Nabataeans

A group of Nabataeans listening to Haganu

The Nabataeans were an ancient Arab people who lived mainly in northern Arabia and the southern part of the Levant. By the 5th century AD, the Nabataeans converted to Christianity and the last remaining of their people were seen as peasants by the Later Roman Era.

History

Rebellion against the Romans

In the late 1st century BCE, the Nabataeans living in the Sinai formed a rebellion against the Roman occupation, led by the Order of the Ancients member Gaius Julius Rufio. Following their leader Gamilat, the Nabataeans sought to push out the Romans. However, Gamilat willingly created situations where the rebels initiated attacks against Roman soldiers and retreated to local villages, whose defenseless inhabitants suffered the soldiers' unrestrained aggression. He then opportunistically recruited into his growing army the lucky few who survived and saw the chance to take up arms as a way to attain revenge.

Gamilat meeting Bayek

In 38 BCE, the Egyptian Hidden One Tahira set up a bureau in the Sinai and aided the Nabataeans. However, two Hidden Ones fell to one of these Roman attacks, and thus Tahira messaged the Hidden Ones' co-founder and her friend Bayek, requesting his aid. Upon his arrival, Bayek met with Tahira and Gamilat, and agreed to help the Nabataeans be rid of their Roman oppressors. Although Rufio was in Rome, his three lieutenants Tacito, Ptahmose, and Ampelius oversaw his work in the Sinai.

In the Klysma Nome, the local Nabataeans, including children, were sold into slavery by the Romans. When the Hidden One Osorkon went to investigate, he discovered that a Nabataean woman named Shaqilat was rescuing the enslaved. However, Roman soldiers soon captured and interrogated Osorkon for information on his brotherhood. Fortunately, he was rescued by Bayek, whom he told about Shaqilat. After finding her, Bayek aided Shaqilat when they both came under attack by Roman soldiers. Realizing the strength of Shaqilat's convictions, Bayek then convinced her to join the Hidden Ones to aid her fellow Nabataeans.

Bayek later uncovered another Nabataean child slavery ring in the Klysma Quarry. With the help of the local Nabataean children, he located the oppressive merchant who was imprisoning his victims in the quarry's tunnels and killed him, ending the abductions.

At the Klysma Quarry, Nabataeans were taken prisoner and unlawfully forced to work under the Roman legate and Order member Tacito. However, Tacito was assassinated by Bayek, before the Mentor and Tahira freed the Nabataean prisoners and took back the quarry. In Arsinoe, Nabataean workers under the mason and Order member Ptahmose were forced to search for relics, including the Blades of Thoth and shards of a star, desecrating the Pyramid of Amenmesse in the process. Nabataeans rebels tried to fight against Ptahmose but were captured and tortured for information at Vilicus Castra. Fortunately, Ptahmose was assassinated by Bayek, ending his oppression of Arsinoe's population.

Bayek confronting Gamilat about his actions

After Rufio received word of his three lieutenants' deaths, he responded by attacking the Hidden Ones' Klysma bureau, resulting in Tahira's death and Bayek's capture. After escaping with Amunet's help, Bayek found and killed Rufio, ending the Order's influence in the Sinai. However, the Nabataean rebel leader Gamilat's corrupt actions were soon uncovered by Amunet, who told Bayek about his tactics to recruit new members to his cause.

In response, Bayek confronted and killed Gamilat, who understood his wrongdoings and accepted his death. Ultimately, the Nabataean rebels lost their leader but remembered the tales of Gamilat's heroism. Gamilat's death also served as the basis for the first tenet of the Hidden Ones' Creed: to stay their blades from the flesh of the innocent.

Gallery

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  Shaqilat with a group of Nabataean children
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  Tacito addressing his Nabataean prisoners
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  Bayek and Tahira talking to a group of Nabataean rebels
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  Gamilat recruiting Nabataeans to his rebellion

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Origins – The Hidden Ones (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Mirage – Valley of Memory (mentioned only)
• Echoes of History (mentioned only)