Ir Ovot

Coordinates: 30°48′32″N 35°14′45″E / 30.80889°N 35.24583°E / 30.80889; 35.24583
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Ir Ovot
עִיר אֹבֹת
Oboth
Ir Ovot is located in Southern Negev region of Israel
Ir Ovot
Ir Ovot
Ir Ovot is located in Israel
Ir Ovot
Ir Ovot
Coordinates: 30°48′32″N 35°14′45″E / 30.80889°N 35.24583°E / 30.80889; 35.24583
Country Israel
DistrictSouthern
CouncilCentral Arava
Founded1967
Population
 (2019)[1]
54

Ir Ovot (

Oboth) is a small village in southern Israel. Located in the northeastern Arabah, it falls under the jurisdiction of Central Arava Regional Council. It operated as a kibbutz from 1967 until the 1980s. In 2019 it had a population of 54.[1]

It is the site of an extensive archaeological complex known as Tamar Fortress or Hatzevah Fortress (

First Temple
period).

Geography

Ir Ovot is located south of the Dead Sea and southeast of Dimona in the Arabah valley, an arid plain located below the Negev plateau and south of the Jordan Rift Valley within the larger Great Rift Valley. The settlement abuts the Ein Hatzeva bloc of agricultural villages on the opposite side of Highway 90 near the Jordanian border, and is within the boundaries of the Tamar Regional Council.[citation needed] The community is located close to the biblical site of Tamar, and is west of Hatzeva Junction. [2]

History

Originally the site of the Ein Husub police station during the British Mandate of Palestine, the location was captured by the Israel Defense Forces in 1948. The village of Ir Ovot was founded in 1967, in an area deserted apart from a small military base and roadside cafe on the way to Eilat.

In 2018 Ir Ovot had 250 housing units were approved. [3]

History of the Hatzeva Fortress

Fortress.
Fortress gate.

First observed and documented by

Eusebius of Caesarea's Tamara.[4]

The first salvage

Arab occupations. It includes a 1,000-year-old shade tree, and the largest Paliurus spina-christi in Israel.[5]

The area was used for training crews in site conservation before their work on the Masada site.[6]

10th century BCE

The earliest remains, dating to the

Shishaq like other sites of that period.[5]

9th–8th century BCE

The second layer consists of a very large

Negev cities at 10,000 square metres.[5]

Excavation revealed a four-chambered, north-facing gate complex near the northeastern corner and three storerooms, a pair of

Book of Chronicles.[5]

7th–6th century BCE

A third fortress from the Late First Temple period from the 7th–6th centuries BCE was found, though because only the walls' foundations remain, reconstructing the floor plan has been difficult. However, an eastern wall with two towers set 14 metres (46 ft) apart was reconstructed.[5]

A pit full of smashed clay and stone, which were reassembled into 74

sherds resemble vessels found in an Edomite shrine at Horvat Qitmit, about 45 kilometres (28 mi) to the northwest. A circular stone stamp seal discovered inside the fortress, picturing two men in long robes on either side of an altar, provides another indicator of Edomite origin. The pit recoveries dating to the end of the seventh century could possibly have been destroyed in the campaign of religious reforms spearheaded by King Josiah mentioned in Book of Kings II.[5]

1st–4th century CE

Evidence of Roman administrative and military presence is plentiful, and the junction of the east–west

Incense Road to Gaza and the north–south route to the Red Sea probably made it an economically valuable frontier outpost.[5]

The Roman fortress' layout is similar to other imperial outposts in the region. An official Latin inscription that dates several area strongholds to the 3rd century CE was discovered on a large limestone slab at nearby Yotvata bears. This site was the largest in the area at 46 square metres (495 sq ft), and included four projecting towers on the fortress' corners. Artefacts tell of probably destruction in the middle of the fourth century CE, perhaps by a 344 earthquake, though it was promptly rebuilt with improved, stone flooring and again destroyed two decades later, probably from an earthquake in 363.[5]

A

Nabatæan occupation predating Roman annexation. Coins bearing the likeness of Nabatæan kings were found, along with storage jars and other vessels.[5]

7th–8th century CE

A building fragment

stratum from the Early Arab period was uncovered immediately beneath the ground surface, along with evidence of a farm located above the Roman thermæ's remains and below the modern structures.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b "Population in the Localities 2019" (XLS). Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  2. ^ "Two new Negev towns approved". Globes. 8 July 2018.
  3. ^ "Two new Negev towns approved". Globes. 8 July 2018.
  4. Blossoming Rose. Archived from the original
    on 2007-05-18.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Matt VandeBunte (March 2004). "Excavation at Biblical Tamar Park". The Boble and Interpretation. Archived from the original on 2004-03-27. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  6. ^ "Conservation projects by region". Archaeology Conservation Center. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-09-24.

External links

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ir Ovot.

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