| At a ceremony
held at Avdat on March 12, 2007, several Israeli sites
were added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list.
The organization’s list contains around 830
sites around the world that have “outstanding
value to humanity.” The incense route –
desert cities in the Negev, and three biblical Tels
- Megiddo, Hazor, and Beersheba, are the latest additions
to the list that already contains the Old City of
Acre, Masada, and Tel Aviv’s White City.
Along the 2,400 kilometer long incense route, incense
and other goods were transported from Oman, Yemen,
via Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the Negev, to the port
in Gaza. From Gaze the goods were shipped to Rome
and other Mediterranean ports. The most sought-after
and expensive perfumes during the Roman-Hellenistic
era were the myrrh and the frankincense, types of
aromatic resin derived from thorny bushes that were
considered for thousands of years among the most valuable
goods that passed between India and Rome. The myrrh
and frankincense were taken from bushes that were
only found in Oman, Yemen, and what today is Somalia.
The incense route was created in order to deal with
the immense demand for the products. Aside from incense,
the route also served as a passageway for spices,
jewelry, silver, gold, expensive fabrics, and more.
The route was in use between 3 BC and 3 AD. In Israel
the most impressive part of the route is a 65 kilometer
long stretch from Moah, next to the town of Tzofar
in the Arava, to the Nabataean town, Avdat. Because
of the route the Nabatean people changed from a nomadic
society into a permanent and thriving society. The
main Nabatean cities found along the route are Haluza,
Mamshit, Avdat, and Shivta. The incense route was
chosen as a world heritage site because it indicates
the importance of incense on Hellenistic-Roman culture
and economy, as well as people and ideas. The incense
route also embodies a blossoming culture that came
out of harsh desert surroundings, which constitutes
a unique phenomenon in the world. Today, along the
incense route there is bustling tourism, and it is
expected to increase following the UNESCO announcement.
Amongst some 200 biblical Tels (prehistoric settlement
mounds) in Israel UNESCO chose Tel Megiddo, Tel Hazor
and Tel Beersheba because they constitute tangible
proof of the culture of the Canaanite and Israelite
cities that vanished, and contain architectural remains
that highlight a unique encounter between human values.
Tel Hazor is the largest Tel in northern Israel. Hazor
was a wealthy city, an important trade site, and had
a population of around 15,000. Tel Megiddo had strategic
importance because it was a fortified city in the
heart of the ancient “sea route” that
stretched from Egypt to Babylonia, and it is also
an important site in Christian theology. Tel Beersheba
was situated at the crossroads between the sea route
and the king’s route, and functioned as a center
for religious and trade activities in the southern
region.
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