This chapter is divided into two sections: the first examines the political formation of the Negev frontier between Egypt and Palestine after 1800 and the role of archaeological research in defining the frontier as a historical entity. It also explores how the concept of the frontier shaped scholarly reception of Auja Hafir following the construction of the Suez Canal, first, during the Sinai Survey in 1869 and, later, during the Colt excavations of the period 1933–1936, at Auja Hafir and Subeita, best known for the recovery of the Nessana papyrus hoard. The second part of this chapter offers a review of the idea of Byzantine Nessana as part of a formal imperial defence system and the evidence underpinning Colt’s hypothesis, formulated during the 1930s. It then proposes a more nuanced understanding of Nessana’s role within the region and the relationship between the village’s settled population and the nomadic populations attested to in its hinterlands.