The Nabateans were an Arab people who, between the 4th century BCE and the 2nd century CE, built one of the most remarkable civilizations the desert has ever seen. From their capital at Petra (in modern Jordan), they controlled the trade in frankincense, myrrh, and spices between southern Arabia and the Mediterranean, becoming fabulously wealthy in the process. Their Negev cities, Avdat, Mamshit, Shivta, and Haluza, are the western outposts of an empire that stretched from the Red Sea to Damascus.
Who Were They?
The Nabateans appear in history almost from nowhere. By the 4th century BCE, they were already wealthy enough to resist the armies of Alexander’s successors. They spoke Arabic but wrote in Aramaic, and their script evolved into the Arabic alphabet still used today. They worshipped gods with Arabian names, Dushara (Lord of the Mountain) and al-Uzza (the Mighty One), but adopted Hellenistic and Roman artistic styles. They were, in short, cultural chameleons who absorbed influences from every civilization they traded with.
Masters of Water
The Nabateans’ most impressive achievement was their mastery of water in the desert. They developed systems for capturing, channeling, and storing rainwater that allowed them to farm in regions that receive less than 100 millimeters of rain per year. Their terraces, dams, cisterns, and channels are still studied by modern engineers, and some are still functional after 2,000 years. The secret was not the amount of water but the efficiency with which they used it.
End
In 106 CE, the Roman Emperor Trajan annexed the Nabatean kingdom, turning it into the province of Arabia Petraea. The Nabateans did not disappear overnight. Their cities continued to flourish under Roman and Byzantine rule, and many Nabateans converted to Christianity. But the distinctive Nabatean culture gradually faded, absorbed into the Roman provincial world. Their cities in the Negev survived until the 7th-8th centuries CE, when the Arab conquest and changing trade routes finally ended their long afterlife.
Visit with Hoshen Tours
The Nabatean story comes alive at Avdat, Mamshit, and Shivta. Hoshen Tours designs Incense Route itineraries that tell the story of the people who made the desert bloom two thousand years before modern Israel tried the same trick.