in the vicinity of Area A may have been cultivated using spring water transported to the fields by aqueducts, as was the case in a third-century BCE farmhouse beside a spring located near a Hellenistic Nabatean fort of the same period at 'En Ra?el in the western 'Arava (Israel and Nahlieli 1982). The presence of aqueducts at the site of 'En Tamar can be inferred by the discovery of freshwater gastropod shells (Melanopsis; see Fig. 13:2), a common find in aqueducts transporting spring water at desert sites such as Moyat 'Awad and 'En Yotvata in the Negev (Erickson-Gini 2012) and 'Ein el-Qudeirat in northern Sinai (Bar-Yosef Mayer 2007:283). The presence of Judean wares in what is predominantly a Nabatean ceramic assemblage in the Early Roman period at 'En Tamar is not unusual, as Judean wares, particularly perfume containers and oil lamps, are common finds at Nabatean sites in southern Israel and even at Petra. 'En Tamar is located along a main artery between Zoara and Mampsis, near the ancient border between Judea and Nabatea (see Fig. 1). This border was probably located somewhere south of the site of 'En Boqeq, where perfumeprocessing facilities of the first century CE were uncovered (Fischer, Gichon and Tal 2000). The Judean perfume juglet found in an Early Roman context at 'En Tamar is a type described by Bar-Nathan as the most common juglet in Judea and in the Herodian palaces at Herodium, Masada and Jericho, particularly in contexts associated with the First Revolt (Bar-Nathan 2002:163-164). The cultivation, production and trade of Judean balsam (opobalsam) in the Dead Sea region were undoubtedly of major economic importance for local communities in the classical period. During the first century CE, the cultivation of Judean balsam spread to 'En Boqeq (Erickson-Gini 2007:48) and other localities around the southern shores of the Dead Sea (Hepper and Taylor 2004). In the early fourth century CE, Eusebius referred to the cultivation of dates and balsam in Zoara: "It (Zoara) is on the shore of the Dead Sea and a garrison of Roman soldiers is posted there, but it is also inhabited by its own citizens, and in its vicinity the balsam and the palm-tree grow, a token of its ancient fertility" (Onomasticon 42:1-5). At this time, a significant Jewish community was present in Ma?oza (Ma?oz 'Aglatain) on the southeastern shore of the Dead Sea in the vicinity of Zoara in Arabian territory. According to Cotton, documents from the Judean Desert of the early second century CE reveal intimate ties between Jewish families in 'En Gedi and those living in Ma?oza (Cotton 2006:25). She suggests that members of Jewish families from 'En Gedi relocated to Ma?oza during the First Revolt when the sicarii raided the site in 68 CE, and during the struggle that took place there between the Jews and the Romans over the production of Judean balsam (Cotton 2006:26). The continued existence of a Jewish community in Zoara is attested to by frequent references to Zoara in Talmudic literature in the Late Roman period and also by the presence of Hebrew and Aramaic tombstones of Jews from the Byzantine period (Breslavsky 1955:383-386). However, there was also a substantial Nabatean community there well into the Byzantine period (Politis 2007:188). The finds associated with the structure in Area A of 'En Tamar include coins of Trajan, Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius and city coins of the late second-early third centuries CE discovered in the previous excavation by Cohen. The ceramic evidence from both excavations includes a range of Nabatean vessel types produced mainly at Petra in this period. Thus, based on the coins and pottery from both excavations, the structure can be dated to the Late Roman period (second-early third centuries CE). The rock-cut burial caves near Area A excavated by Hirschfeld also date to this period, and probably belonged to the inhabitants of 'En Tamar.2 These were tombs of a number of individuals, including men, women and children, buried with grave goods that indicate a high standard of living. Hirschfeld noted the presence in one of the burials of a leather sole and bronze nails of the caliga sandal worn by Roman legionaries (Hirschfeld 2006:182). The abandonment of the site in the early third century CE fits a pattern of abandoned sites that was observed in a number of sites in the Negev (Erickson-Gini and Israel 2013:51), possibly due to the spread of epidemic. The Early Islamic presence at the site of 'En Tamar was first detected by Seriy in 2001. The abundance of spring water near the site, and its location on a main artery, several kilometers northwest of the town of Zoara, apparently attracted settlement also in the eighth-ninth centuries CE. Zoara was an important town throughout the Early and Middle Islamic periods, as attested by the frequent references to the Dead Sea as the 'Sea of Zoara' by Arab geographers (Breslavsky 1955:391). Anastasius of Sinai visited Zoara and the nearby Byzantine fort (Tetrapygros; probably the site of Qasr Tlal) in 700 CE and reported that slaves and prisoners (including Cypriot prisoners of war) were brought to work the land belonging to the Arab conquerors (Breslavsky 1955:391). The remains of an impressive Byzantine dam next to Na?al ?in, approximately 200 m to the northwest of 'En Tamar, exhibit constructional repairs in the form of diagonally placed stones (Hirschfeld 2006: Fig. 13.12), a common modification made to Byzantine dams in the Negev Highlands during the Early Islamic period. Finally, in recent times, Area A was used as a burial ground. A member of the local settlement of Moshav Ne'ot Ha-Kikar informed the author that these were reportedly the graves of a community of Africans living in the vicinity in the early twentieth century. According to Breslavsky, who studied the geography of the region in pre-state Israel, African slaves were brought to work in the sugar-cane industry around Ghor es-Safi in the Middle Ages (Breslavsky 1955:251). During the Ottoman period, this community, called the Ghoranah, were virtual serfs of the Bedouin living in the mountains around Kerak, in particular the Majali family, and they were forced to pay a kind of tax, the hawah, which was essentially protection money. Under the British administration, the situation of the povertystricken members of the Ghoranah improved considerably when they were freed from paying the hawah tax to the mountain Bedouins. However, Berslavsky reports that in his days the community was being exploited in other ways (1955:254-255). Today, the descendents of this community still live in the region and work in the potash industry and agriculture in Jordan.