Rehovot-in-the-Negev (English), from Rehovot ba-Negev [he] (רחובות בנגב, modern Hebrew name), derived from Khirbet Ruheibeh (Arabic, 'Ruheibeh Ruins'), is an archaeological site in the Wadi er-Ruheibeh area of the central Negev in Israel,[1] containing the remains of an ancient town. Apparently founded in the first century CE by the Nabateans, it was a thriving city by the fifth century during the Byzantine period, when it grew to more than 10,000 inhabitants, thanks to its being on the Arabian incense trade route.[citation needed]

Rehovot-in-the-Negev
רחובות בנגב‎ 'Rehovot ba-Negev' (Hebrew)
'Khirbet Ruheibeh' (Arabic)
Rehovot-in-the-Negev is located in Israel
Rehovot-in-the-Negev
Shown within Israel
LocationSouthern District, Israel
Regioncentral Negev
Coordinates31°01′54″N 34°33′54″E / 31.0317°N 34.5650°E / 31.0317; 34.5650
TypeSettlement
History
Founded1st century
Abandoned7th century
CulturesNabataean, Roman, Byzantine
Site notes
ArchaeologistsYoram Tsafrir
ConditionIn ruins
Public accessYes

By population, Rehovot-in-the-Negev was the second largest of the Byzantine-period "Negev towns".[2]

The city was repeatedly hit by earthquakes, the major 7th-century seismic event which destroyed Avdat also leading to the abandonment of this city.[3]

No biblical connection

edit

Easton's Bible Dictionary, published in 1893-97, tentatively associated the well dug by Isaac in Gerar and called by him Rehoboth (see Genesis 26:22) with a site "in Wady er-Ruheibeh, some 20 miles south of Beersheba."[4] Modern archaeology, however, dismisses the identification of Ruheibeh (Rehovot-in-the-Negev) with Isaac's Rehoboth, because the site contains no remains older than the Roman period.[1]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b Negev, Avraham; Gibson, Shimon, eds. (2001). "Rehoboth". Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land. New York and London: Continuum. p. 433. ISBN 0826413161. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  2. ^ Nagar, Yossi (January 1999). Anthropology of Rehovot-in-the-Negev Population as an Example of a Large Byzantine Settlement in the Negev (Ph.D. thesis). Tel Aviv University. Retrieved 12 May 2024 – via researchgate.net (unpublished abstract, English and Hebrew).
  3. ^ Korzhenkov, Andrey M.; Mazor, Emanuel (2014). "Archaeoseismical Damage Patterns at the Ancient Ruins at Rehovot-ba-Negev, Israel". Archäologischer Anzeiger (1). Ernst Wasmuth Verlag for the German Archaeological Institute: 75-92 (87). Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  4. ^ Easton's Bible Dictionary, entry for "Rehoboth".