Incense Route - Desert Cities in the Negev

Frankincense and myrrh made the Negev rich. Avdat, Shivta, Haluza and Mamshit — four Nabatean towns with their fortresses and farmed landscapes — grew along the roads carrying south Arabian incense toward the Mediterranean, a hugely profitable trade running from the 3rd century BC to the 2nd century AD. Sophisticated irrigation let settlement and agriculture take hold in the harsh desert. The route's desert cities were inscribed by UNESCO in 2005.