Shivta, Archaeological site in Southern District, Israel
Shivta is an ancient settlement in the Negev Desert with preserved houses, churches, and public buildings built from stone. The ruins spread across a small area and reveal how people organized their daily lives in this location.
The settlement started as a Roman outpost in the first century BCE and grew into a prosperous center during the Byzantine period. Agriculture and commerce kept it active through the centuries.
Three churches reveal how Byzantine believers gathered for worship and decorated their spaces with religious images. These structures show what mattered most to the people who lived here.
The site is easy to explore on foot with marked paths between the ruins and explanatory signs at the main structures. Visitors should bring water and sun protection as the area is very open and offers little shade.
Residents created a sophisticated system of cisterns and dams to capture water from rare winter floods and make farming possible in the desert. This engineering allowed them to thrive in an otherwise harsh environment.
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