One of the Negev fortresses from the Iron Age. from an oval-shaped side that was erected on a flat hill between Wadi Kudais and Wadi Kudair, south of Kadesh Barnea, close to the border with Israel and about 3 km south of the spring of the same name. The site was surveyed by Yohanan Aharoni, and the excavations were conducted in 1976 by Rudolf Cohen. Diameter The battlement is about 50 m, and the gate 5 meters. The wall encloses about 20 rooms. The walls are about 0.60 m high and about 1.70 m wide. In some of the entrances to the closed rooms, the lintels have been preserved. On the side, a possible entrance was found that included two small guard rooms (about 2 m wide and 3 m long). Pottery found in the layer of ash that covered the soil in the walled rooms are of two basic types: pottery made of stone, which is typical of the 10th century BC, and handmade pottery called “Negaveim potteries”. On the other side, one living phase was identified, but to the northwest of the hill, the remains of a small settlement were found.
Cohen, R. (1979). The Iron Age fortresses in the central Negev. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 236(1), 61-79.