As we told you on our Jordan history page, the Nabataeans are one of the civilizations on which the identity of this country is based. For this reason, they deserve a specific post for them, so here we tell you who the Nabataeans were and in which destinations we can trace their footprint, which is still very visible today in Jordan.
Signs of identity and extension
It is difficult to trace the origins of the Nabataean people, but most historians seem to agree in attributing to them an Arab character, that is, settled or native to the Arabian Peninsula. And more specifically, with the biblical tribe of Nebayot. Their language was a variant of Aramaic and their religion was polytheistic.
The Nabataeans always had a nomadic and transhumant spirit. And perhaps that provided them with a gift for the activity that made them an empire: the control of the caravan trade routes, which crossed their territory to transport goods such as frankincense, myrrh, spices and other luxury items, to or from Arabia, the Red Sea, India, etc.
Its period of splendour took place between the fourth century BC and the first century AD, when it came to dominate a very vast territory considered an entire empire, which extended to the Red Sea, the Sinai Peninsula and part of present-day Syria and Saudi Arabia, as well as Jordan, of course. The capital was Petra, which the Nabataeans called Raqmu. Other important cities were Madain Saleh (Saudi Arabia) and Bosra (Syria).
The Nabataean rulers were kings who demonstrated their power and wealth in different ways, most notably through the monumentality and sumptuousness of their burials. The king with whom the Nabataean empire reached its zenith was Aretas III (first century BC). Earlier, King Aretas I (2nd century BC) is mentioned in the Bible (2nd Book of Maccabees) as “ruler of the Arabs”, which accounts for his relevance.
However, from the first century AD, the Nabataeans gradually assumed Roman rule until they became a Roman province in the second and third centuries. The territory that was roughly the Nabataean kingdom was given the name of Arabia Petra, with its capital in Bosra.
Destinations in Jordan where to track your footprint
Some of the most important places of the Nabataeans are in present-day Jordan. And the one that was its capital, Raqmu, known as Petra by the Greeks and Romans for its stony character, stands out strongly, as it is literally carved into the rock. In this blog we dedicate numerous posts to this destination, a World Heritage Site by Unesco and considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.
Another interesting place to understand the way of life of the ancient Nabataeans is Little Petra, a few kilometers from Petra, and which may have had the function of a logistical establishment for the commercial activity of the capital. Both Petra and her little sister were later ‘inherited’ by another local nomadic people, the Bedouin, who used them as living spaces.
In Wadi Rum, moreover, you can still see numerous petroglyphs (inscriptions made directly on the rock), many of them by the hand of the Nabataeans, which accounts for their passage and settlement here, confirmed by the remains of a temple, residential complexes and baths.
But in Jordan you can trace a kind of ‘Nabataean route’ to visit other places founded or expanded by the Nabataeans in their time of splendor. For example, the archaeological sites of Humayma, Wadi Faynan or Khirbet edh-Dharih. And in museums such as Petra, the Lowest Point on Earth or the Jordanian Museum in Amman you can also see archaeological pieces of that civilization.
