Nabataean Kingdom
The Nabataean Kingdom (Nabataean Aramaic: 𐢕𐢃𐢋𐢈 Nabāṭū), also named Nabatea (/ˌnæbəˈtiːə/), was a political state of the Nabataeans during classical antiquity.
Nabataean Kingdom𐢕𐢃𐢋𐢈
The Nabataean Kingdom controlled many of the trade routes of the region, amassing large wealth and drawing the envy of its neighbors. It stretched south along the Tihamah into the Hejaz, up as far north as Damascus, which it controlled for a short period (85–71 BC).
Nabataea remained an independent political entity from the mid-3rd century BC until it was annexed in AD 106 by the Roman Empire, which renamed it Arabia Petraea.
Geography[edit]
The Nabataean Kingdom was situated between the Arabian and Sinai Peninsulas. Its northern neighbour was the Hasmonean kingdom, and its south western neighbour was Ptolemaic Egypt. Its capital was the city of Raqmu in Jordan, and it included the towns of Bosra, Hegra (Mada'in Saleh), and Nitzana/Nessana.
Raqmu, now called Petra, was a wealthy trading town, located at a convergence of several important trade routes. One of them was the Incense Route which was based around the production of both myrrh and frankincense in southern Arabia,[48] and ran through Mada'in Saleh to Petra. From there, aromatics were distributed throughout the Mediterranean region.