Although not mentioned in the Bible, the ancient Arab kingdom of Nabatea was an important nation founded when they had pushed in north from the Arabian deserts into the land that was ancient Edom. Its capital was Petra. This displaced the Edomites who then moved west across the Rife Valley and established what came to be called Idumea in southern regions of Judah during the period of the Babylonian exile. With a monopoly of the spice trade in hand, they became one of the most powerful and wealthy nations during the first three centuries AD. Its annexation by the Romans in 106 AD greatly enhanced its prestige but also led to it eventual demise when the empire rerouted the trade-routes to the north-east.
The so-called "Treasury," Petra
The Nabateans were powerful, if not always reliable, allies of the Herod family. Herod's mother, Cypros, was a Nabatean princess. It was with the help of the king of the Nabateans, Aretas, that Antipater (Herod's father) restored Hyrcanus II to the throne at the expense of the latter's brother Aristobulus, and in this way opened the door for Antipater's family gaining influence and power in Judean politics. Antipas, son of Herod the Great and usually referred to in the Gospels as "Herod the tetrach," divorced his Nabatean wife in order to marry his sister-in-law Herodias, a marriage whose condemnation by John the Baptist earned him his arrest and martyrdom.
The city of Petra disappeared from all maps from about the 7th Cent, and was not re-discovered until Johann Burckhardt, a Swiss scholar travelling disguised as a Muslim pilgrim in the Middle East, stumbled upon it in 1812 and recognized it as the city of Petra. Today the city is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a major tourist money-earner for Jordan.
©ALBERITH