The Nabataean women and children found they were taken to be sold as slaves.[3] Athenaeus and his troops regrouped as dawn broke and set off for where they came from, making camp around 36 km away, assuming they were safely away from the Nabataeans.[3] Spotted by some nomads while they were leaving, an 8,000 Nabataean camel cavalry force, superior to horses in such a barren terrain, came in pursuit only hours later. A few prisoners escaped from the camp at night and managed to tip off the Nabataean force on the whereabouts of the camp. They engaged the Greeks with javelins while they were asleep, and freed the families.[3] Based on Hieronymus, Diodorus described how "all the 4000 foot-soldiers were slain, but of the 600 horsemen about fifty escaped, and of these the larger part were wounded".[1]