Ön-İslamik Arabistan

CKM 2018-19 / Aziz Yardımlı


 

Ön-İslamik Arabistan




SİTE İÇİ ARAMA       
     
(Levant) “The Ruins of Palmyra, Otherwise Tedmor, in the Desart” (L)
Wood, Robert; Fournier, le jeune; Major, Thomas; Müller, J. S.; Müller, T. M. Jr; Borra, Giovanni Battista — printed in the year 1753.

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DESCRIPTION

The Ruins of Palmyra: Otherwise Tedmor in the Desart

In 1751, as part of an expedition to the eastern Mediterranean, John Wood and James Dawkins visited the ruins of the ancient cities of Palmyra and Baalbek. They found the ruins remarkably well preserved, offering outstanding examples of classical architecture. Wood and Dawkins took careful measurements and their draughtsman Giovanni Battista Borra made a series of outstanding drawings of the ruins - plans, prospects, decorations, inscriptions, etc. On his return Wood published their results in two separate volumes, bringing him rapid fame and establishing his reputation internationally. The volumes influenced antiquarians and architects in Europe and America and represent some of the earliest examples of a systematic approach to antiquarianism. Now extremely rare, these outstanding volumes are published here with a substantial new introduction by leading international scholar Benjamin Anderson. (LINK)
 

Arch of Triumph. Arch of Septimius Severus. (L)

Temple of Bel, Monumental Arch of Palmyra, Lion of Al‑lāt, Tetrapylon, Tower of Elahbel. (L)

 



Palmyra — Map

 



📹 Видеодоказательства уничтожения боевиками объектов Древней Пальмиры (VİDEO)

📹 Видеодоказательства уничтожения боевиками объектов Древней Пальмиры (LINK)

Video evidence of destruction of the historical complex of ancient Palmyra by terrorists.

 



 





  🕑 Timeline

🕑 Timeline of Muslim history

Timeline of Muslim history (W)

 
 

 



 

  Pre-Islamic Arabia

The Arabian Peninsula c.570.


Arap Yarımadasının Durumu
  • Arap Yarımadasında ancak yağmur alan dağ silsilelerinin bulunduğu Güney-Batı Yemen’de tarım olanaklı idi; yerleşik bir kültür ve göreli olarak ileri bir uygarlık burada gelişti; yarımadanın geri kalanı tek tük vahalar dışında çöllerden ve kurak steplerden oluşur ve ancak göçebe kabilelerin yaşamasına izin verir.
  • Yalnızca vahalarda bir tür yerleşik yaşam ve ilkel bir politik organizasyon olanaklı idi.
  • Yerleşik yaşama geçen göçebelerin kurduğu az sayıda kasabadan biri Hicaz’da her biri kendi taşı ve meclisi ile klanların bulunduğu Mekke idi (taşlar toplu olarak klanların birliğini temsil ediyor ve küp şeklinde bir yapı olan Kâbede tutuluyordu).
  • Arap Yarımadası ilkin 5 ve 6’ncı yüzyıllarda dünya ile ekonomik ve politik ilişkilere girmeye başladı.
  • İS 600 sıralarında Yarımada nüfusu üç gruba bölünmüştü:
    a) Hicaz’ın küçük kasabalarında yaşayanlar;
    b) Hicaz, Yemen ve Umman’da vaha yakınlarında yerleşik tarımcılar;
    c) Nüfusun çoğunluğunu oluşturan göçebe bedeviler.
  • Yarımada nüfusunun hemen hemen tümü kabile kökenli idi.
  • Kabileler arasında herhangi bir sürekli politik kurum yoktu; politik bir gücü olmayan Seyyid (ya da Şeyh) kabile yaşlıları tarafından seçiliyor ve meclisin (‘Majlis’) görüşünü dinlemesi gerekiyordu.
  • Kabilenin yaşamı gelenek (‘Sunna’) tarafından belirleniyordu.
  • 600’lerde Mekke birincil toplumsal, ekonomik ve politeistik dinsel özek idi.
  • Göçebelerin dini ağaçlarda, pınarlarda, ‘kutsal’ taşlarda yaşayan cinler çevresinde odaklanan bir tür animistik politeizm idi.
  • Kabile sınırlarını aşan ‘tanrılar’ arasında en önemli üçü Manat, Uzza ve Allat idi ve bunlar daha yüksek bir tanrı olan ‘Allah’ın altında duruyordu.
  • Göçebeler tanrılarını yanlarında taşıyorlardı.
  • Putları ve kabile tanrıları ile Kâbeyi ziyaret zamanı barış zamanı idi.
  • 5’inci yüzyılın ikinci yarısında Kureyş kabilesi Mekke’nin ve tapınağın denetimini üstüne aldı.



 



Distribution of Semitic languages.

 



Arabs

Arabs (W)

Arabs are the world’s second largest ethnic group.


 
Approximate locations of some of the important tribes and Empire of the Arabian Peninsula at the dawn of Islam (approximately 600 CE / 50 BH).
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The first mention of Arabs is from the mid-ninth century BCE as a tribal people in eastern and southern Syria, and the north of the Arabian Peninsula. The Arabs appear to have been under the vassalage of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911-612 BCE), and the succeeding Neo-Babylonian (626-539 BCE), Achaemenid (539-332 BCE), Seleucid, and Parthian empires. Arab tribes, most notably the Ghassanids and Lakhmids, begin to appear in the southern Syrian Desert from the mid 3rd century CE onward, during the mid to later stages of the Roman and Sasanian empires.

Before the expansion of the Rashidun Caliphate (632-661), "Arab" referred to any of the largely nomadic and settled Semitic people from the Arabian Peninsula, Syrian Desert, and North and Lower Mesopotamia. Today, "Arab" refers to a large number of people whose native regions form the Arab world due to the spread of Arabs and the Arabic language throughout the region during the early Muslim conquests of the 7th and 8th centuries and the subsequent Arabisation of indigenous populations. The Arabs forged the Rashidun (632-661), Umayyad (661-750), Abbasid (750-1517) and the Fatimid (901-1071) caliphates, whose borders reached southern France in the west, China in the east, Anatolia in the north, and the Sudan in the south. This was one of the largest land empires in history. In the early 20th century, the First World War signalled the end of the Ottoman Empire; which had ruled much of the Arab world since conquering the Mamluk Sultanate in 1517.

Arabs are a diverse group in terms of religious affiliations and practices. In the pre-Islamic era, most Arabs followed polytheistic religions. Some tribes had adopted Christianity or Judaism, and a few individuals, the hanifs, apparently observed monotheism. Today, about 93% of Arabs are adherents of Islam, and there are sizable Christian minorities. Arab Muslims primarily belong to the Sunni, Shiite, Ibadi, and Alawite denominations. Arab Christians generally follow one of the Eastern Christian Churches, such as the Greek Orthodox or Greek Catholic churches. Other smaller minority religions are also followed, such as the Bahá'í Faith and Druze.

Arabs have greatly influenced and contributed to diverse fields, notably the arts and architecture, language, philosophy, mythology, ethics, literature, politics, business, music, dance, cinema, medicine, science and technology. in the ancient and modern history. Arab people are generally known for their beliefs and family values.


Etymology

The earliest documented use of the word “Arab” to refer to a people appears in the Kurkh Monoliths, an Akkadian language record of the ninth century BCE Assyrian conquest of Aram, which referred to Bedouins of the Arabian Peninsula under King Gindibu, who fought as part of a coalition opposed to Assyria. Listed among the booty captured by the army of king Shalmaneser III of Assyria in the Battle of Qarqar are 1000 camels of "Gi-in-di-bu'u the ar-ba-a-a" or "[the man] Gindibu belonging to the Arab (ar-ba-a-a being an adjectival nisba of the noun ʿarab). The related word ʾaʿrāb is used to refer to Bedouins today, in contrast to ʿarab which refers to Arabs in general.

The term Arab and ʾaʿrāb are mentioned around 40 times in pre-Islamic Sabaean inscriptions. The term Arab occurs also in the titles of the Himyarite kings from the time of 'Abu Karab Asad until MadiKarib Ya'fur. The term ʾaʿrāb is driven from the term Arab according to Sabaean grammar. The term is also mentioned in Quranic verses referring to people who were living in Madina and it might be a south Arabian loan-word into Quranic language.

The oldest surviving indication of an Arab national identity is an inscription made in an archaic form of Arabic in 328 using the Nabataean alphabet, which refers to Imru' al-Qays ibn 'Amr as "King of all the Arabs". Herodotus refers to the Arabs in the Sinai, southern Palestine, and the frankincense region (Southern Arabia). Other ancient Greek historians like Agatharchides,  Diodorus Siculus and Strabo mention Arabs living in Mesopotamia (along the Euphrates), in Egypt (the Sinai and the Red Sea), southern Jordan (the Nabataeans), the Syrian steppe and in eastern Arabia (the people of Gerrha). Inscriptions dating to the 6th century BCE in Yemen include the term "Arab".

The most popular Arab account holds that the word "Arab" came from an eponymous father called Ya'rub who was supposedly the first to speak Arabic. Abu Muhammad al-Hasan al-Hamdani had another view; he states that Arabs were called Gharab ("West") by Mesopotamians because Bedouins originally resided to the west of Mesopotamia; the term was then corrupted into "Arab".

Yet another view is held by al-Masudi that the word "Arabs" was initially applied to the Ishmaelites of the "Arabah" valley. In Biblical etymology, "Arab" (in Hebrew Arvi ) comes both from the desert origin of the Bedouins it originally described (Arava means wilderness).

The root ʿ-r-b has several additional meanings in Semitic languages—including "west/sunset," "desert," "mingle," "mixed," "merchant," and "raven"—and are "comprehensible" with all of these having varying degrees of relevance to the emergence of the name. It is also possible that some forms were metathetical from ʿ-B-R "moving around" (Arabic ʿ-B-R "traverse"), and hence, it is alleged, "nomadic."


History

ANTIQUITY
Pre-Islamic Arabia refers to the Arabian Peninsula prior to the rise of Islam in the 630s. The study of Pre-Islamic Arabia is important to Islamic studies as it provides the context for the development of Islam. Some of the settled communities in the Arabian Peninsula developed into distinctive civilizations. Sources for these civilizations are not extensive, and are limited to archaeological evidence, accounts written outside of Arabia, and Arab oral traditions later recorded by Islamic scholars. Among the most prominent civilizations was Dilmun, which arose around the 4th millennium BCE and lasted to 538 BCE, and Thamud, which arose around the 1st millennium BCE and lasted to about 300 CE. Additionally, from the beginning of the first millennium BCE, Southern Arabia was the home to a number of kingdoms, such as the Sabaean kingdom (Arabicسَـبَـأ‎, romanizedSaba',[66] possibly Sheba),[67] and the coastal areas of Eastern Arabia were controlled by the Parthian and Sassanians from 300 BCE.

ORIGINS AND EARLY HISTORY
According to Arab-Islamic-Jewish traditionsIshmael was father of the Arabs, to be the ancestor of the Ishmaelites.

The first written attestation of the ethnonym Arab occurs in an Assyrian inscription of 853 BCE, where Shalmaneser III lists a King Gindibu of mâtu arbâi (Arab land) as among the people he defeated at the Battle of Qarqar. Some of the names given in these texts are Aramaic, while others are the first attestations of Ancient North Arabian dialects. In fact several different ethnonyms are found in Assyrian texts that are conventionally translated "Arab": Arabi, Arubu, Aribi and Urbi. Many of the Qedarite queens were also described as queens of the aribi. The Hebrew Bible occasionally refers to Aravi peoples (or variants thereof), translated as "Arab" or "Arabian." The scope of the term at that early stage is unclear, but it seems to have referred to various desert-dwelling Semitic tribes in the Syrian Desert and Arabia. Arab tribes came into conflict with the Assyrians during the reign of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, and he records military victories against the powerful Qedar tribe among others.

Old Arabic diverges from Central Semitic by the beginning of the 1st millennium BCE.

Medieval Arab genealogists divided Arabs into three groups:

  1. "Ancient Arabs", tribes that had vanished or been destroyed, such as ʿĀd and Thamud, often mentioned in the Qur'an as examples of God's power to vanquish those who fought his prophets.
  2. "Pure Arabs" of South Arabia, descending from Qahtan. The Qahtanites (Qahtanis) are said to have migrated from the land of Yemen following the destruction of the Ma'rib Dam (sadd Ma'rib).
  3. The "Arabized Arabs" (mustaʿribah) of Central Arabia (Najd) and North Arabia, descending from Ishmael the elder son of Abraham, through Adnan (hence, Adnanites). The Book of Genesis narrates that God promised Hagar to beget from Ishmael twelve princes and turn him to a great nation.(Genesis 17:20) The Book of Jubilees claims that the sons of Ishmael intermingled with the 6 sons of Keturah, from Abraham, and their descendants were called Arabs and Ishmaelites:

 

“And Ishmael and his sons, and the sons of Keturah and their sons, went together and dwelt from Paran to the entering in of Babylon in all the land towards the East facing the desert. And these mingled with each other, and their name was called Arabs, and Ishmaelites.”

— Book of Jubilees 20:13

 

Assyrian and Babylonian Royal Inscriptions and North Arabian inscriptions from 9th to 6th century BCE, mention the king of Qedar as king of the Arabs and King of the Ishmaelites. Of the names of the sons of Ishmael the names "Nabat, Kedar, Abdeel, Dumah, Massa, and Teman" were mentioned in the Assyrian Royal Inscriptions as tribes of the Ishmaelites. Jesur was mentioned in Greek inscriptions in the 1st century BCE.

Ibn Khaldun’s  Muqaddima distinguishes between sedentary Arabian Muslims who used to be nomadic, and Bedouin nomadic Arabs of the desert. He used the term "formerly nomadic" Arabs and refers to sedentary Muslims by the region or city they lived in, as in Yemenis. The Christians of Italy and the Crusaders preferred the term Saracens for all the Arabs and Muslims of that time. The Christians of Iberia used the term Moor to describe all the Arabs and Muslims of that time.

Muslims of Medina referred to the nomadic tribes of the deserts as the A'raab, and considered themselves sedentary, but were aware of their close racial bonds. The term "A'raab" mirrors the term Assyrians used to describe the closely related nomads they defeated in Syria. The Qur'an does not use the word ʿarab, only the nisba adjective ʿarabiy. The Qur'an calls itself ʿarabiy, "Arabic", and Mubin, "clear". The two qualities are connected for example in ayat 43.2-3, "By the clear Book: We have made it an Arabic recitation in order that you may understand". The Qur'an became regarded as the prime example of the al-ʿarabiyya, the language of the Arabs. The term ʾiʿrāb has the same root and refers to a particularly clear and correct mode of speech. The plural noun ʾaʿrāb refers to the Bedouin tribes of the desert who resisted Muhammad, for example in at-Tawba 97,

al-ʾaʿrābu ʾašaddu kufrān wanifāqān "the Bedouin are the worst in disbelief and hypocrisy".

Based on this, in early Islamic terminology, ʿarabiy referred to the language, and ʾaʿrāb to the Arab Bedouins, carrying a negative connotation due to the Qur'anic verdict just cited. But after the Islamic conquest of the eighth century, the language of the nomadic Arabs became regarded as the most pure by the grammarians following Abi Ishaq, and the term kalam al-ʿArab, "language of the Arabs", denoted the uncontaminated language of the Bedouins.



CLASSICAL KINGDOMS
Main articles: Palmyra and Nabateans

LATE KINGDOMS
Further information: LakhmidsGhassanids, and Kindites

MEDIEVAL PERIOD

Arab Caliphates

1) Rashidun era (632-661)
Main article: Rashidun Caliphate

2) Umayyad era (661-750 & 756-1031)[
Main article: Umayyad Caliphate

3) Abbassid era (750-1258 & 1261-1517)
Main article: Abbasid Caliphate

4) Fatimid Caliphate (909-1171)
Main article: Fatimid Caliphate




Ancient Arab States

Kingdom of Qedar 800 BC–300 BC
Kingdom of Lihyan 600 BC–100 BC
Nabataean Kingdom 400 BC–106 AD
Kingdom of Kindah 200 BC–633 AD
Kingdom of Osroene 132 BC–244 AD
Royal family of Emesa 64 BC–300s AD
Kingdom of Araba 100s–241 AD
Tanukhids 196–1100 AD
Ghassanids 220–638 AD
Lakhmids 300–602 AD

 

Arab Empires

Rashidun 632–661
Umayyads 661–750
Abbasids 750–1258
Fatimids 909–1171

 

Eastern Dynasties

Emirate of Armenia 654–884
Emirate of Tbilisi 736–1122
Emirate of Crete 824–961
Dulafids 840–897
Kaysites 860–964
Shirvanshah 861-1538
Alavids 864–928
Hamdanids 890–1004
Rawadids 955–1071
Jarrahids 970–1107
Uqaylids 990–1096
Numayrids 990–1081
Mirdasids 1024–1080
Muzaffarids 1314–1393
Ma'anids 1517–1697
Shihabid 1697–1842
Al-Azm family 1720–1807

 


Western Dynasties

Emirate of Córdoba 756–929
Muhallabids 771–793
Idrisids 788–974
Aghlabids 800–909
Emirate of Sicily 831–1091
Caliphate of Córdoba 929–1031
Kanzids 1004–1412
Tujibids 1013–1039
Abbadids 1023–1091
Hammudids 1026–1057
Jawharids 1031–1091
Hudids 1039–1110
Sumadihids 1041–1091
Nasrids 1230–1492
Saadis 1554–1659
Senussids 1837–1969

 

Arabian Peninsula

Imammate of Oman 751–1970
Ziyadids 819–1138
Yufirids 847–997
Ukhaidhirds 865–1066
Rassids 897–1962
Qarmatians 899–1077
Wajihids 926–965
Sharifate of Mecca 968–1925
Sulayhids 1047–1138
Sulaymanids 1063–1174
Uyunids 1076–1253
Zurayids 1083–1174
Nabhanids 1154–1624
Mahdids 1159–1174
Rasulids 1229–1454
Usfurids 1253–1320
Jarwanids 1305–1487
Kathirids 1395–1967
Tahirids 1454–1526
Jabrids 1463–1521
Qasimids 1597–1872
Ya'arubids 1624–1742
Upper Yafa 1800–1967
Muscat and Oman 1820–1970
Rashidids 1836–1921
Sultanate of Zanzibar 1856–1964
Qu'aitids 1858–1967
Emirate of Beihan 1903–1967
Idrisids 1906–1934
Mutawakkilite Kingdom 1926–1970

 

Current monarchies

Alaouites (Morocco) 1631–present
Al Qasimi (Ras al Khaymah) 1727–present
Al Qasimi (Sharjah) 1727–present
Al Saud (Saudi Arabia) 1744–present
Al Said (Oman) 1749–present
Al Sabah (Kuwait) 1752–present
Al Nahyan (Abu Dhabi) 1761–present
Al Nuaim (Ajman ) 1810–present
Al Mu'alla (Umm al-Quwain) 1775–present
Al Khalifa (Bahrain) 1783–present
Al Maktoum (Dubai) 1833–present
Al Thani (Qatar) 1868–present
Al Sharqi (Fujairah) 1900–present
Hashemites (Jordan) 1921–present

 




The Middle East at the Dawn of Islam, 628

The Middle East at the Dawn of Islam, 628 (LINK)


 
The Middle East at the Dawn of Islam 628
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In the early 7th century, Muhammad's steady unification of the warring tribes of Arabia appeared to be an insignificant sideshow in a remote backwater. What mattered was the clash of the Sassanid and Byzantine Empires in all-out war (602-28). Fortunes swung violently: the Sassanids captured Syria, Palestine and Egypt, then laid siege to Constantinople itself, until the emperor Heraclius bought them off. Heraclius then rebuilt his army and counterattacked, with victory after victory, regaining almost all his lost territories. When peace was agreed the empires were devastated and exhausted, and proved easy meat for the Islamic upstarts who would burst from the south. Remote from this sturm und drang, a string of Christian kingdoms — Nobatia, Makkuria, Alwa and Axum had quietly flourished between Egypt and the Horn of Africa. Little Makkuria would prove a doughtier foe of Islamic armies than the mighty Sassanids and Byzantines, twice repulsing their invasions in 642 and 652.

 




📹 History of Arabia — Every Year (VİDEO)

📹 History of Arabia — Every Year (LINK)

The history of Saudi Arabia in its current form as a state began with its foundation in 1744, although the human history of the region extends as far as 20,000 years ago.

The region has had a global impact twice in world history: In the 7th century it became the cradle of Islam and the capital of the Islamic Rashidun Caliphate. From the mid-20th century the discovery of vast oil deposits propelled it into a key economic and geo-political role.

 



📹 History of the Arabian pe(n)ninsula (VİDEO)

📹 History of the Arabian pen(n)insula (LINK)

The history of Yemen, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia from the ancient Sabaeans to the present.

Note: I only included countries based in the penninsula and colonial powers which is why the Ottomans, Persians etc. aren't shown. I did have to leave out one of my favorite ancient kingdoms, Nabataea, but I used some of their architecture on the title to make up for it.

 



📹 Arabia Timeline Map (620 AD to 2000 AD) (VİDEO)

📹 Arabia Timeline Map (620 AD to 2000 AD) (LINK)

Arabian Peninsula Timeline Map from 620 AD to 2000 AD.
Arab Gulf Map Timeline Every Year.
Arabia Timeline Map (620 AD to 2000 AD)

 








  People and Land

Bedouin wedding procession in the Jerusalem section of the Pike at the 1904 World's Fair.

Bedouin

Bedouin (W)

The Bedouin or Bedu (Arabic: بَدْوbadw, singular بَدَوِي badawī) are a grouping of nomadic Arab people who have historically inhabited the desert regions in North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq and the Levant. The English word bedouin comes from the Arabic badawī, which means “desert dweller,” and is traditionally contrasted with ḥāḍir, the term for sedentary people. Bedouin territory stretches from the vast deserts of North Africa to the rocky sands of the Middle East. They are traditionally divided into tribes, or clans (known in Arabic as ʿašāʾir; عَشَائِر), and share a common culture of herding camels and goats. The vast majority of Bedouin adhere to Islam.

Bedouins have been referred to by various names throughout history, including Qedarites in the Old Testament and Arabaa by the Assyrians (ar-ba-a-a being a nisba of the noun Arab, a name still used for Bedouins today). They are referred to as the ʾAʿrāb (أعراب) in the Quran.

While many Bedouins have abandoned their nomadic and tribal traditions for a modern urban lifestyle, many retain traditional Bedouin culture such as retaining the traditional ʿašāʾir clan structure, traditional music, poetry, dances (such as saas), and many other cultural practices and concepts.

Traditions like camel riding and camping in the deserts are still popular leisure activities for urbanised Bedouins who live within close proximity to deserts or other wilderness areas.



Bedouin mothers carrying their children on their shoulders. Color photo taken in the late 19th century by the French photographer Félix Bonfils.

Society

A widely quoted Bedouin apothegm is “I am against my brother, my brother and I are against my cousin, my cousin and I are against the stranger” [22] sometimes quoted as “I and my brother are against my cousin, I and my cousin are against the stranger.” This saying signifies a hierarchy of loyalties based on the proximity of male kinship, beginning with the nuclear family through the lineage and then the paternal tribe, and, in principle at least, to an entire genetic or linguistic group (which is perceived to akin to kinship in the Middle East and North Africa generally). Disputes are settled, interests are pursued, and justice and order are dispensed and maintained by means of this framework, organized according to an ethic of self-help and collective responsibility (Andersen 14).

The individual family unit (known as a tent or "gio" bayt) typically consisted traditionally of three or four adults (a married couple plus siblings or parents) and any number of children. When resources were plentiful, several tents would travel together as a goum. While these groups were sometimes linked by patriarchal lineage, others were just as likely linked by marriage alliances (new wives were especially likely to have close male relatives join them). Sometimes, the association was based on acquaintance and familiarity, or even no clearly defined relation except for simple shared membership within a tribe.

The largest scale of tribal interactions is the tribe as a whole, led by a Sheikh (Arabic: شيخšayḫ, literally, "old man"), though the title refers to leaders in varying contexts. The tribe often claims descent from one common ancestor — as mentioned above. The tribal level is the level that mediated between the Bedouin and the outside governments and organizations. Distinct structure of the Bedouin society leads to long lasting rivalries between different clans.

Bedouin traditionally had strong honor codes, and traditional systems of justice dispensation in Bedouin society typically revolved around such codes. The bisha'a, or ordeal by fire, is a well-known Bedouin practice of lie detection. See also: Honor codes of the Bedouin, Bedouin systems of justice. Urbanized Bedouin are less likely to continue such traditions, instead opting for the codes of behavior that govern the wider settled community to which they belong.


Early history

Historically, the Bedouin engaged in nomadic herding, agriculture and sometimes fishing. A major source of income was the taxation of caravans, and tributes collected from non-Bedouin settlements. They also earned income by transporting goods and people in caravans across the desert. Scarcity of water and of permanent pastoral land required them to move constantly.



Murder of Ma'sum Beg, the envoy of the Safavid Shah Tahmasp, by Beduins in the Hejaz, 16th century.

Plunder and massacre

A plunder and massacre of the Hajj caravan by Bedouin tribesmen occurred in 1757, led by Qa'dan al-Fa'iz of the Bani Saqr tribe. An estimated 20,000 pilgrims were either killed in the raid or died of hunger or thirst as a result. Although Bedouin raids on Hajj caravans were fairly common, the 1757 raid represented the peak of such attacks.

Under the Tanzimat reforms in 1858 a new Ottoman Land Law was issued, which offered legal grounds for the displacement of the Bedouin.

 



Mecca

Mecca (W)

Mecca is a city in the Hejazi region of the Arabian Peninsula, and the plain of Tihamah in Saudi Arabia, and is also the capital and administrative headquarters of the Makkah Region. The city is 340 kilometres south of Medina.

As the birthplace of Muhammad, and the site of Muhammad's first revelation of the Quran (specifically, a cave 3 km (2 mi) from Mecca), Mecca is regarded as the holiest city in the religion of Islam and a pilgrimage to it known as the Hajj is obligatory for all able Muslims. Mecca is home to the Kaaba, by majority description Islam's holiest site, as well as being the direction of Muslim prayer.


1787 Ottoman Turkish map of Al-Haram Mosque, and related religious sites, such as Jabal al-Nour.


Mecca was long ruled by Muhammad's descendants, the sharifs, acting either as independent rulers or as vassals to larger polities.


Early history

The early history of Mecca is still largely disputed, as there are no unambiguous references to it in ancient literature prior to the rise of Islam. The Roman Empire took control of part of the Hejaz in 106 CE, ruling cities such as Hegra (now known as Mada'in Saleh), located to the north of Mecca. Even though detailed descriptions were established of Western Arabia by Rome, such as by Procopius, there are no references of a pilgrimage and trading outpost such as Mecca. The first direct mention of Mecca in external literature occurs in 741 CE, in the Byzantine-Arab Chronicle, though here the author places it in Mesopotamia rather than the Hejaz.

The Greek historian Diodorus Siculus writes about Arabia in his work Bibliotheca historica, describing a holy shrine: “And a temple has been set up there, which is very holy and exceedingly revered by all Arabians.”


Jabal al-Nour is where Muhammad is believed to have received the first revelation of God through the Archangel Gabriel.


Claims have been made this could be a reference to the Kaaba in Mecca. However, the geographic location Diodorus describes is located in northwest Arabia, around the area of Leuke Kome, closer to Petra and within the former Nabataean Kingdom and Rome's Arabia Petraea.

Ptolemy lists the names of 50 cities in Arabia, one going by the name of “Macoraba.” There has been speculation since 1646 that this is could be a reference to Mecca, but there is no compelling explanation to link the two names.

In the Islamic view, the beginnings of Mecca are attributed to Ishmael’s descendants. The Old Testament chapter Psalm 84:3–6, and a mention of a pilgrimage at the Valley of Baca, that Muslims see as referring to the mentioning of Mecca as Bakkah in Quran's Surah 3:96. Some time in the 5th century, the Kaaba was a place of worship for the deities of Arabia’s pagan tribes. Mecca's most important pagan deity was Hubal, which had been placed there by the ruling Quraysh tribe and remained until the 7th century.

 



Tribes of Arabia

Tribes of Arabia (W)



Approximate locations of some of the important tribes and Empire of the Arabian Peninsula at the dawn of Islam (approximately 600 CE / 50 BH).

 



 

  • İslamiyet-öncesi Arabistan Yarımadasında birkaç kasaba ve vaha yerleşimi dışında nüfusun aşağı yukarı bütünü göçebe bedevilerden oluşuyordu.
  • Kabilelere bölünmüş nüfus ortak bir deve ve keçi yetiştirme kültürünü paylaşıyordu.
  • Bütün bir Arap nüfusunu türdeş bir etnik küme olarak birarada tutan başlıca etmen kabile içi akrabalık ilişkisi ve bunun sağladığı güvenlik duygusu idi.
  • İslamiyet-öncesi Kâbede 360 kadar put kapsanıyordu. Bedeviler başka dinlerden ve Hıristiyan mezhepler türlülüğünden fazla etkilenmediler.
  • Dördüncü yüzyıla dek Yarımadanın hemen hemen tüm nüfusu politeistik dinlere bağlı kaldı.

Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia

Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia (W)



Alabaster
votive figurines from Yemen, now in the National Museum of Oriental Art, Rome.

Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia included polytheism, Christianity, Judaism, and Iranian religions. Arabian polytheism, the dominant form of religion in pre-Islamic Arabia, was based on veneration of deities and spirits. Worship was directed to various gods and goddesses, including Hubal and the goddesses al-Lāt, al-‘Uzzā and Manāt, at local shrines and temples such as the Kaaba in Mecca. Deities were venerated and invoked through a variety of rituals, including pilgrimages and divination, as well as ritual sacrifice. Different theories have been proposed regarding the role of Allah in Meccan religion. Many of the physical descriptions of the pre-Islamic gods are traced to idols, especially near the Kaaba, which is said to have contained up to 360 of them.

Other religions were represented to varying, lesser degrees. The influence of the adjacent Roman, Aksumite and Sasanian Empires resulted in Christian communities in the northwest, northeast and south of Arabia. Christianity made a lesser impact, but secured some conversions, in the remainder of the peninsula. With the exception of Nestorianism in the northeast and the Persian Gulf, the dominant form of Christianity was Miaphysitism. The peninsula had been a destination for Jewish migration since Roman times, which had resulted in a diaspora community supplemented by local converts. Additionally, the influence of the Sasanian Empire resulted in Iranian religions being present in the peninsula. Zoroastrianism existed in the east and south, while there is evidence of Manichaeism or possibly Mazdakism being practiced in Mecca.




Nabataean
baetyl depicting a goddess, possibly al-Uzza.


Until about the fourth century, almost all inhabitants of Arabia practiced polytheistic religions.
Although significant Jewish and Christian minorities developed, polytheism remained the dominant belief system in pre-Islamic Arabia.

Herodotus, writing in his Histories, reported that the Arabs worshipped Orotalt (identified with Dionysus) and Alilat (identified with Aphrodite). Strabo stated the Arabs worshipped Dionysus and Zeus. Origen stated they worshipped Dionysus and Urania.

Muslim sources regarding Arabian polytheism include the eight-century Book of Idols by Hisham ibn al-Kalbi, which F.E. Peters argued to be the most substantial treatment on the religious practices of pre-Islamic Arabia, as well as the writings of the Yemeni historian al-Hasan al-Hamdani on south Arabian religious beliefs.

According to the Book of Idols, descendants of the son of Abraham who had settled in Mecca migrated to other lands carried with them the holy stones from Kaaba and after erecting them started circumambulating them just like Kaaba. This according to him led to the rise of idol worship. Based on this, it may be probable that Arabs originally venerated stones, later adopting idol-worship under foreign influences. The relationship between a god and a stone as his representation can be seen from the third-century work called the Syriac homily of Pseudo-Meliton where he describes the pagan faiths of Syriac-speakers in northern Mesopotamia, who were mostly Arabs.



Persian miniature
depicting the destruction of idols during the conquest of Mecca; here Muhammad is represented as a flame.

 



Roles of deities

Roles of deities (W)

Role of Allah

Some scholars postulate that in pre-Islamic Arabia, including in Mecca, Allah was considered to be a deity, possibly a creator deity or a supreme deity in a polytheistic pantheon.

The word Allah (from the Arabic al-ilahmeaning "the god") may have been used as a title rather than a name. The concept of Allah may have been vague in the Meccan religion. Pre-Islamic texts, Meccans and their neighbors believed that the goddesses Al-lāt, Al-‘Uzzá, and Manāt were the daughters of Allah.

Regional variants of the word Allah occur in both pagan and Christian pre-Islamic inscriptions. References to Allah was found in the poetry of the pre-Islamic Arab poet Zuhayr bin Abi Sulma, who lived a generation before Muhammad, as well as pre-Islamic personal names. Muhammad's father's name was ʿAbd-Allāh, meaning "the servant of Allah".

Charles Russell Coulter and Patricia Turner considered that Allah's name may be derived from a pre-Islamic god called Ailiah and is similar to El, Il, Ilah and Jehova.

They also considered some of his characteristics to be seemingly based on lunar deities like Almaqah, Kahl, Shaker, Wadd and Warakh.[31] Alfred Guillaume states that the connection between Ilah that came to form Allah and ancient Babylonian Il or El of ancient Israel is not clear. Wellhausen states that Allah was known from Jewish and Christian sources and was known to pagan Arabs as the supreme god. Winfried Corduan doubts the theory of Allah of Islam being linked to a moon god, stating the term Allah derived from Al-ilah like El-Elyon which was used for the god Sin, functions as a generic term.

South Arabian inscriptions from the fourth century AD refer to a god called Rahman ("The Merciful One") who had a monotheistic cult and was referred to as the "Lord of heaven and Earth". Aaron W. Hughes states that scholars are unsure whether he developed from the earlier polytheistic systems or developed due to the increasing significance of the Christian and Jewish communities, and that it is difficult to establish whether Allah was linked to Rahmanan. Maxime Rodinson however considers one of Allah's name "Ar-Rahman" to have been used in the form of Rahmanan earlier.

 








  Petra


Al-Khazneh
carved into rock by the Nabataeans in their capital, Petra.

Nabataeans

Nabataeans (W)

The Nabataeans were one among several nomadic tribes which roamed the Arabian Desert, moving with their herds to wherever they could find pasture and water.

Although the Nabataeans were initially embedded in Aramaic culture, modern scholars reject theories about their having Aramean roots. Instead, historical, religious and linguistic evidence identifies them as a northern Arabian tribe.

One hypothesis locates their original homeland in today's Yemen, in the south-west of the Arabian peninsula; however, their deities, language and script share nothing with those of southern Arabia.

The suggestion that they came from Hejaz area is considered by Michele Murray to be more convincing, as they share many deities with the ancient people there.

No Nabataean literature has survived, nor was any noted in antiquity.

The gods worshipped at Petra were notably Dushara and Al-‘Uzzá. Dushara was the supreme deity of the Nabataean Arabs, and was the official god of the Nabataean Kingdom who enjoyed special royal patronage.




Nabataean trade routes in Pre-Islamic Arabia.



Petra was rapidly built in the 1st century BCE, and developed a population estimated at 20,000.


The Nabataeans, also Nabateans (Arabic: ٱلْأَنْبَاطal-ʾAnbāṭ , compare Ancient Greek: Ναβαταῖος, Latin: Nabataeus), were an Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the Southern Levant. Their settlements, most prominently the assumed capital city of Raqmu, now called Petra, gave the name of Nabatene to the borderland between Arabia and Syria, from the Euphrates to the Red Sea. Their loosely controlled trading network, which centered on strings of oases that they controlled, where agriculture was intensively practiced in limited areas, and on the routes that linked them, had no securely defined boundaries in the surrounding desert. Having maintained territorial independence from their emergence in the 4th century BC until Nabataea was conquered by Trajan in 106 AD, annexing it to the Roman Empire. Nabataeans' individual culture, easily identified by their characteristic finely potted painted ceramics, was adopted into the larger Greco-Roman culture. They were later converted to Christianity during the Byzantine Era.

 



Nabataean Kingdom

Nabataean Kingdom (W)



Nabataean trade routes in Pre-Islamic Arabia.


A map of the Roman Empire, at its greatest extent, showing the territory of Trajan's Nabataean conquests in red.


The Nabataean Kingdom (Arabic: ٱلْمَمْلِكَة ٱلنَّبَطِيَّة‎, translit. Al-Mamlikat An-Nabaṭiyyah), also named Nabatea, was a political state of the Arab Nabataeans during classical antiquity.

The Nabataean Kingdom controlled much of the trade routes of the region, amassing a large wealth and drawing the envy of its neighbors. It stretched south along the Red Sea coast into the Hejaz, up as far north as Damascus, which it controlled for a short period (85–71) BC.

Nabataea remained independent from the 4th century BC until it was annexed by the Roman Empire in AD 106, which renamed it Arabia Petraea.




Bosra
, capital of Arabia Petraea.



Al-Khazneh
carved into rock by the Nabataeans in their capital, Petra.



Trading routes of the ancient Middle East, when Petra was the last stop for caravans carrying spices before being shipped to European markets through the Port of Gaza.



Temple of Avdat in the Negev, built by the Nabataeans to commemorate king Obodas I and his victories against the Hasmoneans and the Seleucids.



A map showing Trajan control of Arabia until Hegra (actual Madain Salih).

 



Palmyrene Empire

Palmyrene Empire (270-273) (W)



The Palmyrene Empire in 271.


The Palmyrene Empire was a splinter state centered at Palmyra which broke away from the Roman Empire during the Crisis of the Third Century. It encompassed the Roman provinces of Syria Palaestina, Arabia Petraea, Egypt and large parts of Asia Minor.

Zenobia ruled the Palmyrene Empire as regent for her son Vaballathus, who had become King of Palmyra in 267. In 270 Zenobia managed to conquer most of the Roman east in a relatively short period, and tried to maintain relations with Rome. In 271 she claimed the imperial title for herself and for her son and fought a short war with the Roman emperor Aurelian, who conquered Palmyra and captured the self-proclaimed Empress. A year later the Palmyrenes rebelled, which led Aurelian to destroy Palmyra. The Palmyrene Empire is hailed in Syria and plays an important role as an icon in Syrian nationalism.

 



Zenobia

Zenobia (c. 240-275 AD) (W)

Septimia Zenobia (PalmyreneBtzby), pronounced Bat-Zabbai; c. 240 – c. 274 AD) was a third century queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria. Many legends surround her ancestry; she was probably not a commoner and she married the ruler of the city, Odaenathus. Her husband became king in 260, elevating Palmyra to supreme power in the Near East by defeating the Sassanians and stabilizing the Roman East. After Odaenathus’ assassination, Zenobia became the regent of her son Vaballathus and held de facto power throughout his reign.

In 270, Zenobia launched an invasion which brought most of the Roman East under her sway and culminated with the annexation of Egypt. By mid-271 her realm extended from Ancyra, central Anatolia, to southern Egypt, although she remained nominally subordinate to Rome. However, in reaction to Roman emperor Aurelian’s campaign in 272, Zenobia declared her son emperor and assumed the title of empress (declaring Palmyra's secession from Rome). The Romans were victorious after heavy fighting; the queen was besieged in her capital and captured by Aurelian, who exiled her to Rome where she spent the remainder of her life.

Zenobia was a cultured monarch and fostered an intellectual environment in her court, which was open to scholars and philosophers. She was tolerant toward her subjects and protected religious minorities. The queen maintained a stable administration which governed a multicultural multiethnic empire. Zenobia died after 274, and many tales have been recorded about her fate. Her rise and fall have inspired historians, artists and novelists, and she is a patriotic symbol in Syria.

 



📹 Zenobia — The Warrior Queen of Palmyra (VİDEO)

📹 Zenobia — The Warrior Queen of Palmyra (LINK)

 

 









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