 A map of the Roman empire underHadrian (ruled AD 117–138), showing the location of theArabes Nabataei in the desert regions around the Roman province ofArabia Petraea (lower right) | |
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TheNabataeans orNabateans (/ˌnæbəˈtiːənz/;Nabataean Aramaic:𐢕𐢃𐢋𐢈,NBṬW, vocalized asNabāṭū)[a] were an ancientArab people[1] who inhabited northernArabia and thesouthern Levant.[1] Their settlements—most prominently the assumed capital city of Raqmu (present-dayPetra,Jordan)[2]—gave the nameNabatene (Ancient Greek:Ναβατηνή,romanized: Nabatēnḗ) to the Arabian borderland that stretched from theEuphrates to theRed Sea. The Nabateans emerged as a distinct civilization and political entity between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC,[3] withtheir kingdom centered around a loosely controlled trading network that brought considerable wealth and influence across the ancient world.
Described as fiercely independent by contemporary Greco-Roman accounts, the Nabataeans were annexed into theRoman Empire by EmperorTrajan in 106 AD. Nabataeans' individual culture, easily identified by their characteristic finely potted painted ceramics, was adopted into the largerGreco-Roman culture. They converted toChristianity during theLater Roman Era. They have been described as one of the most gifted peoples of the ancient world[4][5] and one of the "most unjustly forgotten".[6][3]
The name of the Nabataeans may be derived from the same root asAkkadiannabatu, to shine brightly.[7]
The Nabataeans were anArab tribe who had come under significantBabylonian-Aramaean influence.[8] The first mention of the Nabataeans dates from 312/311 BC, when they were attacked atSela or perhaps atPetra without success byAntigonus I's officer Athenaeus in the course of theThird War of the Diadochi; at that timeHieronymus of Cardia, aSeleucid officer, mentions the Nabataeans in a battle report. About 50 BCGreek historianDiodorus Siculus cites Hieronymus in his report[clarification needed] and adds the following: "Just as the Seleucids had tried to subdue them, so the Romans made several attempts to get their hands on that lucrative trade."[citation needed]
They wrote a letter to Antigonus inSyriac letters, and Aramaic continued as the language of their coins and inscriptions when the tribe grew into a kingdom and profited by the decay of the Seleucids to extend its borders northward over the more fertile country east of theJordan River. They occupiedHauran, and in about 85 BC their kingAretas III became lord ofDamascus andCoele-Syria.
Petra was rapidly built in the 1st century BC and developed a population estimated at 20,000.[9] The Nabataeans were allies of the firstHasmoneans in their struggles against the Seleucid monarchs. They then became rivals of the Judaean dynasty and a chief element in the disorders that invitedPompey's intervention inJudea. According topopular historianPaul Johnson, many Nabataeans were forcefully converted to Judaism by Hasmonean kingAlexander Jannaeus.[10][better source needed] It was this king who, after putting down a local rebellion, invaded and occupied the Nabataean towns ofMoab andGilead and imposed a tribute.Obodas I knew that Alexander would attack, so was able to ambush Alexander's forces near Gaulane destroying the Judean army in 90 BC.[11]
The Roman military was not very successful in their campaigns against the Nabataeans. In 62 BC,Marcus Aemilius Scaurus accepted a bribe of 300talents to lift the siege of Petra, partly because of the difficult terrain and the fact that he had run out of supplies.Hyrcanus II, who was a friend of King Aretas, was despatched by Scaurus to the king to buy peace. In so obtaining peace, Aretas retained all his possessions, including Damascus, and became a Roman vassal.[12]
In 32 BC, during KingMalichus I's reign,Herod the Great, with the support ofCleopatra, started a war against Nabataea. The war began with Herod plundering Nabataea with a large cavalry force and occupyingDium. After this defeat, the Nabataean forces regrouped nearCanatha in Syria but were attacked and routed. Cleopatra's generalAthenion sent Canathans to the aid of the Nabataeans, and this force crushed Herod's army, which then fled to Ormiza. One year later, Herod's army overran Nabataea.[13]
After an earthquake in Judaea, the Nabateans rebelled and invaded Judea, but Herod at once crossed the Jordan River to Philadelphia (modernAmman), and both sides set up camp. The Nabataeans under Elthemus refused to give battle, so Herod forced the issue when he attacked theircamp. A confused mass of Nabataeans gave battle but were defeated. Once they had retreated to their defences, Herod laid siege to the camp, and over time some of the defenders surrendered. The remaining Nabataean forces offered 500 talents for peace, but this was rejected. Lacking water, the Nabataeans were forced out of their camp and battled but were defeated.[14] KingAretas IV defeatedHerod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, in a battle after he intended to divorce his daughter Phasaelis[15]
An ally of the Roman Empire, the Nabataean kingdom flourished throughout the 1st century. Its power extended far into Arabia along the Red Sea to Yemen, and Petra was a cosmopolitan marketplace, though its commerce was diminished by the rise of the Eastern trade route fromMyos Hormos toCoptos on theNile. Under thePax Romana, the Nabataeans lost their warlike and nomadic habits and became a sober, acquisitive, orderly people, wholly intent on trade and agriculture. The kingdom was a bulwark between Rome and the wild hordes of the desert except in the time of Trajan, who reduced Petra and converted the Nabataeanclient state into the Roman province ofArabia Petraea.[16] There was a Nabataean community inPuteoli, in southern Italy, that reached its end around the establishment of the province.[17]
Five Greek-Nabataean bilingual inscriptions, known as theRuwafa inscriptions, date to AD 165–169, . They are ascribed to an auxiliary military unit drawn from the Roman-alliedThamud tribe and were built to describe the temple they were inscribed in and to recognize the authority of the emperorsMarcus Aurelius andLucius Verus.[18][19]
By the 3rd century the Nabataeans had stopped writing in Aramaic and begun writing inGreek. By the 5th century they had converted to Christianity.[20] Their lands were divided between the newQahtanite Arab tribal kingdoms of theByzantine vassals, theGhassanid Arabs, and theHimyarite vassals, theKingdom of Kinda in North Arabia.
Many examples of graffiti and inscriptions—largely of names and greetings—document the area of Nabataean culture, which extended as far north as the north end of theDead Sea, and testify to widespread literacy; but except for a few letters[21] no Nabataean literature has survived, nor was any noted in antiquity.[22][23][24]Onomastic analysis has suggested[25] that Nabataean culture may have had multiple influences. Classical references to the Nabataeans begin withDiodorus Siculus. They suggest that the Nabataeans' trade routes and the origins of their goods were regarded as trade secrets, and disguised in tales that should have strained outsiders' credulity.[26]
Diodorus Siculus (book II) describes them as a strong tribe of some 10,000 warriors, preeminent among the nomads of Arabia, eschewing agriculture, fixed houses, and the use of wine, but adding to pastoral pursuits a profitable trade with the seaports infrankincense,myrrh and spices fromArabia Felix, as well as a trade with Egypt inbitumen from the Dead Sea. Their arid country was their best safeguard, for the bottle-shaped cisterns for rain-water which they excavated in the rocky or clay-rich soil were carefully concealed from invaders.[26]
Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq'sKitab al-Tabikh, the earliest knownArabic cookbook, contains a recipe forfermented Nabatean water bread (khubz al-ma al-nabati). The yeast-leavened bread is made with a high quality wheat flour calledsamidh that is finely milled and free ofbran and is baked in atandoor.[27]
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Based on coins, inscriptions and non-Nabatean contemporary sources, Nabataean women seem to have had many legal rights. Inscriptions on tombs demonstrate the equality of property rights between man and woman and women's rights in matters of inheritance and also their ability to make decisions about their own property.[28] That set the Nabateans apart from the attitudes on a woman's role in society by their neighbours in the region. Women also participated in religious activities, and had a right to visit the temples and make sacrifices.
Archeological evidence strongly suggest that the Nabataean women had a role in the social and political life by the 1st century AD, which is shown by the fact that Nabatean queens were depicted on coins, both independently and together with their spouse the king. The assumption to be made from this were that they ruled together and that the Nabatean queens and other female members were given or already had political importance and status.[29] It is likely other Nabatean women benefited from this by extension.[30]
Though Nabatean culture seems to have favored male succession rather than female or equal succession, it seems plausible that like their neighbouringPtolemaic dynasty and the Seleucids, marrying a female member of the Nabatean royal family reinforced a ruler's position or one whose claim to the throne was not as strong as his wife's.[31] The Nabatean royal house, like the Ptolemaic and Seleucids, later adopted sibling marriage.[32][33]
Not much is known for certain about the fashions of ancient Nabateans and before theHellenization and Romanization of the region, but based on extant clothes and textiles found in graves and tombs on Nabatean territory, the clothing worn by the Nabateans during the 1st and 2nd century were not unlike their neighbour Judaeans.[34] It is unknown what the Nabateans wore in more ancient times since their art before this period was non-figurative. Among the most common colors were yellow made fromsaffron and a bright red produced frommadder.[30] Blue textiles were also found.[30]
Nabatean men wore a tunic and a mantle both made of wool. The tunic was a Roman style (sleeveless) and with the mantle cut in a Greek style. This reflects a popular style rather than an ethnic style exclusive to the Nabateans.[35] Nabataean women wore long tunics along with scarves and mantles. These scarves were loosely woven and sported fringes at the bottom.
The upper class of Nabataean society, what can be seen on coins, show an even stronger Greek and Roman influence. The kings are depicted clean-shaven with long curled hair while queens are depicted wearing headcoverings with curled hair and long tunics and high-necked garments.Purple cloth seems to have been associated with the king based onStrabo's account of Nabatean men going outside "without tunics girdles about their loins, and with slippers on their feet—even the kings, though in their case the colour is purple."[36]
The major gods worshiped at Petra were notablyDushara andAl-‘Uzzá.[37] Other gods worshipped in Nabatea during this[which?] period wereIsis,Balshamin andObodat[38]
The extent of Nabataean trade resulted in cross-cultural influences that reached as far as the Red Sea coast of southern Arabia.[37][clarification needed]
Dushara was the supreme deity of the Nabataean Arabs and was the official god of the Nabataean Kingdom who enjoyed special royal patronage.[37] His official position is reflected in multiple inscriptions that render him as "The god of our lord" (the king).[39]
The name Dushara is from the Arabic "Dhu ash-Shara": which simply means "the one of Shara", a mountain range southeast of Petra also known asMount Seir.[37] Therefore, from a Nabataean perspective, Dhushara was probably associated with the heavens. However, one theory which connects Dushara with the forest gives a different idea of the god.[40] The eagle was one of the symbols of Dushara.[41] It was widely used inHegra as a source of protection for the tombs against thievery.[42]
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Nabataean inscriptions from Hegra suggest that Dushara was linked either with the sun or withMercury with whichRuda, another Arabian god, was identified.[39]
When the Romans annexed the Nabataean Kingdom, Dushara still had an important role despite losing his former royal privilege. The greatest testimony to the status of the god after the fall of the Nabataean Kingdom was during the 1,000th anniversary of the founding of Rome where Dushara was celebrated inBostra by striking coins in his name, Actia Dusaria (linking the god withAugustus victory atActium). He was venerated in his Arabian name with a Greek fashion in the reign of an Arabian emperor of Rome,Philip.[39]
"His [Dushara's] throne" was frequently mentioned in inscriptions; certain interpretations of the text consider it as a reference for Dushara's wife, goddess Harisha. She was probably a solar deity.[40]
Dushara's consort at Petra is considered to have been al-Uzza, and the goddess has been associated with theTemple of Winged Lions on the basis that if the divine couple of Petra was Dushara and al-Uzza and theQasr al-Bint temple was dedicated to Dushara, then the other major temple must have been al-Uzza's.[38] This is just a theory however, based on conjecture, and it can only be said that the temple is likely dedicated to the supreme goddess figure of the Nabateans, but the identity of this goddess is uncertain. Excavated from The Temple of the Winged Lions was the "EyeBaetyl" or "Eye-Idol".
Numerous Nabatean bas-relief busts of the northern Syrian goddessAtargatis were identified byNelson Glueck atKhirbet et-Tannûr. Atargatis was amalgamated into the worship of Al-‘Uzzá.[39]
Sacrifices of animals were common, andPorphyry'sDe Abstenentia, written in the 3rd century, states that in Dūmah a boy was sacrificed annually and was buried underneath an altar. Some scholars have extrapolated this practice to the rest of the Nabataeans, but this view is contested due to the lack of evidence.[43]
The Nabataeans used to represent their gods as featureless pillars or blocks. Their most common monuments to the gods, commonly known as "god blocks", involved cutting away the whole top of a hill or cliff face so as to leave only a block behind. However, over time the Nabataeans were influenced by Greece and Rome, and their gods became anthropomorphic and were represented with human features.[44]
Historians such asIrfan Shahîd,[45]Warwick Ball,[46]Robert G. Hoyland,[47]Michael C. A. Macdonald,[48] and others[49] believe Nabataeans spoke Arabic as their native language.John F. Healy states "Nabataeans normally spoke a form of Arabic, while, like the Persians etc., they used Aramaic for formal purposes and especially for inscriptions."[50] Proper names on their inscriptions suggest that they were ethnically Arabs who had come under Aramaic influence, and the Nabataeans had already some trace of Aramaic culture when they first appear in history. Some of the authors ofSafaitic inscriptions identify themselves as Nabataeans.[51]
The Nabataeans spoke an Arabic dialect but for their inscriptions used a form ofAramaic that was heavily influenced by Arabic forms and words.[52] When communicating with otherMiddle Eastern peoples, they, like their neighbors, used Aramaic, the region'slingua franca.[39] Therefore, Aramaic was used for commercial and official purposes across the Nabataean political sphere.[53]
TheNabataean alphabet developed out of theAramaic alphabet, but it used a distinctive cursive script from which theArabic alphabet emerged. There are different opinions concerning the development of the Arabic script. J. Starcky considers theLakhmids' Syriac form script as a probable candidate.[54] However, John F. Healey states "The Nabataean origin of the Arabic script is now almost universally accepted".[54] In surviving Nabataean documents, Aramaic legal terms are followed by their equivalents in Arabic. That could suggest that the Nabataeans used Arabic in their legal proceedings but recorded them in Aramaic.[55][56]
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In the reign of Caesar Augustus, towards the end of the first century B.C., the extensive territory of what was to become Roman Arabia comprised the Arab kingdom of the Nabataeans. At that pivotal time in the fortunes of Rome, these Arabs had achieved both a high culture and a powerful monopoly of the traffic in perfume and spices.Healey, John (2023-05-31).Law and Religion between Petra and Edessa: Studies in Aramaic Epigraphy on the Roman Frontier. Taylor & Francis. p. 216.ISBN 978-1-000-94209-5.
The Nabatean people are in fact of rather obscure origin. The earliest settlements were in southern Jordan and Palestine, though it is likely that they came ultimately from the east, possibly from the marginal regions to the north of modern Saudi Arabia. Others would see their origins in the Hijāz or Gulf areas. The Greek writers who mention these people (including well-informed authorities like Josephus, who wrote in the 1st century A.D. and knew the area well) frequently call them Arabs. In view of this fact and the clear evidence of Arabic influence in the Nabateans' language, personal names and religion, we can be virtually certain that they were originally a nomadic Arab group who had gradually settled to form a state. This background is reflected in the Greek sources which say that the Nabateans did not build houses originally or drink wine and that they reared sheep and camels.Schürer, Emil; Millar, Fergus; Vermes, Geza (2015-03-26).The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 57.ISBN 978-0-567-50161-5.
On the other hand, they are repeatedly spoken of as Arabs by ancient writers, not only by those remote from them in time, but also by Josephus, to whom the distinction between Syrians and Arabs must have been quite familiar. In addition, the names on the inscriptions are Arabic throughout. It has therefore been concluded that they were Arabs who, because Arabic had not yet developed into a written language, made use of Aramaic.Stokes, Jamie (2009).Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East. Infobase Publishing. p. 483.ISBN 9781438126760.
The Nabateans were a nomadic Arab people who migrated in the sixth century B.C.E. from the northern area of modern-day Jordan to the region south of the Dead Sea that was to become the heartland of their sedentary civilization.
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