The Nabateans

Whenever we’re out hiking or otherwise exploring the Negev Desert, we often come across evidence of an ancient civilization. Known as the Nabateans, the people that built these ruins and relics came to the Negev about 2700 years ago. Their capital was in Petra, where they carved elaborate sculptures in red rock sandstone. Experts in water conservation, they built a network of dams, cisterns, reservoirs, farms, walls, and fortifications across the Middle East. By utilizing this network, the Nabateans came to dominate trade across the Negev, Sinai, and Arabian deserts, which made them rich. Their best known trading operation was the Spice Route, which passed near our house and terminated in Petra.

Yesterday, during a hike in the desert, we came across the ancient Nabatean fort in the pictures below. Although the sign on the fort didn’t say how old it is, it was probably built about two thousand years ago. Much of the Spice Route was left unmarked so no one other than the Nabateans could follow it. As the route got close to Jordan they did build fortifications to give them protection from thieves. Our fort is located on the rim of a huge desert canyon so as to give long views in many directions. Perhaps Nabatean traders used the fort to scan for enemies before descending into the desert valley, where the intricately eroded terrain would have provided ample cover for enemies.

















Today, we hiked into a severe mountain valley across the highway from Sde Boker where we had a chance to explore the remnants of what must have been a large Nabatean community. Known as the “Lost City,” this site features row after row of primitive stone walls and terraced farm fields, which are pictured below. Also, here is a picture I took of an ancient Nabatean cliff dwelling. We imagined that hundreds of Nabateans must have lived here in this community’s prime.


















Nabatean society declined when ship technology improved to the point that it began to compete with overland caravans through the desert. Eventually, the Nabateans were conquered by the Romans. Petra was deserted in the fourth century for reasons that are still unknown. Apparently, when the Nabateans abandoned their capital, they did so in an orderly fashion. When the city was “discovered” by archaeologists in the nineteenth century, they found few silver coins or valuable possessions that were left behind.