The civilization

The Nabataeans, also spelled Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic / Nabataean Arabic: 𐢕𐢃𐢋𐢈‎, romanized: nbṭw, vocalized: Nabāṭū; Arabic: الأنباط‎, romanized: al-ʾanbāṭ), were an ancient Arab people who inhabited the southern Levant and northern Arabia. Their settlements—most prominently the assumed capital city of Raqmu (present-day Petra, Jordan)—gave the name Nabatene (Ancient Greek: Ναβατηνή, romanized: Nabatēnḗ) to the Arabian borderland that stretched from the Euphrates to the Red Sea. The Nabateans emerged as a distinct civilization and political entity between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC, with the Nabataean Kingdom centered around a loosely controlled trading network that brought considerable wealth and influence across the ancient world.

Field notes

period

400 BCE — 106 CE

region

Near East

known sites

3