Who were the Nabateans?

The Nabateans (also spelled Nabataeans) were nomads from Northern Arabia who controlled the lucrative incense and spice trade and developed a wealthy and sophisticated kingdom in southern Jordan, the Negev and northwest Arabia from the 4th century BCE. Their 2,400-km incense route transported frankincense and myrrh, which were aromatic resins produced in southern Arabia (modern Yemen and Oman) that were highly valued in the ancient world. They also transported spices, gold, textiles, bitumen, salt, and precious stones.

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The Spice Route began in southern Arabia, entered Edom and the Negev to the city of Petra, which was the Nabatean capital and a major trading hub. From there, goods were transported to Avdat and Haluza (Elusa), which was the last major stop before the Mediterranean port of Gaza. From Gaza port, goods were exported to Egypt, Greece, and Rome.

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Mamshit was started as a khan by the Nabateans. It sits near passes leading from the Arava Valley to the Negev highlands and thence northward toward Be’ersheva and Gaza. It was also on a route to Eilat via the The Scorpion Trail (in Hebrew Ma'ale Akrabim, “Ascent of the Scorpions”), which descends the steep escarpment between the central Negev highlands and the Arava Valley not far from Mamshit. Remains of this ancient zigzag path are still visible.

By the 1st century CE, Rome opened maritime routes through the Red Sea to India and Arabia. Sea transport was faster and cheaper than desert caravans and this undercut the Nabateans’ control of commerce. Their economy weakened, and their political leverage declined. In 106 CE, the Roman Emperor Trajan peacefully annexed the Nabatean Kingdom and turned it into the province of Arabia Petraea. Avdat, Shivta and Mamshit continued to prosper under Roman and later Byzantine rule and transitioned into agricultural frontier towns, although not as trade centers.

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Their great accomplishment as agriculturalists was transforming the desert into productive farmland by capturing seasonal floodwaters and channeling them into controlled irrigation. This enabled the cultivation of vineyards, wheat and barley, olive orchards and pasture for livestock. Their wine was much valued in the Christian Roman Empire and commanded high prices as wine from the Holy Land. Their success in desert agriculture is of relevance even today.

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The Nabatean language gradually gave way to Greek and later Arabic, although inscriptions in their original language continued for a few centuries. By the 4th century CE, the Nabateans had assimilated into the broader Greco-Roman culture and later into the Christian Byzantine culture. The ruins of their impressive churches are very evident.

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Mamshit is located in the Madaba Map and is called there Memphis.

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Even though desert, the Negev was not empty of people prior to the Nabateans. From the 2nd millennium to the 10th century BCE, the Amalekites operated in the Negev, northern Sinai and Arava. They engaged in raiding and were mobile pastoralists. Their military power was broken by Saul and David. From the 10th to 4th centuries BCE, the desert corridor was occupied by nomadic or semi-nomadic peoples. These included the Edomites (or Idumeans). From the 6th century BCE, the Edomites expanded into the Negev, particularly after Babylon destroyed the country of Judah. They controlled the Arava copper mines. There were also Midianites and Qedarites, an Arab tribal federation from northern Arabia that controlled portions of the incense trade.

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The collapse of Edom under Babylonian and then Persian domination allowed Arab nomadic tribes from the east, including the Nabateans, to move into the vacuum. The Nabateans were initially mobile desert traders, but over the 3rd to 2nd centuries BCE they took over Petra from the remaining Edomite population, established a structured network for the incense trade, and gradually transitioned from nomadism to a kingdom with towns.