A Roman and Early Byzantine Residential Quarter at Oboda (‘Avedat)

This report presents the results of the excavation of a Roman and Early Byzantine residential quarter at Oboda (‘Avedat), offering new evidence for the occupation history of the site and challenging long-standing assumptions regarding Nabataean settlement, trade and material culture in the Negev. The excavations revealed three principal phases: Phase 1, dating from the late first century BCE–early second century CE; Phase 2, constructed after the Roman annexation of 106 CE, linked to regional rebuilding activity following a major earthquake in the early second century CE; and Phase 3, comprising five buildings with courtyards surrounded by rooms, dating to the late third–early fifth centuries CE. The finds—mainly pottery, glass and coins—attest to the continuity of trade along the Petra–Gaza (Incense) Road into the third century CE, providing evidence for the prolonged production of Nabataean Fine Ware into the early to mid-third century CE.