Overview

Bibliography

Hatzeva is located in the northern Arabah along the southern bank of the Nahal Hatzeva, near En Hatzeva. The site is along one of the major roads connecting Elath to Gaza (via the Beersheba valley). The site was first identified in 1902 as a Roman fortress. In 1950 several Iron Age sherds were found at the site, suggesting an earlier Judean occupation. Yohanan identified the site with biblical Tamar and Roman Tamara.

The site was first excavated in 1972. Extensive excavations were carried out from 1987-1990. Eight strata have been identified at the site. The first two strata date to the late Byzantine - early Islamic period (sixth-seventh centuries CE), and no structures from these periods are indicated on the site map. Stratum s, dating to the third-fourth centuries CE, is the level of the Roman fortress. A Roman bath was also found to the south of the fortress. A smaller Middle Roman fortress is found in Stratum 4. Only the southern part of the fortress has survived. Only a few Nabatean remains, dating to first century CE, were found in Stratum 5. Edomite remains, dating to Iron IIC in the seventh-sixth centuries BCE, are found in Stratum 6. They include an Edomite shrine and a pillared house, both of which are outside the earlier Judean fortress. The largest fortress, a Judean fortress from the ninth-eighth centuries BCE, represents Stratum 7. Finally, traces of an Iron IIA, tenth century BCE occupation has been uncovered in Stratum 8, but the extent and nature of the stratum has not been fully exposed.

The archaeological strata uncovered at the site, as illustrated in the site plan, date to the following periods:

	Stratum III, Late Roman Period
	Stratum IV, Middle Roman Period
	Stratum V, Nabatean Period
	Stratum VI, Iron IIC/III Period
	Stratum VII, Iron IIB Period
	Stratum VIII, Iron IIA Period