Obodas I (

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 ...

: ''ʿŌbōdaṯ''; ) was king of the

Nabataeans The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ) were an ancient Arabs, Arab people who inhabited northern Arabian Peninsula, Arabia and the southern Levant. Their settlements—most prominently the assumed capital city o ...

from 96 to 85 BC. After his death, Obodas was worshiped as a deity. The king's name as transcribed in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

is ', which means "submission, obedience or worship (of god)".

Life

Obodas was the successor of Aretas II, from whom he inherited the war with the

Hasmonean kingdom The Hasmonean dynasty (; ''Ḥašmōnāʾīm''; ) was a ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during the Hellenistic times of the Second Temple period (part of classical antiquity), from BC to 37 BC. Between and BC the dynasty rule ...

. He defeated them around 93 BCE on the

Golan Heights The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in t ...

. Then he ambushed

Alexander Jannaeus Alexander Jannaeus ( , English: "Alexander Jannaios", usually Latinised to "Alexander Jannaeus"; ''Yannaʾy''; born Jonathan ) was the second king of the Hasmonean dynasty, who ruled over an expanding kingdom of Judaea from 103 to 76 BCE. ...

near Gadara (

Umm Qais Umm Qais (), also known as Qays, is a town in northern Jordan principally known for its proximity to the ruins of the ancient Gadara. It is the largest city in the Bani Kinanah Department and Irbid Governorate in the extreme northwest of the co ...

), just east of the

Sea of Galilee The Sea of Galilee (, Judeo-Aramaic languages, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ), also called Lake Tiberias, Genezareth Lake or Kinneret, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth ...

. Using

camel cavalry Camel cavalry, or camelry (, ), is a generic designation for armed forces using camels as a means of transportation. Sometimes warriors or soldiers of this type also fought from camel-back with spears, bow and arrow, bows, or firearms. Camel caval ...

, he forced Jannaeus into a valley where he completed the ambush, thereby getting revenge for the Nabateans' loss of Gaza.

Moab Moab () was an ancient Levant, Levantine kingdom whose territory is today located in southern Jordan. The land is mountainous and lies alongside much of the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. The existence of the Kingdom of Moab is attested to by ...

and

Gilead Gilead or Gilad (, ; ''Gilʿāḏ'', , ''Jalʻād'') is the ancient, historic, biblical name of the mountainous northern part of the region of Transjordan.''Easton's Bible Dictionary'Galeed''/ref> The region is bounded in the west by the J ...

, two mountains east of the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea (; or ; ), also known by #Names, other names, is a landlocked salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the west and Israel to the southwest. It lies in the endorheic basin of the Jordan Rift Valle ...

and the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead ...

, were returned. Around 86 BCE, the Seleucid ruler,

Antiochus XII Dionysus Antiochus XII Dionysus Epiphanes Philopator Callinicus (; between 124 and 109 BC – 82 BC) was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, Seleucid monarch who reigned as List of Syrian monarchs, King of Syria between 87 and 82 BC. The ...

, invaded Nabatea. During the Battle of Cana, Antiochus was slain and his demoralized army perished in the desert. The Nabataeans, seeing how Obodas defeated both the Hasmoneans and the Greeks, started to venerate Obodas as a god. Obodas was buried in the

Negev The Negev ( ; ) or Naqab (), is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort town, resort city ...

, at a place that was renamed in his honour,

Avdat Avdat or Ovdat (), and Abdah or Abde (), are the modern names of an archaeological site corresponding to the ancient Nabataean, Roman and Byzantine settlement of Oboda (''tabula Peutingeriana''; Stephanus Byzantinus) or Eboda (Ptolemaeus 5:16, 4 ...

. He was succeeded by his brother Aretas III.

References

''This article draws heavily on the :nl:Obodas I article in the Dutch-language Wikipedia, which was accessed in the version of September 15, 2008. 1st-century BC Nabataean monarchs 2nd-century BC Arab people 1st-century BC Arab people 2nd-century BC births 80s BC deaths Deified male monarchs Gilead {{Asia-royal-stub

Life

See also

References