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54-697: These mountains are mainly rocky though some contain vegetation. Many of the peaks are fairly young and jagged, but some are smoother from weathering. Nearing the Yemeni border , the Sarawat begin to spread into individual peaks, and the Hejaz turns from a cliff to a gradual ascent up to the Yemeni Plateau. In Yemen, the Sarawat are divided into the western and central highlands, where the western highlands receive plenty of precipitation, more than anywhere else in

108-504: A Nabataean perspective, Dhushara was probably associated with the heavens. However, one theory which connects Dushara with the forest gives a different idea of the god. The eagle was one of the symbols of Dushara. It was widely used in Hegra as a source of protection for the tombs against thievery. Nabataean inscriptions from Hegra suggest that Dushara was linked either with the sun, or with Mercury , with which Ruda , another Arabian god,

162-450: A bribe of 300 talents to lift the siege of Petra, partly because of the difficult terrain and the fact that he had run out of supplies. Hyrcanus II , who was a friend of Aretas, was despatched by Scaurus to the King to buy peace. In so obtaining peace, King Aretas retained all his possessions, including Damascus, and became a Roman vassal. In 32 BC, during King Malichus I 's reign, Herod

216-586: A bright red produced from madder . Blue textiles were also found. When it comes to the types of clothing and what can be surmised from these finds are that Nabatean men wore a tunic and a mantle both made of wool.The tunic in a Roman style (sleeveless) and with the mantle cut in a Greek style. This, as stated before, reflects a popular style rather than an ethnic style exclusive to the Nabateans. Nabataean women wore long tunics along with scarves and mantles. These scarves were loosely woven and sported fringes at

270-569: A letter to Antigonus in Syriac letters, and Aramaic continued as the language of their coins and inscriptions when the tribe grew into a kingdom and profited by the decay of the Seleucids to extend its borders northward over the more fertile country east of the Jordan River . They occupied Hauran , and in about 85 BC their king Aretas III became lord of Damascus and Coele-Syria . Petra

324-581: A loosely controlled trading network that brought considerable wealth and influence across the ancient world. Described as fiercely independent by contemporary Greco-Roman accounts, the Nabataeans were annexed into the Roman Empire by Emperor Trajan in 106 AD. Nabataeans' individual culture, easily identified by their characteristic finely potted painted ceramics, was adopted into the larger Greco-Roman culture . They converted to Christianity during

378-585: A probable candidate. However, John F. Healey states that: "The Nabataean origin of the Arabic script is now almost universally accepted". In surviving Nabataean documents, Aramaic legal terms are followed by their equivalents in Arabic. That could suggest that the Nabataeans used Arabic in their legal proceedings but recorded them in Aramaic. The name may be derived from the same root as Akkadian nabatu , to shine brightly. Although not as dry as at present,

432-560: A recipe for fermented Nabatean water bread ( khubz al-ma al-nabati ). The yeast-leavened bread is made with a high quality wheat flour called samidh that is finely milled and free of bran and is baked in a tandoor . Based on coins, inscriptions and non-Nabatean contemporary sources, Nabataean women seem to have had many legal rights. Inscriptions on tombs demonstrate the equality of property rights between man and woman and women's rights in matters of inheritance and also their ability to make decisions about their own property. That set

486-726: Is one of the Sarawat Mountains in southwestern Saudi Arabia and is considered one of the highest mountains in the Kingdom. Shadah in Arabic comes from singing. And it was mentioned in Mu'jam al-Buldan book as part of the two mountains, Sadah Al-asfal and Shadah Al-a'laa. Sadah Al-asfal and Shadah Al-a'laa is the name given to a mountain range located in Tihamah Al-Bahah near the city of Makhwah and Qilwah , at an altitude of more than 2200 meters. The range located among

540-489: The Later Roman Era . They have been described as one of the most gifted peoples of the ancient world and one of the "most unjustly forgotten". The Nabataeans were an Arab tribe who had come under significant Babylonian - Aramaean influence. The first mention of the Nabataeans dates from 312/311 BC, when they were attacked at Sela or perhaps at Petra without success by Antigonus I 's officer Athenaeus in

594-554: The Qasr al Bint i temple was dedicated to Dushara then the other major temple must have been al-Uzzas. This is just a theory however, based on conjecture, and it can only be said that the temple is likely dedicated to the supreme goddess figure of the Nabateans, but the exact identity of this goddess is uncertain. Excavated from The Temple of the Winged Lions was the "Eye Baetyl " or "Eye-Idol". Numerous Nabatean bas-relief busts of

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648-681: The Ruwafa inscriptions . They are ascribed to an auxiliary military unit drawn from the Roman-allied Thamud tribe and were built to describe the temple they were inscribed in and to recognize the authority of the emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus . By the 3rd century AD, the Nabataeans had stopped writing in Aramaic and begun writing in Greek instead. By the 5th century AD, they had converted to Christianity. The new Arab invaders, who soon pressed forward into their seats , found

702-714: The Seleucids , marrying a female member of the Nabatean royal family reinforced a ruler's position or one whose claim to the throne was not as strong as his wife's. The Nabatean royal house like the Ptolemaic and Seleucids later adopted sibling marriage. Not much is known for certain about the fashions of ancient Nabateans and before the Hellenization and Romanization of the region but based on extant clothes and textiles found in graves and tombs on Nabatean territory,

756-612: The southern Levant . 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 their kingdom centered around

810-638: The 1st century. Its power extended far into Arabia along the Red Sea to Yemen, and Petra was a cosmopolitan marketplace, though its commerce was diminished by the rise of the Eastern trade-route from Myos Hormos to Coptos on the Nile . Under the Pax Romana , the Nabataeans lost their warlike and nomadic habits and became a sober, acquisitive, orderly people, wholly intent on trade and agriculture. The kingdom

864-464: The 3rd century, states that in Dūmah , a boy was sacrificed annually and was buried underneath an altar. Some scholars have extrapolated this practice to the rest of the Nabataeans, but this view is contested due to the lack of evidence. The Nabataeans used to represent their gods as featureless pillars or blocks . Their most common monuments to the gods, commonly known as "god blocks", involved cutting away

918-713: The Great , with the support of Cleopatra , started a war against Nabataea. The war began with Herod plundering Nabataea with a large cavalry force, and occupying Dium . After this defeat, the Nabataean forces regrouped near Canatha in Syria, but were attacked and routed. Cleopatra's general, Athenion , sent Canathans to the aid of the Nabataeans, and this force crushed Herod's army, which then fled to Ormiza. One year later, Herod's army overran Nabataea. After an earthquake in Judaea,

972-533: The Nabataean Arabs , and was the official god of the Nabataean Kingdom who enjoyed special royal patronage. His official position is reflected in multiple inscriptions that render him as "The god of our lord" (The King). The name Dushara is from the Arabic "Dhu ash-Shara": which simply means "the one of Shara", a mountain range south-east of Petra also known as Mount Seir . Therefore, from

1026-413: The Nabataeans had already some trace of Aramaic culture when they first appear in history. Some of the authors of Safaitic inscriptions identified themselves as Nabataeans. The extent of Nabataean trade resulted in cross-cultural influences that reached as far as the Red Sea coast of southern Arabia. The major gods worshiped at Petra were notably Dushara and Al-‘Uzzá . Dushara was the supreme deity of

1080-405: The Nabataeans' trade routes and the origins of their goods were regarded as trade secrets, and disguised in tales that should have strained outsiders' credulity. Diodorus Siculus (book II) described them as a strong tribe of some 10,000 warriors, preeminent among the nomads of Arabia, eschewing agriculture, fixed houses, and the use of wine, but adding to pastoral pursuits a profitable trade with

1134-470: The Nabateans apart from the attitudes on a woman's role in society by their neighbours in the region. Women also participated in religious activities, and had a right to visit the temples and make sacrifices. Archeological evidence strongly suggest that the Nabataean women had a role in the social and political life by the first century AD, which is shown by the fact that Nabatean queens were depicted on coins, both independentely and together with their spouse

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1188-464: The Nabateans rebelled and invaded Judea, but Herod at once crossed the Jordan river to Philadelphia (modern Amman ) and both sides set up camp. The Nabataeans under Elthemus refused to give battle, so Herod forced the issue when he attacked their camp . A confused mass of Nabataeans gave battle but were defeated. Once they had retreated to their defences, Herod laid siege to the camp and over time some of

1242-534: The Northern Syrian goddess Atargatis were identified by Nelson Glueck at Khirbet et-Tannû . Atargatis was amalgamated into the worship of Al-‘Uzzá. However, when the Romans annexed the Nabataean Kingdom, Dushara still had an important role despite losing his former royal privilege. The greatest testimony to the status of the god after the fall of the Nabataean Kingdom was during the 1000th anniversary of

1296-422: The area occupied by the Nabataeans was still a desert and required special techniques for agriculture. One was to contour an area of land into a shallow funnel and to plant a single fruit tree in the middle. Before the ' rainy season ', which could easily consist of only one or two rain events, the area around the tree was broken up. When the rain came, all the water that collected in the funnel would flow down toward

1350-469: The area of Nabataean culture, which extended as far north as the north end of the Dead Sea , and testify to widespread literacy; but except for a few letters no Nabataean literature has survived, nor was any noted in antiquity. Onomastic analysis has suggested that Nabataean culture may have had multiple influences. Classical references to the Nabataeans begin with Diodorus Siculus . They suggest that

1404-490: The bottom. The upper class of Nabataean society, what can be seen on coins, show an even stronger Greek and Roman influence. The kings are depicted clean-shaven with long curled hair while queens are depicted wearing headcoverings with curled hair and long tunics and highnecked garments. Purple cloth seems to have been associated with the king based on Strabo's account of Nabatean men going outside "without tunics girdles about their loins, and with slippers on their feet – even

1458-596: The cave of Al-Adah in Alfarea Village in front of the old school and in many parts of the mountain, as for Nabataean writings and symbols, they are found in the village of Alashraaf, specifically in Al-Harir and Shafa Al-Sakhra. Nabataeans The Nabataeans or Nabateans ( / ˌ n æ b ə ˈ t iː ən z / ; Nabataean Aramaic : 𐢕𐢃𐢋𐢈 ‎, NBṬW , vocalized as Nabāṭū ) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and

1512-400: The clothing worn by the Nabateans during the first and second century were not unlike their neighbour Judaeans. Its hard to say with any certainty what the Nabateans wore in more ancient times since their art before this period was non-figurative. That is based on finds of similar clothing and textiles being found in both places. Among the most common colors were yellow made from saffron and

1566-571: The course of the Third War of the Diadochi ; at that time Hieronymus of Cardia , a Seleucid officer, mentioned the Nabataeans in a battle report. About 50 BC, the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus cited Hieronymus in his report, and added the following: "Just as the Seleucids had tried to subdue them, so the Romans made several attempts to get their hands on that lucrative trade." They wrote

1620-421: The defenders surrendered. The remaining Nabataean forces offered 500 talents for peace, but this was rejected. Lacking water, the Nabataeans were forced out of their camp and battled but were defeated. Aretas, IV king of Nabatea, defeated Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, in a battle after he intended to divorce his daughter Phasaelis An ally of the Roman Empire, the Nabataean kingdom flourished throughout

1674-441: The enigmatic phenomenon of "Tuleilat el-Anab". Evenari showed that the runoff rainwater collection systems concentrate water from an area that is five times larger than the area in which the water actually drains. Another study was conducted by Y. Kedar in 1957, which also focused on the mechanism of the agriculture systems, but he studied soil management , and claimed that the ancient agriculture systems were intended to increase

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1728-472: The first elementary school for boys was opened, with 45 students enrolled in the first year, followed by other classes of students in the following years. In 1393 AH, the first class of the school graduated, ten of whom ranked in the top ten in the Al-Qunfudhah educational district before Al-Makhwah joined Al-Baha district later. The first in the Kingdom's primary schools was also one of the top ten, and he

1782-428: The first man, and remain an ideal home for the people of these two mountains." Shadah Mountain is inhabited by approximately 4,000 inhabitants distributed among villages, some of which are located at the top of the mountain and others at the northern and western ends, These villages include: There are a few valleys affiliated with the mountain including Dhi Hada, Tajma, Nat'a, Kharas, Nawan, and Helfa. In 1388 AH,

1836-549: The founding of Rome where Dushara was celebrated in Bostra by striking coins in his name, Actia Dusaria (linking the god with Augustus victory at Actium ). He was venerated in his Arabian name with a Greek fashion in the reign of an Arabian emperor, Philip . Other gods worshipped in Nabatea during this period were Isis , Balshamin and Obodat Sacrifices of animals were common, and Porphyry 's De Abstenentia , written in

1890-462: The fruit tree and sink into the ground. The ground, which was largely loess , would seal up when it got wet and retain the water. In the mid-1950s, a research team headed by Michael Evenari set up a research station near Avdat (Evenari, Shenan and Tadmor 1971). He focused on the relevance of runoff rainwater management in explaining the mechanism of the ancient agricultural features, such as terraced wadis, channels for collecting runoff rainwater, and

1944-572: The infiltration of gases from the magma during crystallization into the outer part of the magma, leaving spherical, rectangular, or elliptical cavities in their place, they vary in size from rock to rock and are very abundant in these two mountains, especially the Shadah Al-asfal Mountain. Other caves are formed when huge boulders fall on top of other rocks, creating large cavernous spaces between them. These caves are fortified natural habitats that have been inhabited by humans since

1998-453: The king. The assumption to be made from this were that they ruled together and that the Nabatean queens and other female members were given or already had political importance and status. One can surmise other Nabatean women also benefited from this by extension. Though admittedly Nabatean culture seems to have favored male succession rather than female or equal succession, it seems plausible that like their neighbouring Ptolemaic dynasty and

2052-580: The kings, though in their case the colour is purple." Historians such as Irfan Shahîd , Warwick Ball , Robert G. Hoyland , Michael C. A. Macdonald , and others believe Nabataeans spoke Arabic as their native language. John F. Healy states that "Nabataeans normally spoke a form of Arabic, while, like the Persians etc., they used Aramaic for formal purposes and especially for inscriptions." Proper names on their inscriptions suggest that they were ethnically Arabs who had come under Aramaic influence, and

2106-588: The low plains of Tihamah , it is bordered on the southern side by the Shadah Al-asfal Mountain, which reaches a height of more than 1,500 meters above sea level. Shadah Al-asfal Mountain is located in southwestern Saudi Arabia and is inhabited by the Zahran tribe, which owns Shadah Al-asfal Mountain, and the Ghamd tribe, which owns Shadah Al-a'laa Mountain. It is one of the mountains of the Al Bahah region, on which

2160-622: The mountain range slopes downward more gently and is intersected by wadis that support agriculture , especially in the southern reaches of the Sarawat, where the mountains face the monsoons . Among the cities located within the Sarawat is the Yemeni capital, San'a , located near some of the Sarawat's highest peaks. The presence of the Arabian leopard was reported here. Hamadryas baboons are present in both Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Other notes: Shadah Al-asfal Shadah Al-asfal Mountain

2214-586: The mountains over 3,000 metres (9,800 feet) are located in Yemen, the highest of which is Jabal An-Nabi Shu'ayb near the capital Sana'a . At 3,666 metres (12,028 feet), Jabal An-Nabi Shu'ayb is also the highest peak in Arabia. Geologically, the Sarawat is part of the Arabian Shield , and are made up mostly of volcanic rock . The western slopes end abruptly near the Red Sea coast, while the eastern side of

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2268-542: The peninsula, and the central highlands have the highest mountains in the peninsula. A very dramatic part of the Yemeni Sarawat are the Haraz Mountains , where a few peaks top 3,000 metres (9,800 feet), but the descents and views from the mountains are staggering; some foots of mountains are only at 500 metres (1,600 feet) above sea level yet their peaks are at 2,800–3,300 metres (9,200–10,800 feet). All of

2322-596: The region's lingua franca . Therefore, Aramaic was used for commercial and official purposes across the Nabataean political sphere. The Nabataean alphabet itself also developed out of the Aramaic alphabet , but it used a distinctive cursive script from which the Arabic alphabet emerged. There are different opinions concerning the development of the Arabic script. J. Starcky considers the Lakhmids ' Syriac form script as

2376-801: The remnants of the Nabataeans transformed into peasants . Their lands were divided between the new Qahtanite Arab tribal kingdoms of the Byzantine vassals, the Ghassanid Arabs, and the Himyarite vassals, the Kingdom of Kinda in North Arabia. The city of Petra was brought to the attention of Westerners by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812. Many examples of graffiti and inscriptions—largely of names and greetings—document

2430-581: The rocks. Dr. Ahmed Qashash, a researcher in archaeology, said: "Shadah Al-asfal Mountain and Shadah Al-a'laa Mountain, are composed of granite igneous rocks that have been uplifted and exposed since ancient times as a result of mountain-building earth movements, dating back to the Precambrian periods which is the earliest geologic age in the history of the earth's formation. The natural features of these two mountains include caves and caverns, formed by millions of years of erosion, others were formed by

2484-484: The seaports in frankincense , myrrh and spices from Arabia Felix (today's Yemen), as well as a trade with Egypt in bitumen from the Dead Sea. Their arid country was their best safeguard, for the bottle-shaped cisterns for rain-water which they excavated in the rocky or clay-rich soil were carefully concealed from invaders. Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq 's Kitab al-Tabikh , the earliest known Arabic cookbook , contains

2538-511: The village of Tha'lab in the year 1404 AH, and in 1412 AH, the first intermediate school for girls in Shadah was opened in the village of Alfarea. Nabataean inscriptions are found throughout ancient paintings, such as the one at Rahwat al-Dahnah, depict the lives of the sultans and the crowns on their heads. It is also found in a cave in Alashraaf and also in the village of Alaradia. Also in

2592-556: The villages of Shadah Al-asfal are located. Shadah Al-asfal Mountain is bordered on the east by Makhwah Governorate, on the west by the Qarama Mountains, on the south by Al Khuraig and Bani Shorafa, and the north by Shadah Al-a'laa and Nira Valley. Shadah Al-asfal Mountain is characterized by the abundance of large granite rocks, especially those standing rock masses called Nadba, which are almost two hundred meters long. The mountain also has several dark plateaus and caves under

2646-476: The whole top of a hill or cliff face so as to leave only a block behind. However, over time the Nabataeans were influenced by Greece and Rome and their Gods became anthropomorphic and were represented with human features. The Nabataeans spoke an Arabic dialect but, for their inscriptions, used a form of Aramaic that was heavily influenced by Arabic forms and words. When communicating with other Middle Eastern peoples, they, like their neighbors, used Aramaic,

2700-519: Was a bulwark between Rome and the wild hordes of the desert except in the time of Trajan, who reduced Petra and converted the Nabataean client state into the Roman province of Arabia Petraea . There was a Nabataean community in Puteoli , in southern Italy, that reached its end around the establishment of the province. Five Greek-Nabataean bilingual inscriptions are known dating to AD 165–169, known as

2754-516: Was awarded a financial prize of 1,500 riyals from the Ministry of Education at the time to encourage him. An elementary school for boys was also opened in the village of Tha'lab in 1403 AH, followed by an intermediate school in the village of Alfarea, which opened its doors to students in 1407 AH. The first elementary school for girls was opened in 1403 AH in Alfarea, followed by a school for girls in

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2808-411: Was identified. "His throne" was frequently mentioned in inscriptions; certain interpretations of the text consider it as a reference for Dushara's wife, goddess Harisha. She was probably a solar deity. Dushara's consort at Petra is considered to have been al-Uzza and the goddess has been associated with Temple of Winged Lions on the basis that if the divine couple of Petra was Dushara and al-Uzza and

2862-637: Was rapidly built in the 1st century BC, and developed a population estimated at 20,000. The Nabataeans were allies of the first Hasmoneans in their struggles against the Seleucid monarchs. They then became rivals of the Judaean dynasty, and a chief element in the disorders that invited Pompey 's intervention in Judea . According to popular historian Paul Johnson , many Nabataeans were forcefully converted to Judaism by Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus . It

2916-486: Was this king who, after putting down a local rebellion, invaded and occupied the Nabataean towns of Moab and Gilead and imposed a tribute of an unknown amount. Obodas I knew that Alexander would attack, so was able to ambush Alexander's forces near Gaulane destroying the Judean army (90 BC). The Roman military was not very successful in their campaigns against the Nabataeans. In 62 BC, Marcus Aemilius Scaurus accepted

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