Bedouin nomads from the Arabian desert, the Nabateans settled in the Holy Land in the first century BCE, establishing a capital at Petra. They were allies of the first Hasmodean kings before turning against the Judaean dynasty; Herod I was their great enemy. After the Roman conquest, the Nabataeans lost their warlike and nomadic habits and became a sober, acquisitive, orderly people, wholly intent on trade. These bronze coins, then, circulated widely in the Biblical Holy Land, and were used by early Christians—including, quite possibly, the St. Paul, the Disciples, and Jesus Christ Himself. NOTE: Coins are crudely struck and show a wide variety of types.
(Limit: 5)
