Nabataeans race out to one of the bitumen “bulls” of the sea—floating mounds of jellied crude oil—and then toss chunks they’ve cut off into their reed boats, finally for export to Egypt.

We think of the petroleum industry as a recent phenomenon, and certainly more oil is used now than ever was in the past. But what many people don’t know is that there were genuine oil industries in the ancient Middle East that employed many people and made important products. They also greatly impacted international trade and politics.

The ancient Arabian people known as the Nabataeans were already engaged in the petroleum business when, in 312 BC, a Greek army led by a general called Hieronymus crossed the Syrian desert into present-day Jordan and headed toward the southern tip of the Dead Sea. As the troops reached their destination, Hieronymus couldn't believe his eyes! He saw scores of Arabic-speaking tribesmen camped on the shore, with their pack-camels and reed rafts. All were waiting for the thawr—Arabic for "bull"—to appear in the middle of the waters.

The "bulls," Hieronymus discovered, were iceberg-like mounds of bitumen—or naturally occurring asphalt—that floated up from the depths of the water. Every time a new "bull" rose into sight, a swarm of axe-wielding seamen leapt onto the rafts and began a frantic race toward the mound. When they arrived at the “bull,” they jumped on it, cut off pieces and put them on the raft. Back on land, they loaded the bitumen onto camels. The destination was Alexandria, a major seaport in Egypt.

B.H. Moody

These doorways lead into Nabataean tombs at Madain Salih, a Nabataean settlement site in present-day Saudi Arabia.

Hieronymus’s mission was to expel the Arabs and seize the bitumen for Antigonus I, king of Macedonia. But Hieronymus's talent for keeping good notes of what he saw proved better than his skills as a general. His army was defeated and he had to flee for his life. Some 270 years later, his diary fell into the hands of the Roman historian Diodorus Siculus, and it is through Diodorus’s writings that we know about early Nabataean life.

Until the Greeks made their unwelcome appearance on Nabataean shores, almost nothing was known about these oilmen of the Dead Sea. We now know that their home base was the present-day Hijaz region of northwestern Saudi Arabia. At one time, the Nabataeans had "one of the greatest kingdoms in the ancient Middle East,” according to G. W. Bowersock, an expert on those desert-dwelling people. Part of the Nabataeans’ fabulous wealth came from their role as sole exporters of Dead Sea bitumen to Egypt.

Between 323 and 285 BC, the Nabataeans found themselves at the center of a bitter struggle between Ptolemy I of Egypt and Antigonus I, who held part of present-day Turkey and all of Syria and Lebanon. Both had been generals in the army of Alexander the Great, but after his death each sought to make himself ruler of an empire including all of the Middle East.

Antigonus moved against Ptolemy in 312 BC. He sent an army headed by an officer named Athenaeus to subdue the "barbarians," as the Greeks called the Nabataeans, and impose an economic blockade on Egypt's eastern flank. This blockade would stop the trade of bitumen and, Antigonus figured, stir up the powerful priesthood against his rival—for bitumen was critical in the mummification process in Egypt, where it was believed that the body needed to be preserved to ensure an afterlife for the soul.

But Antigonus’s scheme failed. Athenaeus had learned that the Nabataean men were gathering for their annual festival, leaving all their possessions and their old people, women and children for safekeeping at a certain place referred to as "The Rock." Described as exceptionally strong and high, and unprotected by a wall, it sounds very like a hill within the city of Petra, which later became the capital of the Nabataean kingdom.

Athenaeus timed his raid to coincide with the festival. Reaching the rock at nightfall, he surprised the Arabs and killed or imprisoned many of them. He then made off in the darkness with 700 camels and a booty that included much frankincense and myrrh and about 500 talents (around $1 million) of silver. It was this booty that led to his downfall. With his troops tired, hot and short of water, Athenaeus made the mistake of setting up camp too soon.

Khalil Abou el-Nasr

Enter this narrow, winding ravine, known as the Shiq, walk along it for two kilometers (1.25 miles), and you’ll reach Petra, the Nabataean capital city.

The Nabataean men lost no time gathering their forces. They attacked the Greek camp with vengeance, completely destroying Athenaeus's infantry. Then they sent an angry letter to Antigonus, accusing Athenaeus of aggression and demanding assurances that the Greeks would not attack again. Antigonus denied responsibility for the incident, saying that Athenaeus had acted against orders. This was no consolation to the Nabataeans and they placed watchmen on hilltops to warn of any new intrusion.

Shortly thereafter, Antigonus ordered his son Demetrius to attack the Nabataeans. He did so, but the Nabataean alert system worked and his troops had to retreat. The next day, as Demetrius was preparing to storm the city once again, the Nabataean elders sent him a message expressing both the peaceful desires and the steely resolve of the Bedouin Arabs:

Khalil Abou el-Nasr

Today the Dead Sea is calm. The bitumen “bulls” for which it was once famous no longer rise from its waters.

"King Demetrius, with what desire or under what compulsion do you war against us who live in the desert, in a land that has neither water nor grain nor wine nor any other thing whatever that pertains to the necessities of life among you? For we, since we are in no way willing to be slaves, have taken refuge in a land that lacks all the things that are valued among other peoples, and have chosen to live a life in the desert..., harming you not at all. We therefore beg both you and your father to do us no injury but, after receiving gifts from us, to withdraw your army and henceforth regard the Nabataeans as your friends. For neither can you remain here many days, since you lack water and all the other necessary supplies, nor can you force us to live a different life."

Demetrius finally agreed to withdraw. But instead of retreating, he marched to the Dead Sea and declared himself "lord of all the oil fisheries," and then hastened back to his father to report the news. In response, Antigonus sent Hieronymus on his ill-fated mission.

The Nabataeans continued their petroleum exports to Egypt well into the first century BC, and their wealth continued to grow. Camel caravans carried the bitumen along the Wadi Araba to Petra or Avdat, and then north to the coastal city of Gaza. From Gaza, it was either loaded aboard ships bound for Alexandria, or taken along the Mediterranean coastline in fresh caravans into Egypt.

As the first century BC progressed, both the Nabataeans and the Egyptians faced a serious threat from the Romans. In 62 BC, the Nabataeans fought off several attacks, but in the end Roman leader Marc Antony finally took over the kingdom.

Before long, Antony fell in love with that extraordinary Greek-Egyptian queen, Cleopatra VII, who persuaded him to give her the Nabataean oil fisheries as a gift. She contrived the first recorded leaseback scheme: for 200 talents (about $400,000) a year, she leased the Dead Sea oil works back to the Nabataean king Malik I. This deal assured Cleopatra a sizable income, which she intended to use to help build a naval fleet strong enough to defeat Antony's chief rival, Octavian.

Nabataean trade routes stretched south as far as Yathrib (today’s Madinah, in Saudi Arabia) and north as far as Aleppo in Syria. The names of sites where signs of Nabataean settlements have been found are named in bold type.

In 32 BC, Malik I refused to pay. Cleopatra then called on Antony to launch a campaign against the Arabs. The Arabs defeated the invaders and, in 31 BC, Antony himself was defeated by Octavian's forces.

In a desperate scramble to escape to India with Antony, Cleopatra had some of her ships dragged overland from the Nile to the Red Sea. No sooner were Cleopatra's boats afloat than the Nabataeans attacked and set them ablaze. Antony and Cleopatra were forced to take refuge back in Alexandria, where they committed suicide. After the death of Cleopatra, Egypt became a colony of the new Roman empire created by Octavian, who took the title "Augustus." At the same time, the Egyptian custom of mummification ended. The bitumen fisheries of the Dead Sea lost their economic importance. In the year 106 of our era, the Nabataeans were incorporated into the new province of Roman Arabia.

The historical record of oil and international trade relations doesn’t end with the Nabataeans, of course. Rather, their story is the opening chapter in a saga that continues today.

click here to view the original article

 

Dr. Zayn Bilkadi was born in Tunisia and studied at the American University of Beirut, the University of Rochester and the University of California at Berkeley.