IX. MAN IN ARID LANDS: NORTH FROM JIDDAH
549
Charles Doughty's sketches of the stone inscriptions proved that beyond
any doubt—but there is disagreement as to whether it was merely an outpost of the Nabateans from which the Nabateans picked up the incense
and transshipped it to Petra, or a large thriving settlement strong and selfsufficient enough to dictate terms to the tribes to the south.
The first view stems from the basic belief that the Nabateans were not
only of nomadic origin, but were still nomads in the era of Nabatean eminence. It is based on what so far is a failure to find ruins which might
indicate a settlement. This theory is helped along by the writings of a
Roman called Diodorus, whose sources are unknown but who wrote that
the Nabateans were completely nomadic and that they abstained from
planting and sowing under threat of death as well as from drinking wine
and building permanent homes.
In the absence of data to refute it, this view, of course, must be considered. But other findings suggest quite another story. First of all there have
been no excavations in Mada'in Salih and it is entirely possible that there
are ruins there—beneath certain dunes and mounds that are certainly not
natural. More importantly, ruins in and around Jordan show that the
Nabateans were most ingenious in conserving and using water for agriculture and probably had more land in crops than there is now. In Mada'in
Salih itself the Bedouins today are cleaning out wells which in size and
number suggest that at one time there might have been several square miles
of gardens in the vicinity—enough to have supported a sizable population.
Furthermore, the Nabateans produced a distinctive pottery of excellent
quality and workmanship—all of which means that if the Nabateans were
nomads they were most unusual nomads since nomadic people rarely develop water conservation systems or fine pottery.
The other view—that Mada'in Salih was a large, strong settlement—
seems more reasonable if only because it is unlikely that the South Arabian
tribes would have simply halted their northern advance at a given point
because the Nabateans asked them to. It is much more likely that they
stopped because the settlement at Mada'in Salih was big enough and strong
enough to bar them from going further.
Supporting this view is the interesting fact that the tombs to be found
on the sandstone cliffs above the oasis of Al 'Ula—just a few miles south
of Mada'in Salih—are not Nabatean tombs. They are similar, but key
differences in the pattern and inscriptions found there indicate that the
people who carved those tombs were probably South Arabians, not
Nabateans. Thus it seems that between Mada'in Salih and Al 'Ula there
existed a definite frontier marking the southernmost extension of the
Nabatean Kingdom and the northernmost penetration of the South Arabian
traders.
549
Charles Doughty's sketches of the stone inscriptions proved that beyond
any doubt—but there is disagreement as to whether it was merely an outpost of the Nabateans from which the Nabateans picked up the incense
and transshipped it to Petra, or a large thriving settlement strong and selfsufficient enough to dictate terms to the tribes to the south.
The first view stems from the basic belief that the Nabateans were not
only of nomadic origin, but were still nomads in the era of Nabatean eminence. It is based on what so far is a failure to find ruins which might
indicate a settlement. This theory is helped along by the writings of a
Roman called Diodorus, whose sources are unknown but who wrote that
the Nabateans were completely nomadic and that they abstained from
planting and sowing under threat of death as well as from drinking wine
and building permanent homes.
In the absence of data to refute it, this view, of course, must be considered. But other findings suggest quite another story. First of all there have
been no excavations in Mada'in Salih and it is entirely possible that there
are ruins there—beneath certain dunes and mounds that are certainly not
natural. More importantly, ruins in and around Jordan show that the
Nabateans were most ingenious in conserving and using water for agriculture and probably had more land in crops than there is now. In Mada'in
Salih itself the Bedouins today are cleaning out wells which in size and
number suggest that at one time there might have been several square miles
of gardens in the vicinity—enough to have supported a sizable population.
Furthermore, the Nabateans produced a distinctive pottery of excellent
quality and workmanship—all of which means that if the Nabateans were
nomads they were most unusual nomads since nomadic people rarely develop water conservation systems or fine pottery.
The other view—that Mada'in Salih was a large, strong settlement—
seems more reasonable if only because it is unlikely that the South Arabian
tribes would have simply halted their northern advance at a given point
because the Nabateans asked them to. It is much more likely that they
stopped because the settlement at Mada'in Salih was big enough and strong
enough to bar them from going further.
Supporting this view is the interesting fact that the tombs to be found
on the sandstone cliffs above the oasis of Al 'Ula—just a few miles south
of Mada'in Salih—are not Nabatean tombs. They are similar, but key
differences in the pattern and inscriptions found there indicate that the
people who carved those tombs were probably South Arabians, not
Nabateans. Thus it seems that between Mada'in Salih and Al 'Ula there
existed a definite frontier marking the southernmost extension of the
Nabatean Kingdom and the northernmost penetration of the South Arabian
traders.