Pre-Islam

Genealogical classification of Arab tribes has no historical value.  However, it has great political significance. Early Islamic sources provide a genealogical classification of all Arab tribes. Scholars doubt their accuracy. The genealogies written in the post-Islamic period might reflect a reality of the present or the near past from the time of writing, but they […]

The date of birth of Mecca is not known.  Early Islamic sources claim that it was Abu Karib Asʾad Tubba’, the Himyar king, who had donated the kiswah (كِسوة) of the Ka’ba (cloth that covers the Ka’ba).  As a dated inscription verifies As’ad Tubba’ ruling the Ḥimyar kingdom in August of 433 CE, it can

Population groups living in Arabia acquired literacy in the first millennium BCE, as is evident by the inscriptions of eastern Saudi Arabia written in Hasaean script. Since then, Arabia has been rich in preserving the written record of ancient scripts.  We know of a myriad of scripts, like Hasaean, Safaitic, Hismaic, Taymanitic, and Dadanitic, etc.,

Arabs used to identify themselves as a separate ethnic group before advent of Islam.  However, they did not have a self identity as a nation. King Shalmaneser III calls them ‘Arabs’ in Kurkh Stele..  Since then they have been being identified as a distinct ethnic group by foreign historical sources right up to sixth century

Pre-Islamic Arabic poetry is a commonly used source to reconstruct the history of pre-Islamic Arabia. Its use as a primary source has been controversial, though.  Skepticism about the use of ancient Arabic poetry as a primary source started as soon as this poetry was translated into English.  There were all sorts of questions.  Were Mu’allaqat

There are four kinds of primary sources available to compile the history of pre-Islamic Arabia. 1:  Inscriptions (naqsh نقش):  They are thousands of texts written by both common people as well as the leaders.  Most of them are engraved on mountain rocks.  Some are on other materials like funerary slabs, lintel and walls of houses,

Arabian Peninsula (Jazīrat ul ‘Arab جَزِيرَةُ العَرَب) is a big chunk of land about 3.25 million square kilometers, roughly equal to the size of India.  In terms of the American continent, it is roughly equal to the combined area of seventeen states of the USA, which are called the Southern United States.  In terms of

Arabian Peninsula (Jazīrat ul ‘Arab جَزِيرَةُ العَرَب) is a big chunk of land.  Its boundaries are pretty fixed on three sides, where it is bound by sea. To the west of it is the Red Sea, to the east is Persian Gulf.  To the south the land is bound by the Arabian sea. Northern boundary