Nabataean kingdom

Jordan, 250 BCE–106 CE. Draft, not yet reviewed

The Nabataean Kingdom was a political state of the Nabataean Arabs during classical antiquity. Nabatea controlled many of the trade routes in the region and 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 to Arabia Petraea. The Arab Nabataean kingdom centered around the three cities of Hijr (Mada'in Salih), Petra, and Bosra (Bostra). The Nabataean Kingdom stretched south along the Tihamah into the Hejaz, up as far north as Damascus, which it controlled for a short period (85-71 BC).

Seat of power: Petra

No rulers documented for this era yet.

Culture

• The Nabataeans appear in historical records from the 4th century BC.
• 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 Nabataeans were able to survive the desert due to efficient rainwater collecting and desert farming.
• The Nabataeans invested in Petra's proximity to the incense trade routes by establishing it as a major regional trading hub, which gained them considerable revenue.

Picture

Petra, an ancient city in southern Jordan, became the capital city of the Nabataean Kingdom in the second century BC.

Image: Azurfrog, CC BY-SA 3.0, file

Sources

• Nabataean Kingdom (Wikipedia)
• Nabataean kingdom (Wikidata)
• About the picture (Wikipedia)

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.