Sobata / Shivta
Sobata (Shivta) was a Nabatean (then Roman and Byzantine) town in the Negev.
Overview
It is generally maintained that the city was first established by the Nabateans. Like Elusa, Nessana, Rehovot-in-the-Negev, Oboda, and Mampsis, it was a road station in the Negev for the caravans along the Incense Route connecting Petra with Gaza.
The Roman conquest of 106 CE brought about new periods of prosperity that continued in the Byzantine period, when the city became renowned mainly for the production of wine. The city was also inhabited in the early Muslim period before being abandoned in the 8th century.