[German Version]

(Νεσ[σ]άνα, modern Heb. Nizzana, Arab. Ḥafir el-ʿAugā), city in the Negev, 52 km southwest of Beer-Sheba, on the old route to Egypt; excavations were conducted by the Colt Expedition (1935–1937) and by Dan Urman (1987–1991). Nessana was founded by the Nabateans in the late Hellenistic period. Ruins ¶ from the 1st century ce were discovered under the North Church. The city prospered in Byzantine times, with the fortress (85 × 35 m), the North Church (St. Sergius and St. Bacchus, last quarter of the 4th cent.), and the South Church (Maria Theotokos, c. 565ce) on the acropol…