The Shahanshah of Sasanian Iran used to live in Tysfwn, a metropolitan urban area on the banks of the River Tigris. Tisfūn of Pahlavi sources is Tisfūn of Farsi sources, Ctesiphon of Greek sources, Quṭaisifūn قطيسفون in early Arabic sources, and al-Madain المدين in late Arabic sources, Māḥūzī of Syriac and Babylonia of Talmud sources. […]
Capital City of Sasanian Empire Read More »
Jabiya (Jābiyah جابِيَه) was the seat of governance of the Ghassan. It was located somewhere in the Golan in modern Syria. The city has disappeared completely without leaving any trace. First mention of the city is in a letter written by Simeon of Beth–Arshām in the 520s. See: Further Reading Irfan Shaid, Byzantium and the
Hirah (Hīraḥ هيرح) was the capital city of the Lakhmids (al-Lakhmiyyūn اللخميون). It was an Arab cosmopolitan city teaming with palaces, churches, and monasteries. The ruins of this magnificent town can be seen near the present-day Najaf. Further Reading Talbot Rice, “The Oxford Excavations in Hira, 1931,” Antiquity 6 no. 23 (Sep. 1932): 276 –
Two mountain ranges enhance the grace of the Arabian Peninsula. One stretches from north to south parallel to the shoreline of the Red Sea. The other runs from east to west along the coast of the Arabian Gulf. Both increase in height and width as they approach the south-western corner of the Arabian Peninsula. Their
Tihamah (Tihāmah تہامہ) is the name given to the plain that runs along the Red Sea coast of Arabia. Though quite constricted and sometimes non-existent in the north, it widens south of the port of Yanbu to roughly eighty kilometres, further widening up to one hundred and thirty kilometres in Yemen (يمن). Tihamah ends abruptly
The central plateau of Arabian Peninsula is Najd (نَجَد Najd). Located to the west of main mountain range of Arabia, which stretches from north to south, this highland has an average elevation of nine hundred meters. It slopes down gently from west to east. The eastern end of the Najd Plateau merges into the low
The northern part of the mountainous region, sandwiched between the Tihamah coastal plain and the Najd plateau, is Hejaz (Hijāz حجاز). It comprises the main mountain range of Arabia, which stretches from the northern end of the peninsula down to the south, becoming wider and higher while reaching the south. Around Mecca, about midway down
Along the coast of the Persian Gulf, extending up to the Najad highland, is a low-lying plain. This Hasa plain (الاحساء) that extends into the plain of Oman in the south and the plain of Iraq in the north. Hasa plain has numerous salt pans called sabkhah (سبخه). Climate The Hasa coastal plain is dry.
A mountainous range stretches the whole length of Arabia from north to south, just to the west of the Tihamah plains. This mountain range, the main mountain range in Arabia, becomes wider and higher as it extends south. Around Mecca, about midway down its length, this mountain chain has a break. Towards the north of