The Nabatean Kingdom was an Arab state located between the Sinai Peninsula and the Arabian Peninsula. Its capital was the city of Petra, an important trading city on the incense route. The Nabateans resisted the attacks of Antigonous and were allies of the Hasmoneans in their struggle against the Seleucids, but later fought against Herod the great. The hellenization of the Nabateans accured relatively late in comparison to the surrounding regions. Nabatean material culture does not show any Greek influence until the reign of Aretas III Philhellene in the 1st century BCE. Aretas captured Damascus and built the Petra pool complex and gardens in the Hellenistic style. Though the Nabateans originally worshipped their traditional gods in symbolic form such as stone blocks or pillars, during the Hellenistic period they began to identify their gods with Greek gods and depict them in figurative forms influenced by Greek sculpture. Nabatean art shows Greek influences and paintings have been found depicting Dionysian scenes. They also slowly adopted Greek as a language of commerce along with Aramaic and Arabic.
What century did Aretas III Philhellene reign?
1st