Nabataeans

"Nabataean" redirects here. For the languages, see Nabataean Arabic and Nabataean Aramaic.
For the name used by Islamicate authors to designate the native inhabitants of Mesopotamia, see Nabataeans of Iraq.
Nabataeans
A map of the Roman empire under Hadrian (ruled AD 117–138), showing the location of the Arabes Nabataei in the desert regions around the Roman province of Arabia Petraea (lower right)
Languages
Religion
Related ethnic groups
Arabs

The Nabataeans or Nabateans (/ˌnæbəˈtiːənz/; Nabataean Aramaic: 𐢕𐢃𐢋𐢈‎, NBṬW, vocalized as Nabāṭū)[a] were an ancient Arab people[1] who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Levant.[2] Their settlements—most prominently the assumed capital city of Raqmu (present-day Petra, Jordan)[3]—gave the name Nabatene (Ancient Greek: Ναβατηνή, romanized: Nabatēnḗ) to the Arabian borderland that stretched from the Euphrates to the Red Sea.

The Nabateans emerged as a distinct civilization and political entity between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC,[4] with their 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 the Roman Empire by Emperor Trajan in 106 AD. Nabataeans' individual culture, easily identified by their characteristic finely potted painted ceramics, was adopted into the larger Greco-Roman culture. They converted to Christianity during the Later Roman Era. They have been described as one of the most gifted peoples of the ancient world[5][6][7] and one of the "most unjustly forgotten".[8][4]


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  1. ^ Bowersock, Glen Warren (1994). Roman Arabia. Harvard University Press. p. 12. ISBN 9780674777569. 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.
  2. ^ Bowersock, Glen Warren (1994). Roman Arabia. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674777569.
  3. ^ "Nabataeans". livius.org. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  4. ^ a b Taylor, Jane (2001). Petra and the Lost Kingdom of the Nabataeans. London: I.B.Tauris. pp. 14, 17, 30, 31. ISBN 9781860645082. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  5. ^ Taylor, Jane (2001). Petra and the Lost Kingdom of the Nabataeans. London, United Kingdom: I.B.Tauris. pp. centerfold, 14. ISBN 978-1-86064-508-2. The Nabataean Arabs, one of the most gifted peoples of the ancient world, are today known only for their hauntingly beautiful rock-carved capital — Petra.
  6. ^ Taylor, Jane (2002). Petra and the Lost Kingdom of the Nabataeans. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-00849-6.
  7. ^ Grant, Michael (2011-12-30). Jews In The Roman World. Orion. ISBN 978-1-78022-281-3.
  8. ^ Elborough, Travis (2019-09-17). Atlas of Vanishing Places: The lost worlds as they were and as they are today. White Lion Publishing. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-78131-895-9.