Elusa. From Nabataean Trading Post to Late Antique Desert Metropolis

在内格夫沙漠的半干旱北方边缘，东地中海最重要的古代葡萄酒种植区之一，拥有众多的村庄和农场，从公元2/3世纪到公元6世纪发展起来，现在基本上无人居住。许多定居点已经由纳巴泰人在公元前3/2世纪建立，作为沿着从阿拉伯半岛通往地中海的“熏香之路”的商队站。在罗马吞并之后，纳巴泰人的长途贸易减少，定居点变成了生产盈余的农业中心。这一过程之所以可能，是因为有一个高度发达的水管理系统，以及-仍在讨论中-一个降水量较高的有利气候阶段。这些定居点直到世纪阿拉伯人征服后才被遗弃。今天，它们属于联合国教科文组织世界遗产“香路”。这个定居点景观的行政，经济，宗教和文化中心是Elusa，距离地中海约50公里。面积45公顷，人口约8- 10，000人，是该地区唯一真正的城市。Elusa的便利位置，良好的交通联系，全年地下水和一个大的农业腹地有利于其发展。尽管如此，Elusa近1000年的定居历史显示了戏剧性的中断和深刻的转变过程，这主要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和纳巴泰-阿拉伯和地中海文化之间的动态接触区的位置。虽然我们对内盖夫的那些村庄和原始城市定居点的了解相当广泛，重要的城市中心埃卢萨长期以来几乎被忽视。对这座城市及其周边地区的系统调查始于2015年申请人启动的一个研究项目。它已经导致了相当大的知识进步，并有助于展示埃卢萨的巨大考古潜力。然而，一些关键方面仍需进一步澄清：其中包括城市的早期发展，神圣的地形和住房文化，以及废物管理和经济结构。这些问题将在本报告所述项目的最后阶段通过广泛的方法学途径加以探讨。其目的是利用多学科的研究方法来实现对城市的整体理解，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，宗教和文化环境及其变化。对埃卢萨的研究为调查一个非凡的定居景观做出了重要贡献，这个景观在古代世界边缘的生态和经济困难的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.