Mampsis / Mamshit
- SCHOLARLY AND FICTIONAL WORKS: see Category:Mampsis (subject)
Mampsis / Mamshit (Kurnub) was one of the Nabatean Cities (then Roman and Byzantine) in the Negev.
Overview
The city was established by the Nabateans in the Negev as a road station for their caravans along a secondary branch of the Incense Route connecting Petra with Gaza. It was the smallest of the Nabatean cities in the area--Oboda, Elusa, Nessana, Rehovot, and Sobata.
Agricultural project were carried out to sustain the population.
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 breeding of race-horses. The city was destroyed, probably by earthquake, and abandoned in the 7th century.
Mampsis in ancient sources
Mampsis in scholarship
Mampsis was first "rediscovered" by the German historian, Ulrich Jasper Seetzen, who visited the Negev in 1806 disguised as Musa al-Hakim (Moses the doctor). Extensive excavations were conducted by Avraham Negev from 1965-73.