2-368-609 - Samuel Magal/Sites & Photos/Heritage Images

Southern Church, Avdat, Israel. After Petra, Avdat was the most important historic city on the 'Perfume Road' between the 7th and the 1st centuries BC. It was inhabited by Nabataeans, Romans and Byzantines and was a seasonal camping ground for Nabataean caravans travelling along the early Petra - Gaza road between the 3rd and the late 2nd centuries BC. It was named for Nabataean King Obodas I who was revered as a deity and, according to tradition, was buried there.