The ground floor of a wealthy private house in ancient Mampsis (Mamshit or Kurnub). Notice the arched vaulting that supported the second-storey. This was a key Nabatean town located on the trade route that ran overland south of the Dead Sea and through the Arabian desert. Mampsis was a key junction point where this caravan route met the north-south routes into Judea and was also a crucial stop-over on the way West toward Egypt. The city survived into the Byzantine period before trade patterns changed and the settlement was abandoned. Since the site was never re-occupied after the Byzantine era, its remains are remarkably well-preserved.