8/19/2019 The Ancient Nabatean Civilization

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The ancient Nabatean civilization occupied southern Jordan, Canaan

and northern Arabia starting in the sixth century BCE, when the

Aramaicspea!ing Nabatean nomads began gradually migrating "rom

Arabia# Their legacy is epitomized by the breathta!ing city o" $etra,

carved into the solid sandstone roc! o" Jordan%s mountains, and theyare remembered "or their s!ill in water engineering, managing a

complex system o" dams, canals and reservoirs which helped them

expand and thrive in an arid desert region# &ittle is !nown o" their

culture and no written literature survives# They were overta!en by the

'omans in () BCE, who too! "ull control by *+( CE, renaming the

!ingdom Arabia $etrea# ometime around the -th century CE, the

Nabateans le"t $etra "or un!nown reasons# .t%s believed that, a"ter

centuries o" "oreign rule, the Nabatean civilization was reduced todisparate groups o" /ree!writing peasants who were eventually

converted to Christianity be"ore their lands were seized altogether by

Arab invaders#