Historical Background

The Nabataeans emerge in surviving Greek accounts of an expedition against them in 312 BC, when forces of Antigonus attempted to seize their wealth. These accounts describe a people experienced in desert travel and trade.

The origins of the Nabataean people and their relationship to earlier inhabitants of Edom are debated. Living in some of the same territory does not establish that the Nabataean kingdom was simply a continuation of Edom.

By the second century BC, named Nabataean kings appear in historical and inscriptional evidence. Their power grew as the Seleucid kingdoms weakened and regional trade became increasingly important.