Nabatea, Aretas IV and Shaqilat
Silver Drachm 13mm (3.5 grams)
Year 37 = 28 AD.
Reference: Meshorer 99-111. ---
Nabataean inscription HRTT MLK NBTW RHM MH (Aretas, King of the Nabataeans,
lover of his people), laureate head of Aretas right.
SQYLT MLKT NBTW NST II/3, jugate busts right of Aretas and Shaquilat.
The north-Arabian kingdom of the Nabataeans, with their capital at Petra,
continued in existence until the early years of the 2nd Century A.D., when
emperor Trajan created the Roman province of Arabia. --- Originally named
Aeneas, he seized the throne on the death of Obodas III and thereafter styled
himself Aretas Philopatris. His daughter married Herod Antipas, whose territory
he later invaded without Roman permission, 37 A.D. However, he managed to obtain
the favor of Caligula who granted him control of Damascus.
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Aretas IV Philopatris was the
King of the Nabataeans from roughly 9 BC to AD 40.
His full title, as
given in the inscriptions, was "Aretas, King of the Nabataeans, Friend of his
People." Being the most powerful neighbour of
Judea, he
frequently took part in the state affairs of that country, and was influential
in shaping the destiny of its rulers. While on not particularly good terms with
Rome - as intimated
by his surname, "Friend of his People", which is in direct opposition to
the prevalent φιλορώμαις ("Friend of the Romans") and φιλόκαισαρ ("Friend
of the Emperor") - and though it was only after great hesitation that
Augustus
recognized him as king, nevertheless he took part in the expedition of
Varus against the Jews in the year 4 BC, and placed a considerable army at
the disposal of the Roman general.
His daughter
Phasaelis married
Herod
Antipas (4 BC – AD 39), otherwise known as Herod the Tetrarch. When Herod
divorced Phasaelis to take his brother's wife
Herodias,
mother of Salome,
in 36, Phasaelis fled to her father. Relations between Herod and Aretas IV were
already strained over border disputes, and with his family honour shamed, Aretas
IV invaded Herod's holdings, defeating his army[1]
and capturing territories along the
West Bank
of the
Jordan River, including the areas around
Qumran[citation
needed].
The classical author
Josephus
connects this battle, which occurred during the winter of AD 36/37, with the
beheading of
John the Baptist, which occurred about the same time.
Herod Antipas then appealed to Emperor
Tiberius,
who dispatched the governor of Syria to attack Aretas. But because of the
emperor's death in AD 37 this action was never carried out.[1]
The Christian Apostle,
Paul, mentions that he had to sneak out of Damascus in a basket through a
window in the wall to escape King Aretas. (2
Corinthians 11:32, 33, cf
Acts 9:23, 24).
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