The Archaeological Site Nitzana

Nessana (Nitzana) is an ancient Nabatean city in the southwestern Negev desert of Israel, founded as a fortified caravan station on the Incense Road in the late 4th or early 3rd century BCE. The site was annexed by Rome in 106 CE and later became a Byzantine frontier settlement. Excavations by H. Dunscombe Colt (1936-37) uncovered the famous Nessana Papyri, a cache of 195 Greek and Arabic documents illuminating Byzantine and early Umayyad life. Remains include a fortress, three churches, and residential structures.