AbstractsHistory

The subject of this thesis is the changes in the Nabataean mortuary practice that take place under the Roman influence in the period from the first century BC up until the start of the second century AD. The main research question is: how did the Nabataean mortuary practices change in the Nabataean from the first century BC to the start of the second century AD under Roman influence? This question will be answered at the hand of two sub questions which are focussed on the creation of a model of the Roman funerary practices as seen in the Egyptian sites Alexandria, Berenike and Tuna el-Gebel and the Syrian sites Dura-Europos, Palmyra and Tyre and a model of the Nabataean sepulchral methods created by looking at seven Nabataean sites: Bir Madkhur near Petra, Dumat near Ḥegra, Ḥegra at the southern border of the kingdom, Humayma, the Nabataean capital Petra, Umm al-Jimāl located in the north of the kingdom and Wadi Ramm. Two theoretical themes are used as the leitmotif for this thesis: the theory behind the mortuary practices and Romanisation. The conclusion that can be drawn is that nearly no Roman influence can be seen in the Nabataean kingdom before the annexation and the model created with the use of the abovementioned Egyptian and Syrian site does not fit with the Nabataean kingdom before the annexation. Elements that could be seen as Roman are likely to be Hellenistic, elements which have been places inside a Nabataean context. The used theoretical concepts of Romanisation do not fit with the processes that are visible in the Nabataean kingdom, and Hellenisation is more likely. The discussed theoretical, anthropological background is at least partially applicable. More research is needed to enlarge the used dataset and to explain the reason why no Roman influence can be seen. Advisors/Committee Members: Driessen, Mark (advisor).