 The conflict enabled the Nabataeans to extend their kingdom beyond Edom.Diodorus mentions that the Nabataeans had attacked merchant ships belonging to the Ptolemies in Egypt at unspecified date, but were soon targeted by a larger force and "punished as they deserved".While it is unknown why the wealthy Nabataeans turned to piracy, one possible reason is that they felt that their trade interests were threatened by the understanding of the nature of monsoon in the Red Sea from the third century BC.