and power. They gradually advanced in civilization and commercial enterprise, until nearly the whole traffic of Western Asia was in their hands (Uiod. Sic. ii, 48-50 ; iii, 42-43). From their capital, Petra, caravan roads radi- ated in all directions— eastward to the Persian (iulf and Mesopotamia; northward to Pera?a, Damascus, and Pal- myra; westward to Palestine and Phoenicia; and south- ward to the seaports on the /Elanitic (Jiilf an<l Kcd Sea, and to Egypt (see Tabula I'ctiliiif/eiiana ; Tub. Theodo- siana ; Strabo, xvi, 778-780 ; Forstor, Genfj. of A rubia, i, 222). When a new route for commerce between the East and the West was opened through Egypt, the Na- bathieans became its determined oi)ponents. They built war-galleys and plundered the merchant fleets in the Red Sea ; and they also attacked and pillaged such car- avans as ventured to convey the spices of Arabia and the merchandise of Persia and Syria by any other way than their own (Diod. Sic. iii, 43 ; Strabo, xvi, 777 ; Arrian, Pcriplus).
During the height of their power the country of the Nabathieaus embraced the whole of Edom, the eastern shore of the ^Elanitic Gulf and the Bed Sea to the par- allel of the city of Medineh, the desert plain of Arabia to the mountains of Ncjd; while on the north-west and north it was bounded by Palestine and Bashan (Strabo, xvi, 7G7, 777, 779; 1 Mace, v, 25-28; ix, 35; Diod. Sic. ii, 48; Epi[)han. Adi'. J/wres. p. 142). It is true Josephus and .Jerome state that the Nabathaeans occu- pied the whole country between Egypt and the Eu- phrates ; but by Nabathajans they seem to have meant all the descendants of Ishmael (comp. Rcland, I'alfeft. p. 90 ; Kalisch, On Gen. p. 482). It is not known at what time the Nabathaeans gave up the patriarchal form of government and elected a king. The first mention of a king is about B.C. 1G(), in the reign of Antiochus Ei)iph- anes (2 Mace, v^ 8). All their kings appear to have been called either A ivtas or Obodas, and the kingdom was known among classic writers as the ''Kingdom of Arabia," sometimes taking the addition Pelnea, appar- ently from the capital city Petra. Alexander Janiiicus was defeated by Obodas, king of Arabia (Josrjihus, .Int. xiii,13, 5); and a few years later Antiochus Dionvsius of Syria was killed in battle against the Arabians, and A retas their king seized Damascus (xiii, 15, 1,2; War, iv, 7, 8). The kings of Arabia are often mentioned in connection with the conquest and occupation of the province of Syria by the Komans (Josephus, A nt. xiv, 5, 1 ; XV, G, 2 ; xvi, 7, 8). A few years before the Chris- tian a;ra a Roman expedition under the command of ^Elius Gallus was sent into Arabia. After various ob- stacles he at last reached XtvKlj Kwfiij, or Albus Pagus, the emporium of the Nabathajans, and the i)ort of Pe- tra, which was probably at or near Elath (Strabo, xvi, 4, 22, 24 ; Dion Cassius, liii, 27 ; Arrian, J'erijdiis ^^aris Eryth.). The Nabath.ean king, Obodas, received him with professions of friendship, and ajipointed his minis- ter Sylheus to guide the army. By his treachery it was conducted through arid deserts until it was almost destroyed by thirst and disease (Strabo, xvi. 7)S0). The Stoic philosopher Athenodorus spent some time in Pc- I tra, and related to Strabo with admiration how the in- habitants lived in entire harmony and union under ex- cellent laws. Plinj' also repeatedly speaks of the Na- batha?ans (//i»V. A'«^ V. 11 ; vi, 28; xii, 27^; and classes along with them the Cedrei, exactly as Kedar and Ne- baioth are jjlaced together in Isa. Ix, 7. Herod Antipas married a daughter of Aretas, king of the Nabathajans (JIatt. xiv, 3, 4) ; and it appears to have been the same Aretas who captured Damascus, and governed it by an ethnarch at the time of Paul's conversion (Acts ix, 25; 2 Cor. xi, 32). The kingdom of the Nabath;cans was overthrown in A. I). 105 by Cornelius Palma, governor of Syria, anil was annexed to the Roman empire (Dion Cass. Ixviii, 14; Eutrop. viii, 2, 9).
The Nabatlueans had, as we have seen, early applied themselves to commerce, especially as carriers of the products of Arabia, India, and the far-distant East,
NEBAJOTH
895
NEBO
which, as we learii from Strabo, were transported on camels from tlie above-mentioned Leiike Kome to Pe- tra, and thence to Khinocoloura (El 'Arish) and else- where. But under the Roman dominion the trade of these regions appears to have been widely extended. The passage of merchants and caravans was now made more practicable by military ways. From Elath, or Ailah, one great road had its direction northwards to the rich and central Petra; thence it divided and led on one side to Jerusalem, Gaza, and other ports on the Mediterranean; and on the other side to Damascus. Another road appears to have led directly from Ailah along the Ghor to Jerusalem. Traces of these routes are still visible in many parts. These facts are derived from the specifications of the celebrated Tabula Theo- dosiana, or Peutingeriana, compiled in the 4th century. According to this, a line of small fortresses was drawn along the eastern frontier of Arabia Petrjea towards the desert, some of which became the sites of towns and cities, whose names are still extant. But as the power of Rome fell into decay, the Arabs of the desert again acquired the ascendency. They plundered the cities, but did not destroy them; and hence those regions are still full of uninhabited yet splendid ruins. Even Pe- tra, the rich and impregnable metropolis, Avas subjected to the same fate ; and now exists, in its almost inacces- sible loneliness, onh' to excite the curiosity of the schol- ar and the wonder of the traveller by the singularit}' of its site, its ruins, and its fortunes.