Shivta National Park

Shivta, originally Sobata or Subeita, is an ancient city in the Negev Desert of Israel located 43 kilometers southwest of Beersheba [1]. A few Roman-period ruins have been discovered, but most of the archaeological findings date to the Byzantine period [1]. Shivta's water supply was based on surface runoff collected in large reservoirs [1]. Roman ruins from the first century BCE have been unearthed in the southern part of the town [1]. Three Byzantine churches (a main church and two smaller ones), two wine-presses, residential areas and administrative buildings have been excavated [1]. Traces of a mural of Christ's transfiguration were discovered in the apse of the southern church, as well as remains of a colourful 6th-century mosaic and a beardless depiction of Jesus in the northern church [1]. According to the calculations of archaeologists, the Nabatean/Byzantine village of Shivta produced about two million liters of wine [1]. Shivta was finally abandoned in the 8th or 9th century CE [1].