Aretas I (/ˈærɪtəs/;[1] Nabataean Aramaic: 𐢊𐢛𐢞𐢞, romanized: ḥrtt, *Ḥārītaṯ;[2] Ancient Greek: Αρέτας, romanized: Arétās)[3] is the first known King of the Arab Nabataeans. His name appeared on the oldest Nabataean inscription dating from 168 BC which was found at Halutza. He is also mentioned in the deuterocanonical book 2 Maccabees (5:8). This book presents how Jason, the High Priest of Israel who founded a Greek quarter in Jerusalem, was ordered to be held prisoner by Aretas I after being forced to leave Jerusalem because of the "shame of his conspiracy", 2 Maccabees (5:7). He ended in Egypt, after he wrote to the Spartans. The king's name as transcribed in Arabic is الحارث, Al-Ḥāriṯ,[4] or الحارثة, Al-Ḥāriṯa, stemming from Harith which means "the collector, provider; Plowman; Cultivator".[5]
See also
- Aretas (disambiguation page)
- List of Nabataean kings (Rulers of Nabataea who reigned over the Nabataean Kingdom, inhabited by the Nabataeans, located in present-day Jordan)
- Nabataean Aramaic (Western dialect of Aramaic used by the Nabataeans)
- Nabataean Kingdom (Ancient Arab kingdom (3rd century BC – 106 AD)
- Nabataean script (script used by the Nabataeans from the second century BC onwards)
- Petra (ancient rock-cut historical city and archaeological site in southern Jordan)
- The Ancient Greek form of the name Aretas (Ἀρέτας) on Wiktionary
- The Latin form of the name Aretas on Wiktionary
References
- ↑ Walker, John (1798). A Key to the Classical Pronunciation of Greek and Latin Proper Names. London: Robinsons. p. 100.
- ↑ Healey, John F. (2001). "Ch. 2. Background: Nabataean history and trade". The religion of the Nabataeans: a conspectus. Religions in the Graeco-Roman world, vol. 136. Leiden ; Boston: Brill. p. 29. ISBN 978-90-04-10754-0.
"We thus enter a period in which the sources are suf- ficiently abundant for us to be able to reconstruct a detailed table of Nabataean kings. The chronology has undergone revisions and refinements in recent years and the simplified list which follows is based on that of Robert Wenning (1993a), to which reference should be made for details: Aretas (ḥrtt) I c.168 B.C.[,] Aretas II c.120-96 B.C. [...]".
- ↑ "Ἀρέτας", Wiktionary, the free dictionary, 2025-11-19, retrieved 2025-11-24
- ↑ Al-Mallah, Hashim Yahya (2011-01-01). الوسيط في تاريخ العرب قبل الإسلام [The mediator in the history of the Arabs before Islam] (in Arabic). Dar Al Kotob Al Ilmiyah دار الكتب العلمية. p. 119. ISBN 978-2-7451-5844-4.
- ↑ "حرث", Wiktionary, the free dictionary, 2025-09-22, retrieved 2025-11-24
Sources
- Jewish Virtual Library Archived 2018-05-19 at the Wayback Machine
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