<< Our Photo Pages >> Mamshit - Ancient Village or Settlement in Israel
Submitted by motist on Sunday, 25 July 2010 Page Views: 4921
Multi-periodSite Name: Mamshit Alternative Name: MampsisCountry: Israel Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Nearest Town: Dimona
Latitude: 31.025568N Longitude: 35.064371E
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Mamshit was built in 1st century BCE as trade post on the way from Petra to Gaza. with time the city was developed and also subsisted on agriculture. When trade in Mamshit waned with the Roman occupation, the occupants found another way to make a living by raising horses. The residents of Mamshit bred the renowned Arabian horse, which brought great wealth to their city. During the Byzantine period Mamshit also received support from the authorities for being a frontier city. When this funding dried up, at the time of Justinian, the city died a natural death. Before the founding of the State of Israel, Prime Minister to-be David Ben-Gurion saw Mamshit as the capital of the future country, which dovetailed with his dream of settling the Negev Desert.
House of Affluent
Some of the buildings in Mampsis are very large, more than 1000 square meters. Some are two or three stories tall and they were constructed with excellence. These structures demonstrate that the Nabateans were masters of masonry and stone dressing. Mampsis was excavated by Avraham Negev from 1965-73. He found that what looked like a heap of rubble was just the upper story that had collapsed on the lower. As a result, the lower levels were almost left entirely standing. Since the excavations, the site has been extensively reconstructed.
Most of the buildings seen today were built in the later part of this period, including the largest house discovered in the city. The house is an impressive 1,600 square meters in area, with its courtyards, stairways and stables clearly indicating that it was owned by a wealthy individual. It was in this house that archaeologists discovered some 10,500 silver coins struck between 222 and 275 CE.
Nilos Church
Two inscriptions in this beautiful mosaic floor mention “Nilos” as the builder. The church was probably built in the late 4th century. This church is smaller than the Eastern Church, but otherwise has the same plan. The inner measurements of this church are 56 x 32 feet (17.5 x 10 m). The cistern under the church's courtyard received water from a channel that ran outside the city walls to collect water from the surrounding slopes.
Baptistery
Next to the chapel of the Eastern Church was this baptistery, designed in the shape of a cross. Baptisteries such as this one have been found at other Nabatean cities, including Avdat, Shivta (Soubaita), and Petra.
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