Editing Negev (section)

===Nabateans and Romans===
[[File:Ruins in Negev desert Israe.jpg|thumb|Ancient column with [[capital (architecture) |capital]] in the Negev]]

The 4th-century BC arrival of the [[Nabateans]] resulted in the development of irrigation systems that supported new urban centres located along the [[Negev incense route]] at [[Avdat]] (Oboda), [[Mamshit]] (Mampsis), [[Shivta]] (Sobata), [[Elusa (Haluza)|Haluza]] (Elusa), and [[Nitzana (Nabatean city)|Nitzana]] (Nessana).<ref name= Shahinp459/>{{dubious |New research dates irrigation to the Byzantine period. Nabataeans mainly maintained road stations (Oboda is possibly an urban exception) and hidden wells. |date= May 2024}} This at least was the prevailing theory, until more recent research showed that the earliest form of Nabataean agriculture in the Negev Highlands was only based on spring-water irrigation, with the much more extensive run-off water harvesting techniques using barrages and terraces apparently developing and being used only later, during the 4th-7th centuries AD, after the 3rd-century collapse of long-distance trade.<ref name= TEG12>{{cite journal |last1=Erickson-Gini |first1=T. |title=Nabataean agriculture: Myth and reality |journal=Journal of Arid Environments |date=November 2012 |volume=86 |pages=50–54 |doi=10.1016/j.jaridenv.2012.02.018 |bibcode=2012JArEn..86...50E }}</ref>

The Nabateans controlled the trade on the spice route between their capital [[Petra]] and the Gazan seaports. Nabatean currency and the remains of red and orange [[potsherd]]s, identified as a trademark of their civilisation, have been found along the route, remnants of which are also still visible.<ref name= Shahinp459/> Nabatean control of the Negev ended when the [[Roman Empire]] annexed their lands in 106 AD.<ref name= Shahinp459/> The population, largely comprising nomads, venerated deities such as [[Dushara]], [[Allat]], and others.<ref name= Shahinp459/>