Petra and the Nabataeans in biblical perspective with Chris Dawson
The Nabataeans may go back to Ishmael’s eldest son, Nebaioth, but in any case they did not emerge as a significant people group until much later. While Christ spent most of his ministry in the Jewish Herodian kingdoms to the north of the pagan kingdom of the Arab Nabataeans, two of the Herods had married Nabataeans.
For seeing what pagan religious culture looked like in New Testament times, Petra is an invaluable and unforgettable guide. It was the centre of Nabataean religion and boasted three temples. All temples follow the same basic design- whether pagan or Jewish- which makes the Petra ones particularly helpful for seeing the idea of an ANE ‘temple’ in tangible form.
Also Petra has one of the best examples of a ‘high place’ in the region. A little later, Paul spent three years somewhere in the Nabataean kingdom and fell foul of the Nabataean authorities in Damascus. At some point the Arabs of Petra became Christian and there was a thriving Arab Christian culture there before Islam.
Chris Dawson teaches Ethics at Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary. As well as the day job he has been responsible for showing visiting teachers around Jordan. During a sabbatical he wrote the DayOne travel guide to Jordan - [ Ссылка ]
Information about tours can be obtained on the Day One web site
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DayOne Biblical tours - [ Ссылка ]
Worldwide Christian Travel is a family operated company and have been perfecting organising group tours and pilgrimages from the UK for churches and other organisations for over 50 years, bringing the Bible to life in Holy destinations throughout the world.
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