powered by FreeFind	Shivta 87 pictures     3.40 minutes HQ video Viewing Shivta's ruins from above, it is surprising to find traces of an entire town in the middle of the Negev, whose outline of alleyways and houses have been well preserved. Before that town's time, a Nabatean settlement had existed, but obviously nothing was left of it. Church Only a few decorated architectural objects, and mostly typical Nabatean broken earthenware, indicate that the ancient part of the site was located on the southern side. It is possible that the town's first settlers were the one who first installed the big water reserve pool in the middle of the town, where the few rain water flowed from the alleyways. The view is the town's from the time by which it had no longer existed, at the end of the Byzantine period. At that time, when the population in Israel reached its zenith, people who did not find a place to live in the northern part of the country, went to live in the desert. It seems as though the town's development was gradual. Shivta had never been surrounded by a wall. It was only the homes outside of it that provided her some protection. At the beginning of the Byzantine period (the fourth century A. D.). Christianity reached the towns of the Negev as well. Many Pagan residents, including the Nabateans, converted into Christianity. The Christian faith Shivta residents adopted in the Byzantine period is rather clear by the three churches built in the various quarter of the town. The northern church is particularly large. Despite the urban character of the settlement, the settlers were mainly making a living out of agriculture. There are wine presses in the town and outside of it, but the many ancient agriculture traces around the town are particularly impressive. Among those were found well organized systems walls for damming rivers, and channeling the upper river water to the fields. In present days, successful attempts were made near ancient Shivta to reconstruct the ancient agriculture. Back to Israel Index