Meaning of NABATAEANS

A people of Arab origin, who also spoke and wrote in Aramaic. Between the 6th and 4th centuries BC. They moved north, taking over the strongholds of Edom and Moab.

By controlling the caravan routes of the Middle East, he reached a remarkable degree of influence and civilization. Its peak dates back to 200 BC. and 100 AD There came a time when his power extended north to Damascus (2 Cor. 11:32) and Coelosirua, south to Madã in Sãlih (al-Hijr) in the northern Hedjaz (1 Mac. 5:25). ; 9:35; Ant. 13:15, 2, and various inscriptions).

The Nabataeans established their capital in Petra, 90 km south of the Dead Sea; In the OT this city was known under the name of Shelah (Is. 16:1).

The Nabataeans had notable artists, architects, engineers and potters. In the same rock of Petra, in a very particular way, they carved houses, temples and tombs. More than anyone else at that time, they developed agriculture even in the desert itself. They were masters in the art of excavating cisterns and tanks, and bringing, from distant sources, through aqueducts, the water necessary for irrigation.

Petra, the pink city, remained unknown in the West until 1812. Later, in 1900, high places established in the open air were discovered. The Nabataeans worshiped the sun and the moon. Often, their deities evoked a cult of fertility; Their main gods were Dusars (Dionysus, Bacchus) and the goddess Alat.

Around 312 BC, Antigonus, one of Alexander the Great's successors, led two expeditions against the Nabataeans, who successfully resisted. King Aretas III (between 85 and 60 BC) first came into close contact with the Romans.

In 47 BC, Julius Caesar demanded that Malchus I give him horsemen. The country learned the reality of its power under Aretas IV (4 BC to 40 AD), whose ethnarch attempted to arrest Paul in Damascus (2 Cor. 11:32). In the year 105 AD, Trajan put an end to the autonomy of the Nabataeans; The following year, its territory became a Roman province under the name of Arabia Petrea (the Arabia of Petra). There are authors who place the origin of this nation in Nebaioth, son of Ishmael (Gen. 25:13).