تويت
Nabataea: ArabiaA discussion of the term 'Arabia" and what it might have meant to Greek and Roman historians Throughout history, the Arabian Peninsula has been traditionally called 'Arabia.' This was particularly true during, Greek, Roman, Persian, and Byzantine eras. At times Roman historians would refer to Arab rulers as "King of the Arabs." The use of this term has often proven confusing to the modern historian whose definition of 'Arab' is colored by recent history.
In the minds of many modern scholars, the Arabs are identified as those people who speak the Arabic ********. This linguistic approach has several problems. Foremost is the problem that today many people in the Middle East speak Arabic because it was forced upon them by the Muslim armies that conquered the Middle East in the late seventh century. Many of the peoples of the Middle East have non-Arab ethnic background, but they speak Arabic as their first ******** because it has been forced upon them by the state. Along with this, there are still a number of minorities in the Middle East, who use Arabic as a trade ********, but continue to use their old ********s in their homes. (Chaldaeans, Armenians, Assyrians, Adygey (Circassians), Turkomen, Gypsies, Persians, Kurds, etc.) Each of these groups strongly opposes being labeled as 'Arabs', even though they now speak Arabic, often as their first ********.
Thus, it is important to consider not only linguistics, but also the historical and ethnic background of the peoples of the Middle East to find the true Arabs, especially those who would have been referred to as Arabs by Greek and Roman historians.
During the time of the Nabataeans, there were only a few people who spoke Arabic. This was what is now termed as "Old Arabic" and varied from ******** to ********. While spoken Arabic dialects varied considerably, written forms of early Arabic differ dramatically. Entirely different ******s were used in southern Arabia, and so historians today often refuse to classify all of these ********s under the heading "Arabic."
In order to understand what ancient historians thought of when they used the term 'Arab' we will look at a number of terms that were applied to this area of the Middle East.
Ancient Arabia
The term Arabia comes from Old-Persian where it is pronounced 'Arab'ya'. This was the name of the country to the west and south of Mesopotamia. As one reads ancient literature, three main zones can be discerned.
The southern towns and kingdoms bordering on the Indian Ocean (modern Yemen and Oman)
The nomadic interior (Saudi Arabia),
A northwestern part (Jordan and parts of Syria).
The Latin names of these three zones are:
Arabia Felix (Happy Arabia),
Arabia Deserta (Desert Arabia)
Arabia Petraea (Arabia ruled from Petra).
Arabia Deserta
The nomadic tribes from Arabia Deserta, in Akkadian called Aribi, frequently invaded the surrounding countries -i.e., Arabia Felix and Mesopotamia-, where they sometimes managed to settle. Hardly anything about these isolated 'people without history' is known, although it seems certain that they became camel riders in the tenth or ninth century BC.
By 250 BC various Arabian tribes began moving into the Levant. There is record of the tribe of Qedar, and the Nabatu making inroads into Edomite, Moabite and Jewish territories. In the Parthian and Roman period, several Arabian dynasties ruled towns in what is now Syria and Iraq: Palmyra, Emesa, Edessa, Hatra, Characene and Gerrha.
While it is common for modern people to think of all of the inhabitants of the Arabian peninsula as 'Arabs,' the ancient historians often referred to these people by their direct tribal name. This is very important in discovering who the real Arabs were.
Arabia Petraea
These Arabs lived between Egypt and Mesopotamia, eventually leaving their nomadic way of life, they build several towns. The principle people in this area were the Nabataeans and Petra was their capital.
The oldest reference to these Arabs can be found in the biblical book Genesis, where Arabian merchants buy and sell Jacob's son Joseph. Other references can be found in the Assyrian king Salmanasser's account of a battle in 853 BC and in the reports about a kingdom named Aribi, that is mentioned from Tiglath- Pileser III (ruled 745-727) onward and was an Assyrian vassal until the second half of the seventh century. Later, the Arabs were subdued by the Babylonian king Nabonidus, who made the oasis of Tema' his capital and reached Iatribu (modern Medina).
According to the Greek researcher Herodotus, the Persian king Cambyses did not subdue the Arabs when he attacked Egypt in 525 BC. His successor Darius I does not mention the Arabs in the Behistun in******ion from the first years of his reign, but mentions them in later ****s; this suggests that Darius conquered this part of Arabia. There are no indications that these Arabs were or were not loyal subjects of later Persian kings.
After the Macedonian king Alexander the Great had conquered the Persian empire (between 335 and 323), this part of Arabia remained more or less autonomous for centuries. In 106 AD, however, the part corresponding to modern Jordan was made a province of the Roman empire by the emperor Trajan. There were several cities in this province: from north to south Adraa (modern Dara'), Dion (unknown), Gerasa (Jerash), Philadelphia (Amman) and Aila (Aqaba).
During the Roman Period, historians such as Josephus and Strabo freely intermix the use of the word Arab with Nabataean, and vice versa. Nabataean kings were known as kings of the 'Arabs' and their kingdom was known as Arabia. Thus it was only fitting that the Nabataean Kingdom became known as the Province of Arabia, once it was absorbed into the Roman Empire.
Arabia Felix
In antiquity, modern Yemen was famous for its incense and cinnamon - the latter being imported from India. There were several minor kingdoms in Arabia Felix: Saba (capital: Marib, later Sana) was the leading power in Yemen under the kings Yathî'amar (last quarter of the eighth century BC?) and Karib'il Watar (first half seventh century). These men may be identical to the kings Itiamara and Kariba'ilu mentioned in Assyrian annals. The famous story of the queen of Sheba's visit to the Jewish king Solomon (1 Kings 10.1-10) is somehow related to Saba, but is is unclear how. The city state Ma`in was a kingdom of traders, which gained its independence from Saba at an unknown moment before circa 375 BC. The Minaeans controlled the incense trade. Qataban (capital Timna) had been an ally of Saba, but became its main rival. In the third century, it seized the southwest from Saba; these territories were called Himyar. Hadramaut (capital Šabwa) was situated in the East. The Hadramautians produced incense and traded cinnamon from the port of Qana'.Ptolemy calls its capital trade center of the Omanians; others have identified this with other towns known from ancient ****s, Ubar and Iram. (The latter is mentioned in the Quran as a splendid city, being punished by God for its wickedness; 89.6-13) Each of these kingdoms possessed extensive hydraulic installations, enabling the population to cope with both drought and the sometimes devastating river floods. Zufar was situated in modern Oman. Hardly anything about this country is known, because archaeologists have not found ****s. The Roman geographer
The incense trade was the most important source of wealth. The product was transported from Hadramaut to Ma`in, and from there to Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean world. (The traders used camels: this animal was domesticated in the tenth century BC and could travel some hundred kilometers/day.) Several new towns were founded along the incense road; the most important was Iatribbu. Mecca was a little off the main road. When Alexander the Great had conquered the Persian empire, he wanted to launch a naval expedition to Arabia Felix, but he died several days before the expedition started (323 BC). Although this expedition had come to nothing, southern Arabia was now part of a larger world, and several economic changes took place. It is clear that several new towns were founded in this period and that access to the trade routes changed the balance of power: we already noticed how Qataban seized the country known as Himyar during the third century. About 120 BC, Saba managed to reconquer Ma`in, a war that may have been motivated by economic motifs.
However, the trade route by land had declined. It had become possible to use the monsoon to make long voyages across the Indian Ocean. Himyar, situated in the South-West, now became independent (about 1110 BC), because it controlled harbor towns like modern Al-Mukha and Aden. The capital of Himyar was Zafar.
From now on, Saba and Himyar were competitors, and they sometimes invited foreign powers to assist them in their wars: e.g., tribes from Arabia Deserta or Ethiopian warriors from Aksum. Later, the foreigners came uninvited, such as the army that was sent by the Roman emperor Augustus in 24 BC, who wanted to control Himyar's ports.
During the first s***es of the conflict between Himyar and Saba, the latter was the leading power. Together with Hadramaut, it destroyed Qataban; later, king Ša`r Awtar conquered Hadramaut. Saba now controlled all the countries in the interior.
However, Himyar's control of the sea routes was decisive. At the end of the third century, its king Šamir Yuhar`iš united Yemen. He was important enough to negotiate on equal terms with the king of the Parthian empire.
In the minds of many modern scholars, the Arabs are identified as those people who speak the Arabic ********. This linguistic approach has several problems. Foremost is the problem that today many people in the Middle East speak Arabic because it was forced upon them by the Muslim armies that conquered the Middle East in the late seventh century. Many of the peoples of the Middle East have non-Arab ethnic background, but they speak Arabic as their first ******** because it has been forced upon them by the state. Along with this, there are still a number of minorities in the Middle East, who use Arabic as a trade ********, but continue to use their old ********s in their homes. (Chaldaeans, Armenians, Assyrians, Adygey (Circassians), Turkomen, Gypsies, Persians, Kurds, etc.) Each of these groups strongly opposes being labeled as 'Arabs', even though they now speak Arabic, often as their first ********.
Thus, it is important to consider not only linguistics, but also the historical and ethnic background of the peoples of the Middle East to find the true Arabs, especially those who would have been referred to as Arabs by Greek and Roman historians.
During the time of the Nabataeans, there were only a few people who spoke Arabic. This was what is now termed as "Old Arabic" and varied from ******** to ********. While spoken Arabic dialects varied considerably, written forms of early Arabic differ dramatically. Entirely different ******s were used in southern Arabia, and so historians today often refuse to classify all of these ********s under the heading "Arabic."
In order to understand what ancient historians thought of when they used the term 'Arab' we will look at a number of terms that were applied to this area of the Middle East.
Ancient Arabia
The term Arabia comes from Old-Persian where it is pronounced 'Arab'ya'. This was the name of the country to the west and south of Mesopotamia. As one reads ancient literature, three main zones can be discerned.
The southern towns and kingdoms bordering on the Indian Ocean (modern Yemen and Oman)
The nomadic interior (Saudi Arabia),
A northwestern part (Jordan and parts of Syria).
The Latin names of these three zones are:
Arabia Felix (Happy Arabia),
Arabia Deserta (Desert Arabia)
Arabia Petraea (Arabia ruled from Petra).
Arabia Deserta
The nomadic tribes from Arabia Deserta, in Akkadian called Aribi, frequently invaded the surrounding countries -i.e., Arabia Felix and Mesopotamia-, where they sometimes managed to settle. Hardly anything about these isolated 'people without history' is known, although it seems certain that they became camel riders in the tenth or ninth century BC.
By 250 BC various Arabian tribes began moving into the Levant. There is record of the tribe of Qedar, and the Nabatu making inroads into Edomite, Moabite and Jewish territories. In the Parthian and Roman period, several Arabian dynasties ruled towns in what is now Syria and Iraq: Palmyra, Emesa, Edessa, Hatra, Characene and Gerrha.
While it is common for modern people to think of all of the inhabitants of the Arabian peninsula as 'Arabs,' the ancient historians often referred to these people by their direct tribal name. This is very important in discovering who the real Arabs were.
Arabia Petraea
These Arabs lived between Egypt and Mesopotamia, eventually leaving their nomadic way of life, they build several towns. The principle people in this area were the Nabataeans and Petra was their capital.
The oldest reference to these Arabs can be found in the biblical book Genesis, where Arabian merchants buy and sell Jacob's son Joseph. Other references can be found in the Assyrian king Salmanasser's account of a battle in 853 BC and in the reports about a kingdom named Aribi, that is mentioned from Tiglath- Pileser III (ruled 745-727) onward and was an Assyrian vassal until the second half of the seventh century. Later, the Arabs were subdued by the Babylonian king Nabonidus, who made the oasis of Tema' his capital and reached Iatribu (modern Medina).
According to the Greek researcher Herodotus, the Persian king Cambyses did not subdue the Arabs when he attacked Egypt in 525 BC. His successor Darius I does not mention the Arabs in the Behistun in******ion from the first years of his reign, but mentions them in later ****s; this suggests that Darius conquered this part of Arabia. There are no indications that these Arabs were or were not loyal subjects of later Persian kings.
After the Macedonian king Alexander the Great had conquered the Persian empire (between 335 and 323), this part of Arabia remained more or less autonomous for centuries. In 106 AD, however, the part corresponding to modern Jordan was made a province of the Roman empire by the emperor Trajan. There were several cities in this province: from north to south Adraa (modern Dara'), Dion (unknown), Gerasa (Jerash), Philadelphia (Amman) and Aila (Aqaba).
During the Roman Period, historians such as Josephus and Strabo freely intermix the use of the word Arab with Nabataean, and vice versa. Nabataean kings were known as kings of the 'Arabs' and their kingdom was known as Arabia. Thus it was only fitting that the Nabataean Kingdom became known as the Province of Arabia, once it was absorbed into the Roman Empire.
Arabia Felix
In antiquity, modern Yemen was famous for its incense and cinnamon - the latter being imported from India. There were several minor kingdoms in Arabia Felix: Saba (capital: Marib, later Sana) was the leading power in Yemen under the kings Yathî'amar (last quarter of the eighth century BC?) and Karib'il Watar (first half seventh century). These men may be identical to the kings Itiamara and Kariba'ilu mentioned in Assyrian annals. The famous story of the queen of Sheba's visit to the Jewish king Solomon (1 Kings 10.1-10) is somehow related to Saba, but is is unclear how. The city state Ma`in was a kingdom of traders, which gained its independence from Saba at an unknown moment before circa 375 BC. The Minaeans controlled the incense trade. Qataban (capital Timna) had been an ally of Saba, but became its main rival. In the third century, it seized the southwest from Saba; these territories were called Himyar. Hadramaut (capital Šabwa) was situated in the East. The Hadramautians produced incense and traded cinnamon from the port of Qana'.Ptolemy calls its capital trade center of the Omanians; others have identified this with other towns known from ancient ****s, Ubar and Iram. (The latter is mentioned in the Quran as a splendid city, being punished by God for its wickedness; 89.6-13) Each of these kingdoms possessed extensive hydraulic installations, enabling the population to cope with both drought and the sometimes devastating river floods. Zufar was situated in modern Oman. Hardly anything about this country is known, because archaeologists have not found ****s. The Roman geographer
The incense trade was the most important source of wealth. The product was transported from Hadramaut to Ma`in, and from there to Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean world. (The traders used camels: this animal was domesticated in the tenth century BC and could travel some hundred kilometers/day.) Several new towns were founded along the incense road; the most important was Iatribbu. Mecca was a little off the main road. When Alexander the Great had conquered the Persian empire, he wanted to launch a naval expedition to Arabia Felix, but he died several days before the expedition started (323 BC). Although this expedition had come to nothing, southern Arabia was now part of a larger world, and several economic changes took place. It is clear that several new towns were founded in this period and that access to the trade routes changed the balance of power: we already noticed how Qataban seized the country known as Himyar during the third century. About 120 BC, Saba managed to reconquer Ma`in, a war that may have been motivated by economic motifs.
However, the trade route by land had declined. It had become possible to use the monsoon to make long voyages across the Indian Ocean. Himyar, situated in the South-West, now became independent (about 1110 BC), because it controlled harbor towns like modern Al-Mukha and Aden. The capital of Himyar was Zafar.
From now on, Saba and Himyar were competitors, and they sometimes invited foreign powers to assist them in their wars: e.g., tribes from Arabia Deserta or Ethiopian warriors from Aksum. Later, the foreigners came uninvited, such as the army that was sent by the Roman emperor Augustus in 24 BC, who wanted to control Himyar's ports.
During the first s***es of the conflict between Himyar and Saba, the latter was the leading power. Together with Hadramaut, it destroyed Qataban; later, king Ša`r Awtar conquered Hadramaut. Saba now controlled all the countries in the interior.
However, Himyar's control of the sea routes was decisive. At the end of the third century, its king Šamir Yuhar`iš united Yemen. He was important enough to negotiate on equal terms with the king of the Parthian empire.
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