Difference between revisions of "Nabataeans; Nabathaeans"

Nabataeans; Nabathaeans <ref name="term_6560" />  

<p> ''''' nab ''''' - ''''' a ''''' - ''''' tē ''''' ´- ''''' anz ''''' , ''''' nab ''''' - ''''' a ''''' - ''''' thē ''''' ´- ''''' anz ''''' ( Ναβαταῖοι , <i> ''''' Nabataı́oi ''''' </i> ; in 1 [[Maccabees]] 5:25 [[Codex]] Sinaiticus reads αναβάταις οἱ , <i> ''''' anabátais ''''' </i> <i> ''''' hoi ''''' </i> , V, Ἀναβατταίοις , <i> ''''' Anabattaı́ois ''''' </i> ; the King James Version [[Nabathites]] , more correctly "Nabataeans"): </p> <h4> 1. Locality and [[Early]] History </h4> <p> A S emitic (Arabian rather than Syrian) tribe whose home in early Hellenistic times was Southeast of Palestine, where they had either supplanted or mingled with the [[Edomites]] (compare Malachi 1:1-5 ). In Josephus' day they were so numerous that the territory between the Red Sea and the [[Euphrates]] was called Nabatene ( <i> Ant. </i> , I, xii, 4). They extended themselves along the East of the [[Jordan]] with [[Petra]] as their capital (Strabo xvi. 779; Josephus, <i> Ant. </i> , Xiv , i, 4; Xvii , iii, 2; <i> BJ </i> , I, vi, 2, etc.). Their earlier history is shrouded in obscurity. Jerome, <i> Quaeat </i> in [[Genesis]] 25:13 , following the hint of [[Josephus]] ( <i> Ant. </i> , I, xii, 4), asserts they were identical with the [[Ishmaelite]] tribe of Nebaioth, which is possible, though [[Nebaioth]] is spelled with the [[Hebrew]] letter <i> '''''taw''''' </i> ת and Nabataeans is spelled with the Hebrew letter <i> '''''teth''''' </i> ט . They were apparently the first allies of the [[Assyrians]] in their invasions of Edom (compare Malachi 1:1 ff). They were later subdued by [[Sennacherib]] (Sayce, <i> New [[Light]] from the [[Ancient]] Monuments </i> , II, 430), but before long regained their independence and resisted [[Ashurbanipal]] (Rawlinson, note, ad loc.). According to [[Alexander]] Polyhistor (Fr. 18), they were included in the nomadic tribes reduced by David. Their history is more detailed from 312 Bc (Diod. Sic. xix), when [[Antigonus]] I (Cyclops) sent his general Athenaeus with a force against them in Petra. After an initial advantage, the army of Athenaeus was almost annihilated. Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, was sent against them a few years later, with little success, though he arranged a friendship with them. The first prince mentioned is [[Aretas]] I, to whom the high priest [[Jason]] fled in 169 BC. They were friendly to the early Maccabees in the anti-Hellenistic struggle, to [[Judas]] in 164 Bc (1 Macc 5:25) and to [[Jonathan]] in 160 Bc (9:35). </p> <h4> 2. A S trong Kingdom </h4> <p> Toward the end of the 2nd century Bc on the fall of the Ptolemaic and Seleucid Dynasties, the Nabataeans under King Erotimus founded a strong kingdom extending East of the Jordan (in 110 BC). Conscious now of their own strength, they resented the ambition of the Hasmonean Dynasty - their former allies - and opposed Alexander [[Jannaeus]] (96 BC) at the siege of Gaza (Josephus, <i> Ant. </i> , Xiii , xiii, 3). A few years later (90 BC) Alexander retaliated by attacking Obedas I, king of the Nabataeans, but suffered a severe defeat East of the Jordan (Josephus, <i> Ant. </i> , Xiii , xiii, 5; <i> Bj </i> , I, iv, 4). [[Antiochus]] 12 of [[Coele-Syria]] next led an expedition against the Nabataeans, but was defeated and slain in the battle of Kana (Josephus, <i> Ant. </i> , Xiii , xv, 1-2; <i> Bj </i> , I, iv, 7-8). Consequently, Aretas 3 seized Coele-Syria and [[Damascus]] and gained another victory over Alexander Jannaeus at [[Adida]] (in 85 BC). </p> <h4> 3. Conflicts </h4> <p> The Nabataeans, led by Aretas (III?), espoused the cause of [[Hyrcanus]] against Aristobulus, besieged the latter in [[Jerusalem]] and provoked the interference of the Romans, by whom under Scaurus they were defeated (Josephus, <i> Ant. </i> , Xiv , i, 4 f; <i> Bj </i> , I, vi, 2 f). After the capture of Jerusalem, Pompey attacked Aretas, but was satisfied with a payment (Josephus, ibid.), and Damascus was added to Syria, though later it appears to have again passed into the hands of Aretas 2 Corinthians 11:32 . In 55 Bc G abinius led another force against the Nabataeans (Josephus, ibid.). In 47 Bc M alchus I assisted Caesar, but in 40 Bc refused to assist [[Herod]] against the Parthians, thus provoking both the [[Idumaean]] Dynasty and the Romans. Antony made a present of part of Malchus' territory to Cleopatra, and the Nabataean kingdom was further humiliated by disastrous defeat in the war against Herod (31 BC). </p> <h4> 4. End of the Nation </h4> <p> Under Aretas 4 (9 Bc- 40 AD) the kingdom was recognized by Augustus. This king sided with the Romans against the Jews, and further gained a great victory over Herod Antipas, who had divorced his daughter to marry Herodias. Under King Abias an expedition against [[Adiabene]] came to grief. [[Malchus]] 2 (48-71 AD) assisted the Romans in the conquest of Jerusalem (Josephus, <i> Bj </i> , III, iv, 2). Rabel (71-106 AD) was the last king of the Nabataeans as a nation. In 106 [[Ad]] their nationality was broken up by the unwise policy of Trajan, and Arabia, of which Petra was the capital, was made a [[Roman]] province by [[Cornelius]] Palma, governor of Syria. Otherwise they might have at least contributed to protecting the West against the East. [[Diodorus]] (loc. cit.) represents the Nabataeans as a wild nomadic folk, with no agriculture, but with flocks and herds and engaged in considerable trading. Later, however, they seem to have imbibed considerable Aramaean culture, and Aramaic became at least the language of their commerce and diplomacy. They were also known as pirates on the Red Sea; they secured the harbor of Elah and the Gulf of 'Akaba. They traded between [[Egypt]] and [[Mesopotamia]] and carried on a lucrative commerce in myrrh, frankincense and costly wares (Schrader, <i> Keilinschriften und Geschichtsforschung </i> , 4th edition (1901), I, 726-44, with full bibliography). </p>

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