- Nabataean kingdom
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Nabataean Kingdom
Malkûtâ Nabatu← 
168 BC–AD 106 
→Capital Petra Language(s) Nabataean Religion Nabataean Mythology[citation needed] Government Monarchy King - 168-144 BC Aretas I - 70/71-106 AD Rabbel II Soter Historical era Antiquity - Established 168 BC - Conquered by the Roman Empire AD 106 The Nabataean kingdom, also named Nabatea (many times spelled Nabatean), was a political state of the Nabataeans which existed during Classical antiquity and was annexed by the Roman Empire in AD 106.[1]
Contents
Geography
Located between the Sinai Peninsula and the Arabian Peninsula, its northern neighbour was the kingdom of Judea, and its south western neighbour was Ptolemaic Egypt. Its capital was the city of Petra, and it included the towns of Bostra, Mada'in Saleh, and Nitzana.
Petra was a wealthy trading town, located at a convergence of several important trade routes. One of them was the Incense Route which was based around the production of both myrrh and frankincense in southern Arabia,[2] and ran through Mada'in Saleh to Petra. From here the aromatics were distributed throughout the Mediterranean region.
History
Nabataean origins go back to a time when they were nomadic pastoralists in the Negev and the Sinai Peninsula around the 4th century BC.[3]
Under the reign of Aretas III (87 to 62 BC) the kingdom seems to have reached its territorial zenith, but was defeated by a Roman army under the command of Marcus Aemilius Scaurus. Scarus' army even besieged Petra, but eventually a compromise was negotiated. Paying a tribute, Aretas III received the formal recognition by the Roman Republic.
The kingdom saw itself slowly surrounded by the expanding Roman Empire, who conquered Egypt and annexed Judea. While the Nabatean kingdom managed to preserve its formal independence, it became a client kingdom under the influence of Rome.
Roman annexation
Main article: Arabia PetraeaIn AD 106, during the reign of Roman emperor Trajan, the last king of the Nabatean kingdom Rabbel II Soter died. This event might have prompted the official annexation of Nabatea to the Roman Empire, although the formal reasons, and the exact manner of annexation, are unknown.
Some epigraphic evidence suggests a military campaign, commanded by Cornelius Palma, the governor of Syria. Roman forces seem to have come from Syria and also from Egypt. It is clear that by 107 AD Roman legions were stationed in the area around Petra and Bostra, as is shown by a papyrus found in Egypt. The kingdom was annexed by the empire, becoming the province of Arabia Petraea. Trade seems to have largely continued.
A century later, during the reign of Alexander Severus, the local issue of coinage came to an end.
There is no more building of sumptuous tombs, owing apparently to some sudden catastrophe, such as an invasion by the neo-Persian power under the Sassanid Empire.
The city of Palmyra, for a time the capital of the breakaway Palmyrene Empire (fl. 130–270), grew in importance and attracted the Arabian trade away from Petra.
See also
Footnotes
- ^ Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities - Petra from the official website for The Hashemite Kingdom of Jortdan
- ^ Gibson (2011), p. 132.
- ^ See Diodorus Siculus 19.94; Rosen (2007); Graf (1990) and Gibson (2011), p. 133,
References
- Gibson, Dan (2011). Qur’anic Geography: A Survey and Evaluation of the Geographical References in the Qur’an with Suggested Solutions for Various Problems and Issues. Independent Scholars Press, Canada. ISBN 978-0-9733642-8-6.
Categories:- Former monarchies of Asia
- Former countries in Asia
- States and territories established in 168 BC
- States and territories disestablished in 106 AD
- Nabataea
- Pre-Islamic Arabia
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