Nabataean History and Surviving Sites
The Nabataean kingdom connected southern Jordan, northwestern Arabia and the Negev through towns and caravan routes. Petra developed as its capital, while Hegra preserves elaborate tombs at the kingdom’s southern edge. Builders combined rock-cut architecture with freestanding masonry and systems for collecting and distributing water.
The sites collection follows these places through their Nabataean history and subsequent Roman and Byzantine use. Individual articles identify which tombs, buildings and engineering works belong to each phase.
Explore Nabataean sites
Explore Nabataean tombs and settlements through their carved façades, courtyard buildings and water systems, with maps and detailed site articles.
Daily life
Daily Life in the Nabataean World
Discover Nabataean meals, houses, families, work, worship and travel through particular communities and their changing daily routines.
- Caravan Routes and Travel in the Nabataean World
- Families, Women and Property in the Nabataean World
- Nabataean Food, Cooking and Communal Dining in Daily and Ritual Life
- Nabataean Towns, Homes and Living Conditions
- Nabataean Worship, Communal Meals and Funerals
- Work, Workshops and Markets in Nabataean Communities
History and society
Nabataean communities built a kingdom around connected settlements and trade routes, sustaining farms, workshops and worship after Roman annexation.
- Nabataean Continuities under Roman Rule and Beyond
- Nabataean Culture and Arts
- Nabataean Gods, Sanctuaries and Religious Communities
- Nabataean History: The Kingdom and Roman Annexation
- Nabataean Kingship, Frontiers and Legal Authority
- Nabataean Lands, Settlements and Languages