Incense Route – Desert Cities in the Negev Road and spice trade routes: Avdat, Haluza, Mamshit, and Shivta. As a group, these desert cities demonstrate the lucrative trade in frankincense and myrrh that took place from Yemen in south Arabia to the port of Gaza on the Mediterranean. At its height, the route included cities, Qanat irrigation systems, fortresses, and caravanserai. Vestiges of these works are still visible, and demonstrate the use of the desert for commerce and agriculture. The Incense Route – Desert Cities in the Negev site comprises the Negev, southern Israel, which connected Arabia to the Mediterranean in the Hellenistic-Roman period. During the period from
Incense Route – Desert Cities in the Negev caravanserai towards the west of the site. Soft clay stones and burnt clay bricks have been used in its construction. Apart from the living rooms, it has chambers for cooking, washing and workplaces. It is also in ruins with only about high walls. Large area of agricultural land formed in terraces surround this caravanserai. Agriculture practiced by the Nabateans in the arid desert conditions where the annual precipitation is of the order , is through a well developed irrigation system consisting of hundreds of small dams, channels, cisterns, and reservoirs which collect flood water. The agricultural fields have been noted