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30°44′35″N / 34°52′47″E

October 9, 2011. Sentry post along the Petra–Gaza incense route. The military post, the remains of which can be seen on top of the mound, was constructed to provide protection for the camel caravans traveling along the route. Shallow foot and animal paths can be seen throughout the space, and two large tracks made by military and off-road vehicles run around the side of the post. In the Nabataean era, which was at its height between the third and second centuries BC, the towns of Ḥalutza, Mamshit, Ovdat/‛Abdāt (Heb./Arabic), and Shivta, along with associated fortresses in the Negev, traded incense and spices along a route that extended more than two thousand miles between southern Arabia and the Mediterranean. This site lies directly at the center of the main route between Petra, the capital of the Nabataean kingdom in Jordan, and Gaza. Today, these ruins are used as a marker point for military navigation.