Malichus II (
Nabataean Aramaic
Nabataean Aramaic is the extinct Aramaic variety used in inscriptions by the Nabataeans of the Transjordan_(region), East Bank of the Jordan River, the Negev, and the Sinai Peninsula. Compared with other varieties of Aramaic, it is notable for ...
: ''Malīḵū'' or ''Malīḵūʾ'') was ruler of
Nabatea
The Nabataean Kingdom ( Nabataean Aramaic: 𐢕𐢃𐢋𐢈 ''Nabāṭū''), also named Nabatea () was a political state of the Nabataeans during classical antiquity. The Nabataean Kingdom controlled many of the trade routes of the region, amassi ...
from 40 to 70 AD.
He was the son of
Aretes IV and
Huldu.
Biography
Malichus' reign is sometimes perceived as a period of declining Nabataean power, but this view depends in part on Nabataea having controlled
Damascus
Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
in the period 34–40. The
Romans had, however, diverted the routes of
spice
In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...
and
perfume
Perfume (, ) is a mixture of fragrance, fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), Fixative (perfumery), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agre ...
cargo shipments to
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
. Rome was very powerful, so Malichus cooperated. In 66, a
Jewish revolt occurred in
Judaea. Malichus sent 5,000 cavalry and 1,000 infantry to help the
Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...
Titus
Titus Caesar Vespasianus ( ; 30 December 39 – 13 September AD 81) was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, becoming the first Roman emperor ever to succeed h ...
crush the rebellion.
Malichus II died in AD 70,
[Jane Taylor: ''Petra And the Lost Kingdom of the Nabataeans''. I. B. Tauris 2001, , p. 73 ()] and was succeeded by his son,
Rabbel II Soter, initially under the regency of his widowed queen (and half sister by his fathers second marriage to
Suqailat)
Šagīlat II.
See also
*
List of rulers of Nabatea
References
Sources
*Jane Taylor: ''Petra And the Lost Kingdom of the Nabataeans''. I. B. Tauris 2001, , p. 73 ()
*
Maria Giulia Amadasi, Eugenia Equini Schneider: ''Petra''. University of Chicago Press 2002, , p. 40, 94, 166, 168, 170 ()
1st-century Nabataean monarchs
Roman client monarchs
70 deaths
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