The Nabataean Kingdom

The Nabataean kingdom, also called Nabatea, was located between the Sinai Peninsula and the Arabian Peninsula. Its northern border was the kingdom of Judea and to the south was Egypt. The kingdom included the downs of Bostra, Mada'in Saleh, and Nitzana, but its capital was Petra.

The Nabataeans were a nomadic people who wandered the Negev and the Sinai Peninsula dating back to the 4th century BC. When king Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians conquered Judah and took its people into captivity, much of the rich land was left empty. With no resistance the Edomites began to move northward and settle into the much more fertile land of southern Judea. This gave the wandering Nabataean people a chance to have a land of their own when Edom migrated north.

The Nabataean kingdom was short lived and only lasted from 168 BC to 106 BC when it was annexed by the Roman Empire.