- 2 weeks ago
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00:00I'm in the ancient city of Hegra in modern-day Saudi Arabia it's a
00:07mysterious place surrounded by magnificent rock-cut tombs built 2,000
00:14years ago by a people who had far-reaching impacts on world culture
00:19but this site is only now being fully explored
00:25so there's um there's at least at least 90% of the site still waiting to be
00:33archaeologically researched but this is one of the main areas that the
00:38archaeologists are working on right now I can't I can't quite believe that I'm
00:42being allowed because I can see pottery everywhere this UNESCO World Heritage
00:48site is the front line of research into an enigmatic and once neglected
00:53civilization the people who built this place were the Nabataeans major players
00:59in the ancient world whose power and influence spanned empires but then it
01:06seems they vanish from the history books I'm here searching for clues that could
01:12tell us what happened to them
01:16something that might explain why such an illustrious people aren't better known
01:22there's something here that is truly remarkable it's a an inscription that's
01:32only recently been discovered and it's very delicate so it's been protected here
01:36okay so I am right in the middle of the Arabian Peninsula but this isn't written in a Nabataean
01:48language with a Nabataean script what you're looking at is Latin which is the language of the ancient Romans
01:56and you can just about make up here the beginning of the word centurion so this
02:02would have been left here by Roman soldiers so this must be evidence that can
02:09teach us more about the fate of the Nabataean civilization
02:15these geniuses of history who called themselves the Nabatae are the key to a lost world
02:29okay so I've already discovered how the Nabataeans built a fabulously wealthy culture and civilization
02:41in my journey so far I've explored their breathtaking tombs
02:48traveled in their footsteps along the incense roads of the Arabian Peninsula
02:53adventured on boats and under the waves of the Red Sea as far as an ancient Roman megaport in the Bay of Naples
03:02next my investigation has brought me to modern-day Jordan
03:08on this the final leg of my Nabataean Odyssey I'm going to find out if their staggering success
03:17which brought them serious wealth perhaps also sowed the seeds of their civilizations downfall
03:24my investigative journey started here in what's now Saudi Arabia in the city of Hebra with its stunning tombs
03:35Hebra was a southern outpost of Nabataean territories a key staging post in their trading empire
03:44their precious cargo included an ancient petrochemical bitumen and frankincense
03:52the ultimate destination of that incense were the major Mediterranean markets of the Greek the Egyptian
04:01and the Roman worlds and the profits from that vast trade largely ended up in the capital of the Nabataean kingdom
04:11the place that they called Rakhmu but that we now know by its Greek name Petra
04:18and like the Nabataeans I'm gonna follow the money and head right here
04:262,000 years ago Petra was the central hub for trade not just of incense but also spices from southern Asia
04:41pearls from India and silk from China
04:45Petra was the economic jewel of the kingdom and the administrative cultural and religious heart of Nabataean territory
04:55which covered lands in the Arabian Peninsula, modern-day Egypt and Syria
05:01even controlling on more than one occasion the iconic city of Damascus
05:07I've got the chance to see the land from a whole new angle
05:12which I hope will help me to show you why Petra holds such a unique place in history
05:19I hope you've got the middle
05:29thank you to Grant
05:31and it's you know you kind of read about the scale of the Nabataean project
05:59but it's only when you come up here you really understand how massive it was
06:05the sheer vastness of the city is revealed stretching over 50 square miles
06:14with an estimated population of 30,000 a glorious jumble of tombs temples and markets
06:24a grand theatre and opulent villas sitting beside a bustling urban heart
06:36so those see the mountain tops up here so those have got shrines and sanctuaries and temples on
06:42it just makes you respect them the fact that they met this incredibly dramatic landscape face on and kind of used it to their own ends
06:55because I mean just look how harsh this landscape looks but they're using every bit of it to create a culture and a civilization
07:03Petra was sustained by a sprawling 35 mile long network of hidden underground pipes transporting and filtering rain and spring water to thousands of hidden cisterns and basins buried in the city rock
07:20ancient sources and archaeological remains evidence the farming of almonds figs grapes dates olives
07:32and the Nabataeans created a series of closely guarded enclaves in the high sided valleys of the city
07:38so that one particular that's called Little Petra and again it's very easy to protect and defend and that was where the kind of centre of trading was
07:51it really feels like the people of Petra used every geographical feature to their best advantage each hurdle and obstacle harnessed to turn the city into a fortress
08:02so this stand here and this is natural kind of canyon or gully that was the one of the main entry points to the city and you can see it just winds its way through the rock
08:15so it was incredibly well defended and actually where I'm going to head to next
08:21there I'll discover how the Nabataeans built one of history's greatest wonders a fortified vision of paradise
08:43it's time to explore Petra starting in an extraordinary entrance to the city
08:51this is the Sikh the word literally means a shaft or a gorge and it runs for a kilometre it's over half a mile into the centre of the city itself
09:06and it's got its own power it's kind of got its own message don't you think it's saying that this is somewhere that is really special that's worth protecting
09:16the twisting canyon is a seemingly never-ending path through towering rocks
09:23both hiding and guarding one way into the capital of the Nabataeans empire
09:31this is the place that we now call the treasury in fact it is a giant rock cut tomb
09:43somewhere that protected not just wealth but the dead
09:58it's fitting that this tomb was constructed for one of the kingdom's greatest ruling dynasties
10:05so this is almost certainly made for our old friend King Aratas IV who ruled at the time that Hegra was really flourishing
10:17and this was a key moment in world history in a time when Petra was really buzzing
10:24Aratas and his powerful wife Huldu took the throne in the year 9 BCE a five decade long rule saw Petra claim
10:36geopolitical centre stage Aratas and Huldu were determined to build alliances with their neighbours
10:45but occasionally had to navigate diplomatic scandal
10:50Aratas IV's daughter married Herod Antipas the king of Judea
10:56but Herod put aside the girl and took another wife
11:00sparking one of the most famous stories of the ancient world
11:04John the Baptist no less protested against this disrespectful divorce
11:10and ended up being beheaded and King Aratas was so offended he took his Nabataean army and invaded Judea's kingdom
11:21when you come here you start to really understand how intertwined the Nabataeans are
11:27in those other histories that we might be a bit more familiar with
11:31vast riches from trade meant Petra's influence was more than just political
11:44because Petra was the capital of the wealthy Nabataean kingdom
11:47and the quality of some of the artworks here are just extraordinary
11:52and these these are just some that have been kept in the storerooms
11:57Petra's stonemasons and artists created much more than just monumental tombs
12:03their work includes stone capitals of animals as diverse as dolphins and elephants
12:09Greek inspired deities and depictions of everyday people
12:17Ancient authors like Diodorus, Strabo and Pliny tell us Petra was a thriving oasis
12:24expert archaeologists are still uncovering evidence of this fertile past
12:31lovely to meet you
12:33Dr. Sahar is pioneering the use of luminescence dating
12:37basically the science of sunlight
12:40it enables her to precisely date the incredible technology and engineering
12:45that made Petra the envy of the ancient world
12:48I'm trying here to collect rocks for luminescence dating
12:52trying to date the time of construction of the terrace walls here
12:56it's almost like you're sort of doing the history of sunlight somehow is that right?
13:00yes we can determine when it was last exposed to light or when it was last buried
13:05so what's this telling you about the Nabataeans and their lives here?
13:09I think they were the master in the water and hydraulic system engineering
13:14they did not only build the water cisterns and the chanas or the terraces here
13:19but they also created gardens, pools, fountains
13:23to make it more like a lavish and luxorius place to stay
13:27it's almost because they need for their status and word of mouth
13:30for people to come back and say oh have you heard about Petra
13:32you know they've got these fish ponds and like ornamental parks and things
13:35so they literally converted the desert into like a paradise
13:39what a beautiful idea it's that they're kind of almost paradise makers
13:43making this bit of their earth a paradise
13:46yes it is
13:47even at the moment Jordan is facing this dryness and lack of water
13:52so it's kind of a knowledge that we can still learn from it
13:56Greek historian Strabo described springs in abundance
14:01both for domestic purposes and for watering gardens
14:06we've gathered the evidence to recreate an impression
14:09of what this gorgeous villa might have looked like
14:12with pleasure gardens featuring shrubs and palms
14:16mini bridges, little lakes
14:19where there's only now sand and rock
14:24the Nabataeans transformed the baking valleys and gorges of Petra
14:31into a pearl of antiquity
14:35nice to meet you again
14:36nice to see you again
14:37nice to see you again
14:38nice to see you again
14:39you are welcome
14:40aww
14:41before I leave I really want to catch up with someone
14:44you look well
14:46yeah
14:47still alive
14:48still alive
14:49yeah
14:51you have a cup of tea now
14:52yes
14:53lovely
14:54thank you
14:55Bedouin Taufik was raised on stories about the lush glory years of Petra's abundant
15:00heyday 2,000 years ago
15:02yeah
15:03this place where you squeeze the grapes you know
15:06yeah
15:07to make the wine
15:08so they would have made their own wine here
15:10because I know they drank a lot
15:11yeah
15:12yeah
15:13but there were vineyards here then too
15:14yeah
15:15there's two places
15:16one here
15:17and one in a little Petra
15:19and brilliantly
15:21he's cooking what I know is a culinary survivor from those days of plenty
15:25now we want to put the bread in the fire
15:29aha
15:30an ancient bread recipe
15:33Nabataean bread
15:35yeah
15:36Taufik is baking his bread
15:38using a traditional recipe
15:40with instructions to knead the dough
15:43precisely 120 times
15:49so good
15:50so you just have flour salt
15:52oil
15:53water
15:54water
15:55so I think the recipe says
15:56sometimes olive oil
15:57sometimes sesame oil
15:59oil from sesame seeds
16:00yes
16:01yes
16:02I mean this is exactly
16:03the same as you have in this recipe book
16:06called the kitab al tabiq
16:09it's a historic collection of Arabian cookery from over a thousand years ago
16:15the recipe's name then and now
16:18Nabataean bread
16:20clearly points to origins back in classical times
16:25so how long does it have to cook for?
16:27from 15 to 20 minutes
16:29kneading the bread over a hundred times
16:34and baking it in hot sand and ash
16:37makes it the right texture to transport on long desert journeys
16:43a little hot watch
16:46hot?
16:47yeah
16:48oh it smells good though
16:49very hot
16:55very good
16:57a little reminder that the Nabataean world is still present in our lives
17:12another of Petra's landmarks embodies traditions as distinctively Nabataean as Taufik's delicious bread
17:18the grand theatre in the centre of the city
17:27this was commissioned by King Aratas IV
17:30and it's based on Greek theatres that are first built around 2500 years ago
17:36but something that makes it specifically Nabataean is that it isn't built of stone or wood
17:42it's carved out of the sheer rock itself
17:51but there's evidence that something may have taken place here other than theatrical productions
17:57something that makes it even more Nabataean
18:00there's a really strong chance that it's somewhere that the Nabataeans could come to chat
18:07for kind of political debate
18:09so that they could consult amongst themselves about town life and what was going on
18:15one of our Greek writers tells us that even rulers were expected to join in these discussions in Petra's public buildings
18:23so Strabo says the Nabataean king is so democratic sometimes he serves people drinks himself
18:33he has to report back on his leadership in the popular assembly
18:37so here
18:39and sometimes even his personal life is put up for scrutiny
18:44and I can tell you that doesn't happen anywhere else in the classical world
18:48I'm building a picture of how the city and culture of Petra became a real beacon of sophistication in antiquity
18:57from the start of their glory years in the 4th century BCE
19:03Unfortunately, it didn't take long for the jewel in the Nabataean crown to attract jealous attention
19:11The first challenge came from an ancient Greek power
19:17giving us our earliest accounts of the Nabataean kingdom by an outsider
19:22a Greek general by the name of Hieronymus of Cardia
19:27By the 4th century BCE
19:30the armies of Alexander the Great had built a powerful and acquisitive empire
19:34stretching from his homeland in Macedonia to the Indian subcontinent
19:41After Alexander's death, one of his successors, a Macedonian leader, Antigonus
19:48decided to expand his territory and marched on a Nabataean stronghold, probably Petra, in 312 BCE
19:57When the men of Petra were away at the ancient equivalent of a trade fair
20:03the Macedonian Greek army attacked
20:06and there were 4,000 of them with 600 cavalry
20:09so it must have been absolutely petrifying
20:11The women and old men and children of the city had been left safe up on a high rock
20:17but the Macedonians dragged them down and seized them along with 500 talents of silver
20:24The absent Nabataean warriors heard about the military disaster
20:32They tracked the Macedonian army on their march home
20:39using their superior desert skills
20:458,000 warriors mounted on camels fell on the Macedonian army
20:50and wreaked a devastating revenge
20:54They slaughtered the men with javelins
20:57and they seized back their women, their children and their treasure
21:02After the battles were won, the Nabataeans did something truly unprecedented
21:08Instead of pressing home their advantage, they made their peace with Antigonus
21:19All they wanted was to go back to how things were
21:23As they said to the defeated Macedonian ruler
21:26Please, we're asking you and your father, not harm us
21:37Withdraw your army
21:39Let's be friends
21:41But in the next centuries, another great military power arose
21:45But in the next centuries, another great military power arose
21:50An empire that wouldn't be put off so easily
21:56In the final part of my journey, I'm going to find out what happened
22:00when the Nabataeans faced the might of ancient Rome
22:03I've travelled back to the ancient city of Hegra in modern Saudi Arabia
22:22Searching for clues of the fate of the Nabataeans
22:26There's over 90% of the site still left to excavate
22:37And this is one of the key areas of archaeological interest right now
22:41And it looks as though what it's revealing is just incredible
22:52Archaeologists have made a recent discovery
22:54That I think helps us understand the fate of the independent kingdom of Nabataean
23:02On the southern edge of the city is a giant crag
23:06With the ruins of what looks like a mysterious ancient fort
23:17Oh my gosh, look at this
23:19Look, look, look
23:21There's a lot going on here
23:22The light's picking out this inscription round the rim here
23:27And it's not written in Nabataean, it's written in Latin, the language of the Romans
23:33And I think it's...this is some kind of storage basin
23:37Possibly for water, I think probably for food
23:40And it looks like it's the name of the guy who's in charge of all the supplies
23:44And then here, look
23:47Oh my, look at this
23:50So, this says leg three
23:54And there's a sea wine that's been just broken off at the end
23:58So I reckon this must be the third legion, Cyrenaica
24:02So they're telling us that they were here on this southern outpost
24:06The third Cyrenaica was a Roman legion
24:12Founded by Mark Antony in around 35 BCE
24:16Headquartered 700 miles away in Egypt
24:18This inscription must mean that legion came here
24:24I guess now the Romans are in charge here
24:27So they're literally stamping their mark on the place
24:30Oh, that's amazing
24:32This doesn't happen often
24:34This really doesn't happen often
24:35That you come to a place
24:37And suddenly the evidence appears in front of your eyes
24:41And there are more traces of Roman presence
24:45Around the corner is one of my favourite new discoveries from the Nabataean world
24:51What I think you've got is the remains of a hypercourced system
24:56And a hypercourced was a kind of mechanism for heating rooms
25:00Something that the Romans used in Roman baths
25:04So it could well be
25:06We are thousands of miles from Rome here
25:07But there are home comforts
25:10A little bit of, you know, bath luxury
25:12Into the middle of the Arabian desert
25:17The fort at Hegra shows sure signs of Roman occupation of the city
25:22And surrounding oasis
25:26My tech team have been building a 3D model of Hegra
25:29Based on scans of the site
25:31And reconstructing the city through history
25:33The team are adding this latest evidence to build up their model
25:38Hoping to explain the reasons for the Romans' arrival in ancient Arabia
25:43I think that the Romans wanted to extend their control
25:51East
25:53Leila Naime is one of the world's leading experts on the Nabataeans
25:56And she's directed excavations here
25:59She's helping us decipher the clues
26:02If you look at the city, can you tell where there's Roman influence
26:06Or even Roman presence?
26:08Yes, well, we can because they did not put a big Roman imprint in the city
26:13No, yeah
26:15There's no theatre, no amphitheatre
26:16The Roman infrastructure seems to be limited to military installations
26:23To protect themselves, they presumably used this big outcrop
26:28Which is called the citadel
26:30And to make it high-watching post
26:33Yes
26:34And from there, they would be able to watch anybody coming from the south
26:37Wow
26:38It could have been a tough posting
26:40Yes
26:42In ancient times, Hegra was supported by a fertile oasis
26:46Walnuts, pomegranates, cotton, coconuts and even peaches were grown here
26:51But surely the Romans were here for something more
26:55Leila's team have identified an inscription that explains what they were doing in this distant corner of the ancient world
27:03You've got that incredible inscription, mentioning Marcus Aurelius, kind of beautiful, painted in black
27:12What you're showing me is a Latin inscription, of which there are very few examples in the world
27:18It's a masterpiece
27:19It's a dedication to Jupiter, Hamon, which is the god of the third legion, Cyrenaica
27:32And possibly there's a small s at the end
27:36It is possible that means stationary
27:39What does that stationary mean?
27:40It's a stationarius is a guy who is responsible of controlling people on the routes and saying, you know, everybody passing by, they would say, well, show me your ID or show me your passage permit
27:59Yeah, that's what a thought that is
28:01So they're not quite border control, but they're sort of customs control
28:04That means that the Romans have completely taken over the trade routes from the Nabataeans
28:11I imagine that must have been frustrating for the Nabataeans
28:14Because this has been their route, you know, their road, they've been in control of this
28:18Then suddenly you've got someone telling you what to do
28:20And telling you what to do and what not to do
28:24Yes
28:26The invaders took over the city with its abundant water supply, thriving agriculture
28:31And most importantly, control of the incense roads
28:37Mounting evidence of direct Roman rule is forcing historians to redraw the map of the Roman world
28:45It's just a reminder that these places that we think of wrongly, as at the edges of things, that they're hyper-connected
28:52You have to even think of even further than that
28:54Because if you look at maps of the Roman Empire on the internet, they're wrong
29:00Because this whole part of North West Arabia was part of the Roman Kingdom
29:06This is the southernmost outpost as far as we know
29:09Outpost, yes, a permanent outpost
29:12Yeah, incredible
29:13I want to find evidence for how and when this Roman takeover happened
29:25Brilliant clues are in these tiny silver coins
29:29From the reign of one of Rome's greatest military leaders
29:32An emperor who led the last great expansion of Rome's borders
29:37A campaign of conquest that started in Eastern Europe
29:40Now this rather incredible little coin was minted by the Emperor Trajan to celebrate his triumph over the ancient province of Dacia
29:52Dacia roughly equates to modern-day Romania
29:56And for the Romans, it was a territory rich in gold and silver and in people
30:01So on the coin, you've got the Emperor Trajan, as you'd expect on one side
30:05And then on the reverse, you've got Dacia itself incarnated as somebody who's been completely humiliated and defeated
30:17With their hands tied behind their backs, sitting on a pile of weapons
30:22The Romans often used coins like this as really clever tools of propaganda
30:27The conquest of Dacia began in the year 101 CE
30:34And then, the following decade, Trajan invaded the Parthian Empire
30:40He also turned his attention south to the Nabataean Kingdom
30:44Known at the time by its Latin name, Arabia Petraea
30:48His success there was immortalised in another, very different coin
30:57So, here's the Emperor Trajan again
31:00And on the other side, you've got Arabia personified as a camel
31:05And that's Rome standing above Arabia
31:07The figure of Rome is offering the camel what's either a palm leaf, which was a symbol both of victory and of peace
31:16Or it's a frankincense branch
31:19And I don't know if you agree, but this feels like a very different vibe
31:24There's a different kind of story being told here
31:26This isn't all about subjugation
31:28And the words used are really significant
31:31So, we're told that when the Romans took over the province of Arabia
31:36It wasn't captor, captured
31:39It was acquisitor, acquired
31:43The difference between violent capture of Dacia, captor
31:48And more gentle connotations of Arabia, acquisitor
31:52Feels hugely significant
31:55There are also no written records of a conquest by military force here
31:59So, for centuries, historians have believed that the acquisition of Nabataean
32:04Was indeed a peaceful, more an absorption into the Empire
32:09But, just as I was planning my journey here
32:13An extraordinary bit of new evidence appeared
32:17So, what you're looking at here is actually satellite imagery, so taken from space
32:28A team from Oxford University, headed by Michael Fragley
32:33Is using the satellites to scour almost a million square miles of Arabian Desert
32:38What they found may just cause doubt on this cosy story of a peaceful transition
32:47And they are convinced that these things, these very distinctive shapes
32:52And what are called playing card shapes
32:55That these are actually Roman camps that are used during a hostile takeover
33:01And these are slap-pang in the middle of Nabataean territory
33:08So, I've got to go and find out what's going on
33:10What's going on
33:21The mysterious shapes in the desert
33:24Suspected Roman camps are in an extremely remote area on the border between Saudi Arabia and Jordan
33:31Not an easy place to get to
33:33Bob Bewley is an aerial archaeologist who'd been working in the Middle East for more than 20 years
33:45Together, we're going to fly with 8th Squadron, the Royal Jordanian Air Force, to take a closer look
33:51We had to cross 250 miles of desert to see if those playing card shapes that were first spotted from space really are Roman camps
34:04Bob, so where are we heading? What direction?
34:08We're heading south east to the Saudi border to Lumpur
34:12Three Roman camps
34:13So it's really exciting because the one we're heading to has never been photographed from the air before
34:21But first, we're going to have to find them from Michael Fradley's coordinates
34:27Then, after an hour of flying across what looks like featureless wilderness, we spot some familiar outlines in the sand
34:36Yeah, hard round, hard round
34:38Yeah, we've got it. Yeah, yeah, there it is
34:40See it? Yeah, yeah
34:42Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
34:44That's perfect. And if we can get as close to it as possible, that's quite nice
34:48They're a playing card shape
34:50And what's very distinctive, and that's why I'm really excited to see this one, is to see what the nature of the entrances are
34:57Because that will help us definitely say that that is clearly a Roman camp
35:00We immediately radio back to the squadron, asking for permission to land
35:09It's granted, but a shortage of fuel and the long flight back to base limits us to 15 minutes on the ground
35:17We become possibly the first people to set foot here in 2,000 years
35:27We've just got to keep our eyes peeled in case there's any archaeology here
35:32Yeah, yeah
35:34Bob believes that the position of the suspected camps is more evidence that these sites show Roman military activity
35:41There are three Roman camps
35:42And the theory is that they started at Bayer, which is an oasis, because you can't do anything without water
35:50No
35:51And the distance between Bayer and the first camp is 23 miles
35:56And they're exactly equidistant all the way along
35:59So this is classic military, we're going to go in a straight line, nothing is going to stop us
36:0323 miles is more than a day's march on foot, which is why Bob thinks these camps could be for a large detachment of Roman cavalry
36:18I mean it does, because that looks kind of like an arrow straight line, so there's definitely something being planned
36:22Definitely, it's a planned expedition, then it's knowing the predictability of the military mind and the Roman mind
36:28This shows there was clearly a military strength there
36:31Yeah
36:32And I'm very happy they're confirmed
36:34Yeah
36:36With time running out, the team makes a stunning discovery
36:41Faraz, have you got something?
36:48Whoa
36:49So what was it? One in a million chance of finding a bit of pottery
36:52Yes, that's what I was saying
36:54It's happening now
36:55That's what I said
36:57Roman Nabata
36:58Excuse me
36:59Yeah, there's loads of it
37:01Wow, there's loads of it
37:02Loads of it
37:03I don't know if this is a remains of a pen or something
37:06Yeah, there's a handle there, look
37:08Yeah, I've got a handle here
37:09Yeah, yeah, yeah
37:10Hand for a handle
37:11Yeah, yeah
37:12Wow
37:13And this is the eggshell
37:14And it is, it's Nabataian, isn't it?
37:16Nabataian eggshell
37:17No question, even I know that
37:19So how do you, how can you tell that's Nabataian not Roman?
37:22Just, just, just from the nature of the pottery and the fineness of that
37:28Yeah
37:29You would say, wouldn't you?
37:30And the colour too, yeah, the colour as well
37:32Wouldn't you say Faraz?
37:33Yeah
37:34Yeah
37:35That is awesome
37:36There is, look, there's tonnes
37:37Wow
37:38So there, that's definitely, you see this painting?
37:40Yes
37:41So that and the very fine stuff
37:42That
37:44Never thought we would find that
37:46And this is just exactly as the Romans left it
37:49It's been untouched ever since
37:50That's just remarkable
37:52Which is amazing
37:53That's remarkable
37:54And what this little bit of Nabataian
37:56Yes
37:57What this little bit of Nabataian pottery is doing here
37:59So does that mean their auxiliaries fighting with them
38:02Or the Nabataians have come in
38:04Or they're just
38:05Or they just broke Nabataian pottery
38:06Yeah
38:07You know
38:08But before we have a chance to investigate this possible Nabataian incursion further
38:13We get the call from the pilot that our time is up
38:17So just for the chopper actually leaves
38:19We just found a little bit with these really distinctive ridges on
38:21So that tells us that's Roman theory of Nabataian
38:25And now we're leaving everything that we've found on site
38:28Yeah
38:29OK
38:30OK, let's go
38:31Let's go, let's go
38:32Come on
38:34We leave the site convinced that this was indeed a Roman military camp
38:39And with evidence of Nabataian presence
38:48The Nabataians were pragmatic and adaptable
38:53And mainly interested in commercial advantage
38:56So maybe they could see some benefits in being absorbed under the wing of the Romans
39:01But also, you know, thinking of those new discoveries in the deserts
39:11Of the Nabataian pottery inside the Roman camps
39:15Maybe that is evidence of a cancer attack
39:18Maybe it's the Nabataians fighting back and dealing with the Roman incursion on their own terms
39:25Whether or not the Nabataians fought back
39:30There's clear evidence that the Romans deployed their military might
39:34Inside the borders of the Nabataian kingdom
39:38Either before or after they took control
39:44I'm heading back to the Nabataian city of Hegra
39:46Where I started my journey
39:48To look for evidence of what happened to the Nabataians
39:52After the Roman occupation
39:57Roman Emperor Trajan took control in 106 CE
40:01But the evidence here shows that Hegra, like Petra
40:05Continued to prosper under Roman rule
40:07Many of the most ornate buildings and tombs in Nabataia were built after the takeover
40:20And archaeologists have uncovered sophisticated artwork here
40:26That probably dates from the Roman era
40:32So I've just got to show you this
40:34What you're looking at is a tiny fragment of a glass bead
40:41That was found right in the centre of the city at Hegra
40:45Look at the decoration here
40:48Bit by bit, we're coming face to face with the Nabataian experience
40:53They may have been subsumed into the Roman world
40:57But the Nabataians ensured their influence was still felt
41:00In the year 244 CE
41:04A man of Arabian descent known to contemporaries as Philip the Arab
41:09Got the top job in Rome and became Roman Emperor
41:13And in a brilliant example of cultural interconnectedness
41:18One of the things that he did was establish a festival
41:20Called the Actia Dushara festival with games
41:25That celebrated both the Roman victory over Queen Cleopatra of Egypt
41:30At the Battle of Actium
41:32And the Nabataian's premier god Dushara
41:41And what of the other men and women of the kingdom?
41:43The farmers and traders who lived here in the furthest corner of the Roman Empire
41:54People always ask what happened to the Nabataians
41:57Well, the answer is maybe they never left
42:01They just reinvented themselves over the centuries
42:04Adapting to new rulers, to Romans, to Byzantines, to Arab kingdoms
42:11Always preserving their know-how
42:14But finding new ways of working with new societies
42:24Evidence that backs up this story of continuity
42:28Keeps emerging from the ground
42:29In a Nabataian town, now called Al-Bada
42:33On the incense road between the Red Sea, Hegra and Petra
42:39A French and Saudi archaeological team is hard at work
42:44Excavating the home of a prosperous merchant family
42:51Initially, Guillaume Charleau and his team
42:55Uncovered first-century Nabataian artefacts
42:57We have discovered a lot of pottery from the Delhi Lai
43:00Very simple cooking pots
43:02Or these kinds of simple material that we found a bit everywhere
43:06We also found some very thin Nabataian pottery
43:09And Nabataian ware coming from Petra
43:11And they are very well dated from the 1st century A.D.
43:13But soon, they found evidence that families
43:15Were still living off this old Nabataian trade route centuries after the Romans took over
43:29We have many traces after the Nabataian
43:32In particular, this house that we have discovered
43:36Has a second period of occupation during the Byzantine period
43:42Around 4th, 5th century A.D.
43:45In particular, during the early Islamic periods
43:47So even if history has moved on, the people have stayed
43:57For too long, the Nabataians have been a people who have turned up as footnotes in the story of other civilizations
44:04But we should never forget that they had their own rich, inspiring, vital, relevant place in history
44:14They helped to inspire our world
44:18Rediscovering them is a reminder of the danger of forgetting entire cultures through time
44:26It's time to reassess the Nabataians' role in history
44:32To restore them to their rightful place
44:35As a key influence whose outlook on life can have resonance in the 21st century
44:41Their belief in the value of women, liberty and rule in consultation with the people
44:47The Nabataians really engaged with the world on the front foot
44:56They were in tune with nature
44:59They developed a huge trading empire with a steely-eyed focus on commerce
45:06And they were adept diplomats and political players
45:10And don't forget, they catalyzed the development of Arabic
45:14Nabataian inscriptions found right across this region
45:19Are an essential bridge in the development of the written language used today
45:24By nearly 400 million people worldwide
45:34What the Nabataians wanted more than anything else was prosperity and peace
45:38And we know that from a single rare account of a Nabataian under attack
45:45Right the way back in the 4th century BCE
45:48I think it's one of the most moving witnesses from ancient history
45:53We're told that this is what he said
45:55We beg you, do us no injury
46:00Please accept gifts from us
46:02Regard us Nabataians as friends in the future
46:06Because we will never submit to your will
46:09At the very most all that you'll gain are a few reluctant slaves
46:14We want to live as we want to live
46:18To live
46:21What a thing to say
46:23What a people
46:25What a story
46:26What a story
46:56What a story
46:57What a story
46:58What a story
46:59What a story
47:00What a story
47:01What a story
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47:23What a story
47:24What a story
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