Aretas III

Aretas III was king of the Nabataean kingdom from 87 to 62 BCE. Aretas ascended to the throne upon the death of his brother, Obodas I, in 87 BCE. During his reign, he extended his kingdom to cover what now forms the northern area of Jordan, the south of Syria, and part of Saudi Arabia. Probably the greatest of Aretas' conquests was that of Damascus, which secured his country's place as a serious political power of its time. Nabataea reached its greatest territorial extent under Aretas' leadership. Like his predecessors, the king's name as transcribed in Arabic is الحارث, Al-Ḥāriṯ, or الحارثة, Al-Ḥāriṯa, stemming from Harith which means "the collector, provider; plowman; cultivator".