Nabataean Beliefs

Their gods, worship and burial practices©Sajjad Bhatti, www.prosyst3ms.co.uk, 2015

Nabataean godsThe ancient Greeks and Romans

worshipped various gods and goddesses and they made statues of their gods/goddesses in human form.

Statueof Zeus

The Nabataeans on the other hand represented their gods in the form of stelae. These stelae could take the form of rocks set upon end, blocks, or shapes carved into a stone wall, or elaborately carved square djin blocks set up at the entrance to their cities. However this changed later on, as they are representations of their gods with human features.

A god-block or stele

Nabataean BeliefsThe Nabataeans originally worhsipped gods with

Arabic names. Such as Al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manaat. These gods are also mentioned as the gods the Arabs worshipped before they became Muslims in Islamic texts, such as the Quran.FESTIVALS: The Nabataeans had several festivals which took place during certain times of the year, such as the Spring festival. They may also have had a festival celebrating the dead.OFFERINGS: The Nabataeans made offerings of wine and incense to please their gods. They may also have made offerings of oil and even animals.PRIESTS: The Nabataeans may also have had priests as part of their society. These priests would try and predict the future, help with offerings and with burial rites.How do Nabataean beliefs compare with yours?

Burying the deadThe Ancient Nabataeans have left behind many

tombs, such as those found at the site of Madain Saleh in Saudi Arabia.

The tombs were normally for the rich and famous. Ordinary people could not normally afford to have a tomb carved out of rock for them so were buried in a cemetary.

The site is named after the Prophet Saleh (peace be upon him) because it is believed that before the Nabataeans settled there another civilisation lived there a long time before them, but shared similar customs. The name of this tribe was Thamud and Islamic texts tell us that a prophet called Saleh was sent to the Thamud.

The tombs also have inscriptions - carved writing with messages and warnings. The warnings sometimes had curses for people who mess about with the bones/ tomb!

ProcedureThe Nabataeans may have believed in a form of

afterlife and that is why they had funeral practises.

The bones would then be left to dry in the sun.

The dead before being placed in the tomb, would be placed near the dung or rubbish tip where the vultures and other animals would eat off the flesh leaving bones behind.

The bones would then be placed in compartments within the tomb.Some tombs had a banquet room carved next to the burial chamber for people to gather and eat - maybe it was part of the burial ritual.

Photos of tombs at Madain Saleh

Photos of tombs at Madain Saleh

Inside a tomb at Madain Saleh