Arabia Petraea

Arabia Petraea (lit. 'Rocky Arabia') was a Roman province from the 2nd century to the 7th century that was situated mostly in what is now Jordan. The province was established by the Roman Empire in the former territory of the Nabataean Kingdom conquered in 106 AD during the reign of Trajan (r. 98–117) and it existed until it was superseded into Palaestina Salutaris in the fourth century. The territory was briefly lost from the Romans to the Sasanian Empire during the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 before being indefinitely lost to the Rashidun Caliphate during the Arab–Byzantine Wars.

The territory of Arabia Petraea spanned parts of the modern-day Levant, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, the Sinai Peninsula, and northern Arabian Peninsula. It bordered Syria to the north, Judaea (later Syria Palaestina) to the west, Egypt to the southwest, and Arabia Deserta (the desert interior of the Arabian Peninsula) to the east and southeast. The Romans also categorized a third Arabia, Arabia Felix, in South Arabia.

Arabia Petraea was a key province along the Limes Arabicus, which delineated the Roman Empire's borders throughout the Arabian Desert. It was also the only province in the Near East that the Romans did not gain and subsequently lose during Trajan's reign, unlike Armenia, Assyria, and Mesopotamia. The province's capital city was initially Petra, as it had been under the Nabataeans, but Bosra later served in this capacity. Most of the province's land was a vast desert that was sparsely populated by nomadic Arab tribes, though there were several urban settlements closer to the Jordan River.