Nabataean Kingdom
Nabataean Kingdom 𐢕𐢃𐢋𐢈 | |||||||||||||
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3rd century BC–106 AD | |||||||||||||
Capital | Petra 30°19′43″N 35°26′31″E / 30.3286°N 35.4419°E | ||||||||||||
Common languages |
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Religion | King | | |||||||||||
Historical era | Antiquity | ||||||||||||
• Established | 3rd century BC | ||||||||||||
90 BC | |||||||||||||
• Conquered by the Roman Empire | 106 AD | ||||||||||||
Currency | Nabataean Denarius | ||||||||||||
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Historical Arab states and dynasties |
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The Nabataean Kingdom (Nabataean Aramaic: 𐢕𐢃𐢋𐢈 Nabāṭū), also named Nabatea (/ˌnæbəˈtiːə/), was a political state of the Nabataeans during classical antiquity.
The Nabataean Kingdom controlled many of the trade routes of the region, amassing large wealth and drawing the envy of its neighbors. It stretched south along the Tihamah into the Hejaz, up as far north as Damascus, which it controlled for a short period (85–71 BC).
Nabataea remained an independent political entity from the mid-3rd century BC until it was annexed in AD 106 by the Roman Empire, which renamed it Arabia Petraea.
History
Nabataeans
The Nabataeans were one among several nomadic Bedouin Arab tribes that roamed the Arabian Desert and moved with their herds to wherever they could find pasture and water.[1] They became familiar with their area as seasons passed, and they struggled to survive during bad years when seasonal rainfall diminished.[1]
The precise origin of the specific tribe of Arab nomads remains uncertain. One hypothesis locates their original homeland in today's
The suggestion that they came from the Hejaz area is considered to be more convincing, as they share many deities with the ancient people there; nbṭw, the root consonant of the tribe's name, is found in the early Semitic languages of Hejaz.[1]
Similarities between late Nabataean Arabic dialect and the ones found in Mesopotamia during the Neo-Assyrian period, as well as a group with the name of "Nabatu" being listed by the Assyrians as one of several rebellious Arab tribes in the region, suggests a connection between the two.[1]
The Nabataeans might have originated from there and migrated west between the 6th and 4th centuries BC into northwestern Arabia and much of what is now modern-day Jordan. Nabataeans have been falsely associated with other groups of people. A people called the "Nabaiti", who were defeated by the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, were associated by some with the Nabataeans because of the temptation to link their similar names. Another misconception is their identification with the Nebaioth of the Hebrew Bible, the descendants of Ishmael, Abraham's son.[1]
Unlike the rest of the Arabian tribes, the Nabataeans later emerged as vital players in the region during their times of prosperity. However, their influence then faded, and the Nabataeans were forgotten.[1]
Emergence
The literate Nabataeans left no lengthy historical texts. However, thousands of inscriptions have been found in their settlements, including graffiti and on minted coins.
The first historical reference to the Nabataeans is by Greek historian Diodorus Siculus who lived around 30 BC. Diodorus refers accounts made 300 years earlier by Hieronymus of Cardia, one of Alexander the Great's generals, who had a first-hand encounter with the Nabataeans. Diodorus relates how the Nabataeans survived in a waterless desert and managed to defeat their enemies by hiding in the desert until the latter surrendered for lack of water. The Nabataeans dug cisterns that were covered and marked by signs known only to themselves.[4] Diodorus wrote about how they were "exceptionally fond of freedom" and includes an account about unsuccessful raids that were initiated by Greek general Antigonus I in 312 BC.[1]
neither the Assyrians of old, nor the kings of the Medes and Persians, nor yet those of the Macedonians have been able to enslave them, and... they never brought their attempts to a successful conclusion. - Diodorus.[1]
After Alexander the Great's death in 323 BC, his empire split among his generals. During
Antigonus ordered one of his officers, Athenaeus, to raid the Nabataeans with 4000 infantry and 600 cavalry, and loot herds and processions. Athenaeus learned that, every year, the Nabataeans gathered for a festival, during which women, children, and elders were left at "a certain rock" (later interpreted by some as the future city of "Petra", "rock" in Greek.)[9] The Antigonids attacked "the rock" in 312 BC while the Nabataeans were away trading; the inhabitants were taken by surprise and tonnes of spices and silver were looted. The Antigonids departed before nightfall and made camp to rest 200 stadion away, where they thought they would be safe from Nabataean counter-attack. The camp was attacked by 8000 pursuing Nabataean soldiers and - as Diodorus describes it - "all the 4000 foot-soldiers were slain, but of the 600 horsemen about fifty escaped, and of these the larger part were wounded";[9][10] Athenaeus himself was killed.[9][11] The Antigonids had deployed no scouts, a failure that Diodorus ascribes to Athenaeus's failure to anticipate the rapidity of the Nabataean response. After the Nabataeans returned to their rock, they wrote a letter to Antigonus accusing Athenaeus and declaring that they had destroyed the Antigonid army in self-defence.[9][10] Antigonus replied by blaming Athenaeus for acting unilaterally, intending to lull the Nabataeans into a false sense of security.[9][12] But the Nabataeans, though pleased with Antigonus response, remained suspicious and established outposts on the edge of the mountains in preparation for future Antigonid attacks.[9][13][12]
The Antigonids' second attack was with an army of 4000 infantry and 4000 cavalry led by Antigonus's son, Demetrius "the Besieger".[9][14] The Nabataean scouts spotted the marching enemy and used smoke signals to warn of the approaching Antigonid army.[9][15] The Nabataeans dispersed their herds and possessions to guarded locations in harsh terrain - such as deserts and mountain tops - which would be difficult for the Antigonids to attack, and garrisoned "the rock" to defend what remained.[9][15] The Antigonids attacked "the rock" through its "single artificial approach", but the Nabataeans managed to repulse the invading force.[9][15] A Nabataean called out to Demetrius pointing out that Antigonid aggression made no sense, for the land was semi-barren and the Nabataeans had no desire to be their slaves.[9][12] Realizing his limited supplies and the determination of the Nabataean fighters, Demetrius eventually was forced to accept peace, and withdraw with hostages and gifts.[9][15][12] Demetrius drew Antigonus's displeasure for the peace, but this was ameliorated by Demetrius's reports of bitumen deposits in the Dead Sea,[9] a valuable commodity that was essential for the embalming process.[15][16]
Antigonus sent an expedition, this time under Hieronymus of Cardia, to extract bitumen from the Dead Sea.[9] A force of 6000 Arabs sailing on reed rafts approached Hieronymus's troops and killed them with arrows.[9] These Arabs were almost certainly Nabataeans.[16] Antigonus thus lost all hope of generating revenue in that manner.[9] The event is described as the first conflict caused by a Middle Eastern petroleum product.[17]
The series of wars among the Greek generals ended in a dispute over the lands of modern-day Jordan between the
Diodorus mentions that the Nabataeans had attacked merchant ships belonging to the Ptolemies in Egypt at unspecified date, but were soon targeted by a larger force and "punished as they deserved".[19] While it is unknown why the wealthy Nabataeans turned to piracy, one possible reason is that they felt that their trade interests were threatened by the understanding of the nature of monsoon in the Red Sea from the third century BC.[19]
Creation of the Nabataean Kingdom
The Nabataean Arabs did not emerge as a political power suddenly; their rise instead went through two phases.[20] The first phase was in the 4th century BC (ruled then by an elders' council),[21] which was marked by the growth of Nabataean control over trade routes and various tribes and towns. Their presence in Transjordan by the end of the fourth century BC is guaranteed by Antigonus's operations in the region, and despite recent suggestions that there is no evidence of Nabataean occupation of the Hauran in the early period, the Zenon papyri firmly attest the penetration of the Hauran by the Nabataeans in the mid-third century BC beyond all doubt, and according to Bowersock, it "establish[es] these Arabs in one of the principal areas of subsequent splendor".[22] Simultaneously, the Nabataeans had probably moved across the 'Araba to the west into the desert tracts of the Negev.[23] In their early history, before establishing urban centers, the Nabataeans demonstrated on several occasions their impressive and well organized military prowess by successfully defending their territory against larger powers.[24]
The second phase saw the creation of the Nabataean political state in the mid-3rd century BC.
A recent papyrological discovery, the Milan Papyrus, provides further evidence. The relevant part of the Lithika section of the papyrus describes an Arabian cavalry of a certain Nabataean king,[31] providing an early 3rd century BC reference to a Nabataean monarch.[26] The word Nabataean stands alone beside a missing word that start with the letter M; one of the suggested words for filling the gap is the traditional name of Nabataean kings, Malichus.[32] Furthermore, the anonymous Nabataean coins dated by Barkay to the second half of the 3rd century BC, found mainly in Nabataean territory, support such an early date of the Nabataean Kingdom. This is in line with Strabo's account (whose description of Arabia derives ultimately from reports by 3rd century BC Ptolemaic officials) that the Nabataean kingship was old and traditional.[33] In conclusion, Rachel Barkay states that "the Nabataean economy and political regime were in existence by the third century BC".[32] The Kingship of the Nabataeans, was in the view of Strabo, an effective one, where the Nabataean kingdom was "very well governed" and the king was "a man of the people".[34] For more than four centuries the Nabataean kingdom dominated, politically and commercially, a large territory and was arguably the first Arab kingdom in the area.[35]
The testimony of the 4th and 3rd century external accounts and local materialistic evidence demonstrate that the Nabataeans played a relatively substantial political and economic role in the sphere of the early Hellenistic world.[26] While the Nabataeans didn't attain observable characteristics of a Hellenistic state (i.e. monumental architecture) in their early period, similar to contemporary Seleucid Syria, the Milan papyrus speaks of their wealth and prestige in this period. In that respect, the Nabataeans must be considered a unique entity.[26]
Aretas I, mentioned in II Macc as "the tyrant of the Arabs" (169-168 BC), is regarded as the first explicitly named king of the Nabataeans. His first appearance in history is in the II Macc, where the high-priest Jason, driven by his rival Menelaus, sought the protection of Aretas.[36] Upon his arrival at the land of the Nabataeans, Aretas imprisoned Jason.[37] It is not clear why or when that happened; his arrest by Aretas was either after he escaped Jerusalem, where Aretas, fearing the retaliation of Antiochus IV Epiphanes for "openly demonstrating pro-Ptolemaic stand" (in Hammond's view however, Aretas hoped to use Jason as a political bargaining counter with the Seleucids), arrested Jason.[37] Or his imprisonment might have happened at a later date (167 BC), as a result of the established friendship between the Nabataeans and Judas Maccabaeus, aimed to hand Jason to the Jews. "Either suggestion is feasible and so the riddle remains unresolved", according to Kasher.[37]
A Nabataean inscription in the Negev, mentions a Nabataean king called Aretas, the date given by Starcky is not later than 150 BC.[38] However, the dating is difficult. It has been claimed that the inscription dates to the 3rd century BC, based on the pre-Nabataean writing style,[39] or somewhere in the 2nd century BC.[40] Generally, the inscription is attributed to Aretas I of II Macc, or perhaps as suggested by others, to Aretas II.[41]
Around the same time, the Arab Nabataeans and the neighboring Jewish
The Nabataeans began to mint coins during the second century BC, revealing the extensive economic and political independence they enjoyed.[2]
Petra was included in a list of major cities in the Mediterranean area to be visited by a notable from Priene, a sign of the significance of Nabataea in the ancient world. Petra was counted with Alexandria, which was considered to be a supreme city in the civilized world.[2]
Nabataeans and Hasmoneans
The Nabataeans were allies of the Maccabees during their struggles against the
The Hasmonean King Alexander Jannaeus, besieged the city of Gaza around 100 BC, on the grounds that the Gazans had favoured the Ptolemies over the Judaeans in their recent battles. Gaza was occupied and its inhabitants put to the sword by Jannaeus.[2]
The Hasmoneans, under Jannaeus, launched a campaign that captured several territories in Transjordan north of Nabataea, along the road to Damascus, including northern Moab and Gilead. The territorial acquisitions threatened Nabataean trade interests, both to Gaza and to the Seleucids in Damascus.[45] The Nabataean King, Obodas I fought to restore the areas. Obodas managed to defeat Jannaeus in the Battle of Gadara around 93 BC, when he ambushed him and his forces in a steep valley where Jannaeus "was lucky to escape alive".[2]
After the Nabataean victory over the Judaeans, the former were now at odds with the Seleucids, who were not impressed with the increasing influence of the Nabataeans to the south of their territories.[46] The Nabataeans were again victorious over the Greeks, and this time over the Seleucids. During the Battle of Cana, the Seleucid king Antiochus XII waged war against the Nabataeans; the king himself was slain during combat. His demoralized army fled and perished in the desert from starvation. After Obodas's victories over the Judaeans and the Greeks, he became the first Nabataean king to be worshipped as a god by his people.
Avdat was a temple built in the Negev desert by the Nabataeans to commemorate Obodas. He was buried there and inscriptions have been found referring to "Obodas the god".[2]
During the reign of Aretas III (87 to 62 BC) the kingdom seems to have reached its territorial zenith; it was defeated by a Roman army under the command of Marcus Aemilius Scaurus. Scaurus's army even besieged Petra; eventually a compromise was negotiated. Paying a tribute, Aretas III received formal recognition by the Roman Republic.[47]
The Nabataean kingdom saw itself slowly surrounded by the expanding Roman Empire, which conquered Egypt and annexed Hasmonean Judea. While the Nabataean kingdom managed to preserve its formal independence, it became a client kingdom under the influence of Rome.[47]
Roman annexation
In 106 AD, during the reign of Roman emperor
The city of Palmyra, for a time the capital of the breakaway Palmyrene Empire, grew in importance and attracted the Arabian trade away from Petra.[48][49]
Geography
The Nabataean Kingdom was situated between the Arabian and
Raqmu, now called Petra, was a wealthy trading town, located at a convergence of several important
See also
References
Notes
- ^ The Zenon archive mentions Dionysius, one of two Greek employees who sought an alternative career of selling women as sex slaves, he was once detained by the Nabataeans for a week during one of his expeditions.[19] Considering what is known of the Nabtaean society's remarkable gender equality at later time, it is likely that they were objecting to the treatment of women in their area, for whom they believed they were responsible in the course of maintaining law and order.[19]
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Taylor 2001, p. 14.
- ^ ISBN 9781860645082. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
- ^ a b c d e Wenning 2007, p. 26.
- ^ Taylor 2001, p. 17.
- ^ Taylor 2001, p. 30.
- ^ Bowersock 1994, p. 13.
- ^ Mills, Bullard & McKnight 1990, p. 598.
- ^ Taylor 2001, p. 8.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Diodorus Siculus, Book XIX, 95-100, Loeb Classical Library edition, 1954, accessed 27 December 2019
- ^ a b Taylor 2001, p. 31.
- ^ Groot 1879, p. 7.
- ^ a b c d Bowersock 1994, p. 14.
- ^ Healey 2001, p. 28.
- ^ McLaughlin 2014, p. 51.
- ^ a b c d e McLaughlin 2014, p. 52.
- ^ a b Hammond 1973, p. 68.
- ^ Waterfield 2012, p. 123.
- ^ Salibi 1998, p. 10.
- ^ a b c d e Taylor 2001, p. 38.
- ^ a b Al-Abduljabbar 1995, p. 8.
- ^ Al-Abduljabbar 1995, p. 136.
- ^ Bowersock 1994, pp. 17–18.
- ^ Bowersock 1994, p. 18.
- ^ Bowes 1998, p. 4.
- ^ Bowes 1998, p. 106.
- ^ a b c d Pearson 2011, p. 10.
- ^ Milik 2003, p. 275.
- ^ a b Al-Abduljabbar 1995, p. 147.
- ^ Bowersock 1994, p. 17.
- ^ a b c d Taylor 2001, p. 40.
- ^ Levy, Daviau & Younker 2016, p. 335.
- ^ a b Barkay 2015, p. 433.
- ^ Barkay 2011, p. 69.
- ^ Sullivan 1990, p. 72.
- ^ Al-Abduljabbar 1995, p. 1.
- ^ Starcky 1955, p. 84.
- ^ a b c Kasher 1988, p. 24.
- ^ Kropp 2013, p. 41.
- ^ Sartre 2005, p. 17.
- ^ Taylor 2001, p. 219.
- ^ Pearson 2011, p. 13.
- ^ a b c Bowersock 1994, p. 19.
- ^ a b c d Bowersock 1994, p. 20.
- ISBN 978-0-297-79091-4.
- ISBN 978-0-14-044420-9.
- ^
Ball, Warwick (10 June 2016). Rome in the East: The Transformation of an Empire. ISBN 9781317296355. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
- ^ ISBN 9957-451-04-9
- ^ a b
Teller, Matthew; Jordan; p.265; Rough Guides; Sept 2009; ISBN 978-1-84836-066-2
- ISBN 9004121706. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
Sources
- Al-Abduljabbar, Abdullah (1995). The rise of the Nabataeans: sociopolitical developments in 4th and 3rd century BC Nabataea (PhD). Indiana University.
- Barkay, Rachel (2015). "NEW ASPECTS OF NABATAEAN COINS". ARAM. 27: 431–439.
- Barkay, Rachel (2011). "The Earliest Nabataean Coinage". The Numismatic Chronicle. 171: 67–73. JSTOR 42667225.
- Bowersock, Glen (1994). Roman Arabia. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-77756-9.
- Bowes, Alan R. (1998). The Process of Nabataean Sedentarization: New Models and Approaches. Department of Anthropology, University of Utah.
- Groot, N. G. De (1879). The History of the Israelites and Judæans: Philosophical and Critical. Trübner & Company.
- Hammond, Philip C. (1959). "The Nabataean Bitumen Industry at the Dead Sea". The Biblical Archaeologist. 22 (2): 40–48. S2CID 133997328.
- ISBN 978-91-85058-57-0.
- Healey, John F. (2001). The Religion of the Nabataeans: A Conspectus. BRILL. ISBN 90-04-10754-1.
- Kasher, Aryeh (1988). Jews, Idumaeans, and Ancient Arabs: Relations of the Jews in Eretz-Israel with the Nations of the Frontier and the Desert During the Hellenistic and Roman Era (332 BCE-70 CE). Mohr Siebeck. ISBN 978-3-16-145240-6.
- Kropp, Andreas J. M. (27 June 2013). Images and Monuments of Near Eastern Dynasts, 100 BC - AD 100. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-967072-7.
- Levy, Thomas Evan; Daviau, P.M. Michele; Younker, Randall W. (16 June 2016). Crossing Jordan: North American Contributions to the Archaeology of Jordan. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-315-47856-2.
- McLaughlin, Raoul (11 September 2014). The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean: The Ancient World Economy and the Kingdoms of Africa, Arabia and India. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-78346-381-7.
- Milik, J.T. (2003), "Appendice, inscription nabatéenne archaïque. Une bilingue arameo-grecque de 105/104 avant J.-C.", in J. Dentzer-Feydy; J.-M. Dentzer; P.-M. Blanc (eds.), Hauran II: Les Installations de Sī 8 du Sanctuaire à l'Etablissement Viticole I (in French), Beirut
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Mills, Watson E.; Bullard, Roger Aubrey; McKnight, Edgar V. (1990). Mercer Dictionary of the Bible. Mercer University Press. ISBN 978-0-86554-373-7.
- Pearson, Jeffrey Eli (2011). Contextualizing the Nabataeans: A Critical Reassessment of Their History and Material Culture (PhD). University of California, Berkeley.
- Salibi, Kamal S. (15 December 1998). The Modern History of Jordan. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-1-86064-331-6.
- Sartre, Maurice (2005). The Middle East Under Rome. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01683-5.
- Starcky, Jean (1955). "The Nabataeans: A Historical Sketch". The Biblical Archaeologist. 18 (4): 84–106. S2CID 134256604.
- Sullivan, Richard (1990). Near Eastern royalty and Rome, 100-30 BC. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-2682-8.
- Taylor, Jane (2001). Petra and the Lost Kingdom of the Nabataeans. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-1-86064-508-2.
- Waterfield, Robin (11 October 2012). Dividing the Spoils: The War for Alexander the Great's Empire. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-993152-1.
- Wenning, Robert (2007). "The Nabataeans in History (Before AD 106).". In Konstantinos D. Politis (ed.). The World of the Nabataeans. Vol. 2 of the International Conference, The World of the Herods and the Nabataeans, Held at the British Museum, 17–19 April 2001. Franz Steiner Verlag. ISBN 978-3-515-08816-9.
Further reading
- Benjamin, Jesse. "Of Nubians and Nabateans: Implications of research on neglected dimensions of ancient world history." Journal of Asian and African Studies 36, no. 4 (2001): 361–82.
- Fittschen, Klaus, and G Foerster. Judaea and the Greco-Roman World In the Time of Herod In the Light of Archaeological Evidence: Acts of a Symposium. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996.
- Kropp, Andreas J. M. "Nabatean Petra: the royal palace and the Herod connection." Boreas 32 (2009): 43–59.
- Negev, Avraham. Nabatean Archaeology Today. New York: New York University Press, 1986.
- del Rio Sánchez, Francisco, and Juan Pedro Monferrer Sala. Nabatu: The Nabataeans through their Inscriptions. Barcelona: University of Barcelona, 2005.
External links
- A map of the VIA NOVA TRAIANA showing the outposts that made up Hadrian's limes