NabataeansThe Nabataeans or Nabateans (ˌnæbəˈtiːənz; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as Nabāṭū; Arabic: ٱلْأَنْبَاط, , singular النبطي, ; compare Ναβαταῖος; Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Levant. Their settlements—most prominently the assumed capital city of Raqmu (present-day Petra, Jordan)—gave the name Nabatene (Ναβατηνή) to the Arabian borderland that stretched from the Euphrates to the Red Sea.
PetraPetra (Al-Batraʾ; Πέτρα, "Rock"), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō (Nabataean: *Raqēmō), is a historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is adjacent to the mountain of Jabal Al-Madbah, in a basin surrounded by mountains forming the eastern flank of the Arabah valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. The area around Petra has been inhabited from as early as 7000 BC, and the Nabataeans might have settled in what would become the capital city of their kingdom as early as the 4th century BC.
MoabMoab (ˈmoʊæb) is the name of an ancient Levantine kingdom whose territory is today located in the modern state of Jordan. The land is mountainous and lies alongside much of the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. The existence of the Kingdom of Moab is attested to by numerous archaeological findings, most notably the Mesha Stele, which describes the Moabite victory over an unnamed son of King Omri of Israel, an episode also noted in 2 Kings 3. The Moabite capital was Dibon.
ArabizationArabization or Arabisation (تعريب, ALA-LC) is the process of growing Arab influence on non-Arab populations, causing a language shift by the latter's gradual adoption of the Arabic language and assimilation into Arab culture or the fusion of local cultures with it. Arabization took place after the Muslim conquest of the Middle East and North Africa, as well as during the Arab nationalist policies of some governments in modern Arab states toward non-Arab minorities, including Algeria, Iraq, Kuwait, and Sudan.
AshurbanipalAshurbanipal (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "Ashur is the creator of the heir") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 669 BCE to his death in 631. He is generally remembered as the last great king of Assyria. Inheriting the throne as the favored heir of his father Esarhaddon, Ashurbanipal's 38-year reign was among the longest of any Assyrian king. Though sometimes regarded as the apogee of ancient Assyria, his reign also marked the last time Assyrian armies waged war throughout the ancient Near East and the beginning of the end of Assyrian dominion over the region.
BedouinThe Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (ˈbɛduɪn; بَدْو, singular بَدَوِي badawī) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and Arabian Desert but spread across the rest of the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa after the spread of Islam. The English word bedouin comes from the Arabic badawī, which means "desert dweller", and is traditionally contrasted with ḥāḍir, the term for sedentary people.
