Out of the stony desert : a Nabatean alternative

[Hecatee]

Late in the year 144 of the Seleucid era. Late 168 BCE.

A king, Antiochos IV Epiphanes, wants to uniformize the culture in his kingdom, a shrinking Seleucid realm far from its splendor of some two hundred years before, which he hopes to reinforce.

The current target of his policy is a local culture in the vital southern area of his lands, the Jews. Those strange people believe in a single God, to the exclusion of all others. More importantly, they have close tie with their numerous brethren in Alexandria, capital of the rival Lagid dynasty.

Attempts are made to force those Jews to adore other gods, a statue of Baal Shamin is even carried from Syria to Hierosolima, where Antiochos IV expects it to be honored in the holy temple that crowns this provincial backwater.
The issue is also a question of prestige for Antiochos, who’s recently been forced to turn around from an easy conquest of Egypt and Cyprus by an old roman ambassador and his stick at the same time as his latest tame Jewish High Priest, Menelaus, has been ousted by the former owner of the position, Jason.

The explosion is as fierce as it was unexpected at the royal court. Simultaneously the Seleucid find themselves facing three factions: the Hellenized Jews, split between Jason and Menelaus, and the conservative, traditionalist Jews. Amongst those arises a leader, Judas Maccabee, helped by his numerous brothers. A country is set afire. Everywhere men rise in rebellion against their king, everywhere man fight against his neighbor.

Sending messages to neighboring powers, Judas attempts to mount a coalition against the Seleucid ruler. One of the men he calls upon is the ruler of the Nabateans, Aretas, first of his name. A tribe of desert dwellers, expert horse breeders and traders in rare spices, strange bitumen and precious incense brought from hostile Arabia, they live as nomads although they do have a few stronghold where they hide their families and their most precious goods.

More importantly, they are the only people in the area who ever succeeded in beating a Macedonian army, some one hundred and fifty years before, when they defeated not one but two strong forces sent by Antigonos Monophtalmos and Demetrios Poliorcetos, going as far as killing their general Athenaios.

As the Seleucid forces closes on Hierosolima, the Jewish High Priest Jason flees east, toward the elusive nomads and their king Aretas. He leaves behind men enough to defend the city and keep Menelaus prisoner of the citadel, which his men have not been able to take. He hopes he may convince the king to lend his army of ten thousand men to his own cause, and make him the High Priest of an independent Jewish kingdom. But he knows time is short…

 

[Hecatee]

For those wondering, this thread will be about the Nabateans intervening against the Maccabees, changing the situation in the Near East and strenghtening the Seleucids. This will also have consequences on Rome's developpement in the East because they will not meet the disorder that allowed Pompey to play king-maker in 68 BCE.

But of course butterflies will happen much earlier than that and have an impact on, amongst other, Antiochus IV, Mithridates, Caesar, Cleopatra VII, ...

 

[Cuāuhtemōc]

If the Seleucids prove themselves successful against a Nabatean intervention in Judean affairs, is it possible we might see an earlier exile?

 

[Hecatee]

well according to Flavius Josephus, the main Nabatean contribution to the fight was to provide intelligence to the rebels (XII,335-336) and sending away the priest Jason.

Here I will suggest that the great diplomacies of the area try harder to get the Nabatean to fight for them, with the Seleucids making the best offer so that when Judas Maccabee meets the Nabateans they do not speak but fight...

So yes, I do plan on having an earlier exile but mostly for those Jews hostiles to Antiochos, which will change the Jewish culture to a much more hellenized version, leading to a tradition of greater adaptation toward the changing world.

 

[Hecatee]

It was not a city, nor was it a camp. Tents were everywhere, surrounded by myriads of animals amongst which played children and labored women. Men were less frequently seen, taken away by the caravans crossing the desert in month long expeditions between the cities of Arabia and the port of Gaza.

Jason was astonished: he had never seen such a strange grouping of humans. Yet it was the capital of the king of the Nabatene, who lived under the biggest tent Jason had ever seen. Even more surprising and, for Jason, more disturbing, was the fact that next to it stood another tent, different in style, smaller but made of far richer textiles. In front of its gate, immediately recognizable, silver shield soldiers of the Seleucid kingdom.

On the other side of the King’s tent, an even more surprising sight greeted the Jewish High Priest: Egyptian soldiers were guarding an equally rich tent. Jason knew that Judas Maccabee was trying to bring the Egyptian court into an alliance, but to see representative of the two main powers of the area in the Nabatene capital could only mean that both were trying to bring the tribe to their side or at least to neutrality.

It also meant they had come with riches and probably offers to bring Aretas to their side, while he would only come with pleas for help and empty hands, not even sure his forces still held Jerusalem...

 

[Monopolist]

An original idea! It'll be interesting to see how Judaism develops in the diaspora and in Judaea; I almost wonder if we'll see two distinct strains emerge, a Hellenized version and a more conservative version across the diaspora.

By the way, awesome pictures!

 

[Hecatee]

Thanks. My focus will not really be on Jewish history, although it will be mentionned. I don't want to spoil the next few updates this soon, but I don't think the traditionalist will be in a situation where they can actually have a legacy. The Maccabee book won't be written and I'm not even sure we'll get a Flavius Josephus like character later on.

Of course the larger hellenization will probably mean no sectarism in the first century, along with no Jewish royal house infighting (because there will be no such thing as a Jewish royal house...). This also means that we'll have no Jesus, and no Bar Kochba revolt, probably also no destruction of the second temple by external forces...

As for the picture, I can't take credit : I found it on a tourism website (there are guys looking like that at the entrance of Petra's Siq, walking on war like music all day long for the tourists comming in, as I saw a week ago).

 

[Monopolist]

As for the picture, I can't take credit : I found it on a tourism website (there are guys looking like that at the entrance of Petra's Siq, walking on war like music all day long for the tourists comming in, as I saw a week ago).

I was talking about the pictures from the link in your signature.

 

[Hecatee]

I was talking about the pictures from the link in your signature.

Oh ! Thanks, took a bit of travelling but I liked every minute of taking them

 

[Malta]

Aha! As another who has crafted a Nabataean TL this is interesting

 

[Hecatee]

The town of Gadara was visible in the far away background, but it did not interest the men standing on the horses at the head of a large column of men ready for war. They were all men of the desert, toughened by the harsh conditions in which they lived, battle hardened by dozens of skirmishes against brigands and thieves on the desert roads.

In front of them, another army stood, waiting. It was the Jewish army of Judas Maccabee, the leader of the rebellion that, three years before, had started to throw the Seleucid kingdom from the region. No one but the leader of the column knew what would happen that day. All were aware of the numerous embassies that had been dispatched to the Nabatene king, but only he knew what his decision was. He’d ordered his men regrouped, the women, the children and the elderly sent to the desert hiding grounds with the herds, and had then left for the Gaalahatide region, south-east of the lake of Tiberias.

The Nabatene did not know how to take cities, but they could learn. Help by a few Seleucid engineers had provided them with some basic skills, but they counted more on their mains forces: speed, surprise, and superb horsemanship.

With some fifteen thousand men at his back, Aretas had probably one of the largest force of cavalry ever assembled since the time of Alexander himself, although he lacked any infantry to apply complex strategies similar to those of the legendary Macedonian commander.

At a sign by their king, the nomad began to hasten their mount, soon coming into a full charge toward the Jews. A battle that would define the course of history was beginning, as was the second Jewish exile...

The force led by Judas Maccabee was the main army of the rebellion, and it’s destruction was a shattering blow to their cause. One after the other their garrisons would fall, as would their ability to strike on the Hellenized Jews or against the Seleucid themselves. Judas himself would fall during the fight and his brothers would soon follow him in the grave.

--
The Seleucid ambassador had won the day. Beside the riches he’d offered the Nabatene, the control of Idumea, the Moabite and Edomite countries with trading rights inside the Seleucid empire had been more than enough to convinced Aretas.

As for the former inhabitants of the area, the wish of Antiochos had been clear : the Nabatene were free to do away with any still clinging to the old Jewish view, like he would do with those in the territories he’d be keeping for himself. As the Nabatene territory held few cities, they would meet few Hellenized Jews and Antiochos did not care about them…

The idea of having a state between the Ptolemies’ Egypt and his realm was dear to Antiochos, because it would secure an always fragile and costly border which the Romans prevented him to reinforce.

The removal of the intractable inhabitants of the area, a practice he’d read about in recently translated Babylonian records, seemed like an excellent idea, especially if one made sure that they would never have the opportunity to make a single people again. The men would be put to the sword, the women sold as slaves all around the kingdom and beyond, and the land would go to Hellenized soldiers as a proof of his gratitude.

The agreement struck by the father would be upheld by the son. The map of the Near East would be redrawn, and new plans made in the various capitals of the Eastern Mediterranean…
After the battle of Gadara the Nabatene, well informed of the state of things in Galilee, had sent forces to help the Seleucid commander Timotheus, who was besieging a Maccabean garrison and actually launching an assault when the Nabatene arrived.

The towns of Bosor, Malle, Casphom and many others were also protected from further depredation by the Maccabees and their men, and the surviving Maccabee brothers would be hunted down. It would be amongst the grottoes near the Dead Sea that the last of them would be put to death, next to the ruins of the old Israelite fortress of Sokoka.

His death marked the end of the rebellion. A few months of troubles would still follow, as some of the more radical Hellenized Jews looked for revenge on the Maccabean supporters, but the large number of dead and deported guaranteed that peace would come. Jewish slaves would be sold by the Nabatene in the Arabian peninsula and in Egypt, where their brothers from Alexandria did nothing to help their more conservative kin, while others would be sold to the far north of the Seleucid empire.

 

[SlyDessertFox]

Excellent start to the timeline. This has always been a POD idea in the back of my mind (well, the crushing of the Maccabeean revolt has, but you did it in an original way I had never considered so props to you) and I'm glad someone has finally made a timeline about this. I always have a soft spot for a stronger and longer lasting Seleucid Empire, so this timeline already has me hooked. Keep it up!

 

[Hecatee]

Thanks. Note though that it's already quite late for the Seleucid, we are after the battle of Magnesia and the treaty of Apamea so the Seleucid fortunes will not be able to rise above a certain level, at least not in the west. On the other hand the situations frees ressources to fight the rising Parthians, who are just expending east at the present time, taking Herat (Afghanistan) at around the same time as our battle of Gadara (or a bit before actually).

I do intend to have a slightly more peaceful transition of power at the death of Antiochos IV, which I might displace by between 6 and 10 years, allowing his son to start his rule from a better position and preventing the troubles linked with the return of Demetrius I from Rome.

But I do plan on some big changes in trade and geopolitics due to the new situation in the area, so stay tuned

 

[Hnau]

Wow, excellent POD there, and great follow-up so far.

 

[Monopolist]

Great update! Shame about the Maccabees, but they were a necessary casualty of course. Nabataea as a Seleucid-friendly buffer will be interesting. Even with the freeing of resources to put down the Parthians, re-subduing them at this point will be tricky for the Seleucids. I very much look forward to seeing how things evolve from here.

 

[SlyDessertFox]

Thanks. Note though that it's already quite late for the Seleucid, we are after the battle of Magnesia and the treaty of Apamea so the Seleucid fortunes will not be able to rise above a certain level, at least not in the west. On the other hand the situations frees ressources to fight the rising Parthians, who are just expending east at the present time, taking Herat (Afghanistan) at around the same time as our battle of Gadara (or a bit before actually).

I do intend to have a slightly more peaceful transition of power at the death of Antiochos IV, which I might displace by between 6 and 10 years, allowing his son to start his rule from a better position and preventing the troubles linked with the return of Demetrius I from Rome.

But I do plan on some big changes in trade and geopolitics due to the new situation in the area, so stay tuned

Yes, Seleucid fortunes west of Cilicia are pretty much dead at this point. Are we going to see any innovations with Antiochus' interest in Romanizing his infantry?

Great update! Shame about the Maccabees, but they were a necessary casualty of course. Nabataea as a Seleucid-friendly buffer will be interesting. Even with the freeing of resources to put down the Parthians, re-subduing them at this point will be tricky for the Seleucids. I very much look forward to seeing how things evolve from here.

It would be interesting to see if Nabatea becomes sort of what Armenia became to the Romans and Parthians.

 

[Hecatee]

I do think that bringing the Parthians back to the Seleucid fold is, at the current time, too much for the limited ressources of Antiochos. But their extension toward the West will be checked and they won't take the Iranian plateau as they did historically, forcing them to look elsewhere for their expension.

About Antiochos interest in reforming his forces, yes I do think we'll see a bit more of this but only in the later years of his "new" life, after he's been able to stop the Parthians and in a periode of peace and consolidation.

As for the Nabateans' role as buffer, I do not really see them becoming a new Armenia because of the land they live in and their lack, at this point, of any real city : Petra has not yet been founded, and Gaza is the only true city they own. While a nice fortress that often proved a though (or too though) a nut to crack, it lies on the edge of both their land and their culture...

But more importantly I see them as an independant actor that will look elsewhere for a garantee of their independance and that will also try to expend on its own, benefitting from the new trade patterns that will evolve from both the Parthian situation and some decisions by both the Ptolemies and the Seleucid...

 

[Hecatee]

While the new control of the Idumene by the Nabatene came the need for a certain amount of relays in the desert. Traditionally the Nabatene did not build cities, their rules forbidding the construction of stone dwellings, but they had a long practice of building strong points with small garrisons and lots of water.

Places like Elusa, Mampsis and Nessana were thus strengthened by enlarging their water storage capacities, while new outposts were also founded a bit to the south, to act as a trip wire in case of Egyptian intervention : Aretana[1] and Sobata were the two main sites of this new southern route toward Gaza.

Gaza was another problem altogether. The city had stood since times lost from memory, and had recently become famous for its siege by Alexander the Great and later by its followers fighting for the control of the region.
Aretas main issue was how to keep control of the city while also keeping with the Nabatenes’ traditions?

Of course the kingdom was rich enough to be able to pay a sizable mercenary garrison at a price that even gold rich Egypt would find costly, and the newly acquired lands would allow for grants to mercenaries having fulfilled their contract, but a local ruler of the Nabatean royal family was also necessary.

In the end the solution would be to put the heir of the throne in charge of the city and its surrounding area, acting as governor for his father. On the long term this would lead to a stronger city influence on the next generation of Nabatenes.

This direct control over the sea port has also direct consequences on the trade with the new growing power of the West, Rome, whose dominance over the western Mediterranean is now unchallenged and which welcomes the arrival of a new player on the seemly deadlocked eastern front. Soon traders from this faraway city arrive in Gaza and begin to build their own little quarter inside the walls rebuilt after the long siege of Alexander the Great.

For the Seleucid kingdom, the alliance with the Nabatene meant that they now hadthe opportunity to concentrate their forces in other directions, especially in the east. And it was just about time too…

--

In Alexandria the recent developpements were seen with a very bad eye, but Egypt could do little in this situation. The country had just been invaded by Antiochos IV, the intervention of a roman ambassador being the only thing preventing absolute disaster and loss of Cyprus.

Worse even, their were no clear power structure at the head of the state : Ptolemy VI Philometor and his brother Ptolemy VII Evergetos II Tryphon were disagreeing on everything and had to contend with their sister Cleopatra II, married to the elder brother but truly wishing the power for herself, something for which she had to bear a son…

It is thus not surprising that each of the Ptolemies went to his own traditionnal way of attempting to solve the issue : building for Philometor, trying to bring the Romans in for Evergetos and scheming for Cleopatra.

Let it be said that the scheming of Cleopatra, that mainly involved attempted bribes at the Gaza garrison, failed uterly : the mercenaries put in place by the Nabatene stayed loyal and most of Cleopatra’s spies met an early and painful end, often as slaves in Nabatene caravans crossing the desert.

The attempts of Philometor did also meet failure, because Rome was more preoccupied by the reorganization of Greece after the defeat of Perseus. While his pleas for help met some friendly ears, mostly in the entourage of Cato the Censor, Rome was simply not inclined to intervene in the area : there was peace between the two hellenistic empires, the third had been destroyed, and a non treatening tribe not inclined to piracy served as tripwire between the two : the situation was deemed good enough for the interests of the Res Publica.

This left the answer of Ptolemy VI Philometor, the oldest ruler of the three. He’d been taken captive by the Seleucids before coming back to his capital, an experience that had made him rethink the defenses of his realm from a land attack. His conclusion had been that only a network of fortress sufficiently defended to bog down an invading army would do, imitating in part the strategy of the first two Ptolemies in the time of the diadochoi.

He thus ordered the building of two new line of fortresses, one close to the border and the second one at the narrowest part of the Sinai, well in advance of the Pelusian branch of the Nile that had long been the main defense of the country.

It is while building this second line of fortresses that his engineers dug up the remains of what they thought at first was a deep defensive trench but that the scholars of the Musaion soon identified as being the remains of a canal dug between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, a prodigious achievement of which they had found mentions in the old texts collated in their library.

To Ptolemy VI this discovery seemed a god-sent : he decided to reopen the waterway as a large moat for Egypt, with a wall to be built on the Egyptian side of the canal and fortifications all along, with a few bridges to control and tax trade.

The project was truly pharaonic, but appealed to the builder whom the king was at heart, and beside Egypt did not really lack manpower for this kind of tasks. With an appropriate fleet, this would make the land safe from a western attack even if the nomads proved treacherous and brought supplies in the desert for an invading army, as they had done many times in the past.


[1] Historicaly :Oboda/Avdat

 

[Monopolist]

Good update. Ptolemy VI is quite an ambitious king, building that canal and expanding on fortresses in the region. I imagine that would cost an absolute ton of money, but of course the fortunate thing for Ptolemy is that Egypt is an incredibly wealthy country.

While the new control of the Idumene by the Nabatene came the need for a certain amount of relays in the desert. Traditionally the Nabatene did not build cities, their rules forbidding the construction of stone dwellings, but they had a long practice of building strong points with small garrisons and lots of water.

Hmm, I didn't know that Nabatene culture forbid stone housing. Does this include walls too? Do you know what would have inspired this taboo?

Having the Nabatene heir rule Gaza is an interesting wrinkle, seems like a smart move.

 

[Hecatee]

Yes it will cost a lot of money to the Ptolemies, but at this juncture they still have vast amount of gold thanks in part to the sale of their abundant cereals production. Also the king finds the investment worthwhile because it might ultimately cost him less than loosing his kingdom. As for the canal, he is largely re-opening what was before, with the sand and stone being used to build this wall on the western bank of the canal.

About the Nabateans, I'm following here both Diodorus Siculus (XIX 94 2-6) who states that : "For the sake of those who do not know, it will be useful to state in some detail the customs of these Arabs, by following which, it is believed, they preserve their liberty. They live in the open air, claiming as native land a wilderness that has neither rivers nor abundant springs from which it is possible for a hostile army to obtain water. 3 It is their custom neither to plant grain, set out any fruit-bearing tree, use wine, nor construct any house; and if anyone is found acting contrary to this, death is his penalty.74 p894 They follow this custom because they believe that those who possess these things are, in order to retain the use of them, easily compelled by the powerful to do their bidding. Some of them raise camels, others sheep, pasturing them in the desert." It seems they only changed this practice OTL during the roman period.

I'm also following the indications of the book "Pétra et les Nabatéens" by Marie Jeanne Roche published in 2009 (a book that was also my guide while I visited Avdat, Shivta, Mamshit, Beersheva, Gadara and Petra, amongst others, in the last few weeks, see the pictures at the link in my signature).