Biblical references place the Nabataeans farther south in Arabia than the area in which they are better known.
After the movement away from their nomadic lifestyle and settling on the site of Petra, the Nabataeans developed their own agriculture and trade connections. Petra was ideally suitable as a trade city, as it was located on one of the only passable routes through the desert.
The Nabatean Kingdom was a powerful political entity which flourished in the region of modern-day Jordan between the 4th century BC and c. 106 AD. Petra was the capital of the Nabataean Kingdom for most of its history.
Control of the trade routes linking Arabia with the continent was key to the prosperity of the Nabataean people; remains found in areas as far apart as Egypt, Phoenicia and Italy (Pozzuoli and Rome, where the Nabataean colony had its own temple), bear witness to the eminently commercial character of their civilization.
In 106 AD the Romans added the territories of the Nabataean Kingdom to their empire, thus creating a new province called Arabia. It may be that the Romans planned to neutralize Nabataea by establishing a new capital of Arabia, encompassing most the Nabataean territory, at Bostra in the Hauran. Alternatively, the Nabataeans themselves may have decided by in the late 1st century A.D. to move northwards in order to remain competitive on the trade routes.
Who are Nabataeans?
