RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Mysticism Nabataeans
J. B. Shearer, Modern Mysticism, New York, 1905; A. Hegler, Beitrage zur Geschichte der Mystik in der Reformationszeit, Berlin, 1906; A. E. Waite, Studies in Mysticism, London, 1906; F. Pfeiffer, Deutsche Mystiker, Gbttingen, 1907 sqq.; E. Recejac, Essay on the Basis of Mystic Knowledge, London, 1907; W. M. Scott, Aspects of Christian Mysticism, ib. 1907; H. Delacroix, Etudes d'histoire et de psychologie du mysticisme, Paris, 1908; F. Giesecke, Die Mystik Jo. Baptist van Helmonts (1677-1644), Bohmen. 1908; F. von Hugel, The Mystical Element of Re-
ligion as Studied in Saint Catherine of Genoa and her Friends, Gottingen, 1908; A. W. Hopkinson, The Mystery of Mysticism, London, 1909; R. M. Jones, Studies in mystical Religion, ib. 1909; J. Pachen, Psychologie des mystiques Chretiens, Paris, 1909; Meister Eckhart's Sermons, Eng. transl. by C. Field, London, 1910; Schaff, Christian Church, v. 1 , pp. 636 sqq.
MYTHOLOGY. See Comparative Religion, V., 3, VI., §§ 7-8.
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NAASENES. See Ophites. NAASENIAN HYMN. See Ophites, § 2.
NABATAEANS.
I. Early History.
Documentary Testimony (§ 1). Racial Affinity (§ 2). II. History from 312 B.C.
Till the Roman Period (§ 1). Under the Romans (§ 2). Significance, Language, Religion (§ 3).
I. Early History: The Nabataeans were a Semitic people known at least as early as 312 b.c, inhabiting the region so long identified with the Edomites between the Dead Sea and
i. Docu- the eastern arm of the Red Sea.
mentary Whether they can be traced to a still Testimony, earlier time depends upon the interpretation of certain passages which are by most scholars taken as referring to this people. The passages in question are, first, those in the Old Testament which mention Nebajoth (firstborn of Ishmael; Gen. xxv. 13, xxviii. 9, xxxvi. 3; I Chron. i. 29; cf. Isa. lx. 7, where the connection is with Kedar, both peoples being pastoral, while the relationship is wholly congruent with the implications in the Genesis passages). It is to be noted that if the Nabatseans are meant in these passages, Arabic affinity is implied. The second class of passages are from the cuneiform inscriptions. Under the form Na-ba-ai-te is mentioned a pastoral people, associated with Kedar, on a cylinder inscription of Asshurbanipal; their " king " Natnu had taken part in an Arabic revolt against Assyrian overlordship, and they had been punished by the Assyrian monarch. The inscription describes them as living in a remote region. Other notices of them appear from the same general period in inscriptions made under Tiglath-Pileser, Sargon, and Sennacherib; but in these cases they are assigned to the Aramean stock. After these references the Nabataeans (if they are the people meant) are lost to sight, so far as reference to them goes, until 312 b.c, after which notices become frequent. Thus Diodorus Siculus (Bibliotheca, xix. 94-100, cf. ii. 48-50, iii. 41^13) speaks of them as mostly nomadic Arabs, well-to-do through their command of commerce in myrrh and incense. It is significant that Diodorus, though he calls them Arabs, notes that they use Syriac (Aramaic) characters in writing, and this undoubtedly explains the classification made in the Assyrian inscriptions referred to above. By Strabo (" Geography," xvi. 18-26) Nabatea is described as a populous country not far from the
Elamitic Gulf, rich in pasturage. There seems to be a probability, however, that Strabo did not distinguish clearly between Nabataeans and Idumeans. Pliny (" Natural History," v. 12, xii. 17) calls the Nabatseans Arabian neighbors of the Syrians, and connects them with Kedar (cf. Isa. lx. 7). I Mace, v. 25 reports that Judas the Maccabee on a trans- Jordanic expedition when three days beyond the Jordan met the Nabataeans, who were friendly and gave information concerning the situation of the Jews who were in Gilead. According to I Mace. ix. 35, Jonathan, when in flight from Bacchides, left his baggage with the Nabataeans so as not to be encumbered with it, and those Nabataeans were not far from Medeba (q.v.). Josephus (Ant., XIII. , i. 2) retells the story of I Mace. ix. 35 in a slightly variant form, and (I., xii. 4) makes the name Nabatene cover the region between the Euphrates and the Red Sea (cf. Strabo, above). Further frequent references are made by Josephus to incidents in their history, as in Ant., XIII., xiii. 5, XIV. v. 1, XX., iv. 1, etc. In Ant., I., xii. 4, Josephus evidently means to connect the Nabataeans with the Nebajoth of Genesis, and so to make the people Arabs.
There are two apparent difficulties in this identification. The first is philological, Nebajoth being spelt with a tau (t), while in the inscriptions and on the coins the word is written with teth 2. Racial (t). On this ground Glaser (see Bib- Affinity, liography) refuses the identification. While such a transmutation is rare, it is not without parallel, especially under the influence of Hellenism. The second difficulty is the matter of race affiliation. By Nebajoth in Genesis Arabic connections are clearly implied, and with this agree Diodorus, Strabo, Pliny, and Josephus (inferentially). But the fact that in their writing the Nabataeans used Aramaic seems at first sight to justify those Assyrian inscriptions which speak of them as Arameans. The reconciliation is not difficult, however, since Aramaic was the language of commerce and intercourse in quite early times (cf. II Kings, xviii. 26); the Nabatseans were carriers of commerce and therefore employed that language. It is corroborative of this conclusion that the names in the Nabataean inscriptions are clearly Arabic, though the language is Aramaic. Still further, while the identification of this people with the Nebajoth of the Old Testament can not be a matter of demonstration, there is justification for the identification. One ground is the well-known tenacity of existence of tribal names in the Arabic sphere. A second
Nabatseans Nahum