Elusa. From Nabataean Trading Post to Late Antique Desert Metropolis

在内盖夫沙漠半干旱的北部边缘，地中海东部最重要的古代葡萄酒种植区之一，有许多村庄和农场从公元2/3到6世纪发展起来，现在基本上没有人居住。许多定居点早在公元前3/2世纪就已经由纳巴特人建立，当时他们是沿着从阿拉伯到地中海的“香道”上的商队站而建立的。罗马人吞并后，纳巴泰半岛的长途贸易减少，定居点变成了剩余的农业生产中心。这一进程是由于高度发达的水管理系统以及--仍在讨论中--降雨量较多的有利气候阶段实现的。直到8/9世纪阿拉伯征服之后很久，这些定居点才被放弃。今天，它们属于联合国教科文组织世界遗产香道。这一聚落景观的行政、经济、宗教和文化中心是埃卢萨，距离地中海约50公里。它占地45公顷，人口约8万人，是该地区唯一真正的城市。Elusa便利的地理位置，优越的交通联系，常年的地下水和广阔的农业腹地为其发展提供了有利条件。然而，Elusa近1000年的聚落历史显示出戏剧性的中断和深刻的变化过程，这基本上是由三个因素决定的：不稳定的自然环境，不断变化的政治条件，以及位于纳巴泰阿拉伯和地中海文化之间的动态接触区。尽管我们对内盖夫的村庄和原始城市聚落的了解相当广泛，但Elusa重要的城市中心长期以来几乎被忽视。2015年，申请者启动了一个研究项目，才开始了对这座城市及其周围地区的系统调查。它已经带来了相当大的知识进步，并帮助展示了埃卢萨的巨大考古潜力。然而，一些关键的方面仍然需要进一步澄清：其中包括城市的早期发展，神圣的地形和居住文化，以及废物管理和经济结构。这些问题将在这里申请的项目的最后阶段通过广泛的方法处理。其目的是利用多学科研究方法实现对这座城市的全面了解，一方面包括其整体城市结构和发展，另一方面包括其社会、经济、宗教和文化环境以及这些方面的变化。对Elusa的研究为研究一种非同寻常的聚落景观做出了重要贡献，这种聚落景观在古代世界边缘的生态和经济困难条件下繁荣了许多世纪。

On the semi-arid northern edge of the Negev desert, one of the most important ancient wine-growing regions of the Eastern Mediterranean with numerous villages and farms developed from 2/3 to the 6th century AD, in a landscape that is now largely uninhabited. Many of the settlements had already been founded by the Nabataeans in the 3rd/2nd century BC as caravan stations along the 'Incense Road' leading from Arabia to the Mediterranean Sea. After the Roman annexation, the Nabataean long-distance trade decreased and the settlements turned into surplus producing agricultural centres. This process was made possible by a highly developed water management system and - still under discussion - a favourable climatic phase with higher precipitation. The settlements were not abandoned until well after the Arab conquest in the 8th/9th century. Today they belong to the UNESCO World Heritage Site 'Incense Road'.The administrative, economic, religious and cultural centre of this settlement landscape was Elusa, about 50 km from the Mediterranean Sea. With an area of 45 hectares and a population of about 8-10,000 people, it was the only genuine city in the region. Elusa's convenient location with excellent transport links, year-round groundwater and a large agricultural hinterland favoured its development. Nevertheless, Elusa's almost 1000-year settlement history shows dramatic breaks and profound transformation processes, which were essentially determined by three factors: a precarious natural environment, changing political conditions and the location in a dynamic contact zone between the Nabataean-Arab and Mediterranean cultures.While our knowledge of the villages and proto-urban settlements in the Negev is quite extensive, the important urban centre of Elusa has long been almost disregarded. A systematic investigation of the city and its surroundings was only begun with a research project started by the applicants in 2015. It has already led to a considerable advance in knowledge and has helped to demonstrate the enormous archaeological potential of Elusa. However, some crucial aspects still need to be further clarified: among them the early development of the city, the sacred topography and the housing culture, as well as the waste management and the economic structure. These questions will be pursued in the final phase of the project applied for here by means of a broad methodological approach. The aim is to use a multidisciplinary research approach to achieve a holistic understanding of the city, encompassing its overall urban structure and development on the one hand, and its social, economic, religious and cultural circumstances and the changes in these on the other. The study of Elusa makes an important contribution to the investigation of an extraordinary settlement landscape that prospered for many centuries under ecologically and economically difficult conditions on the edge of the ancient world.