Reclaiming history by the roots might even suggest ways to reconcile the debate between peoples and tribes. Badawah and hadarah can coexist, as do the malady and the remedy, according to that alleged saying of Muhammad, in the two wings of a fly. The secret is not to let the curse overcome the cure, not to let that ‘something rotten’ take over. As for all the internecine hatreds of the present, reconciliation can only be approached – as it has been elsewhere in recent history – via truth: the problems of the present can only be given decent burial when the realities of the past have been unearthed and examined. No one but Arabs can do this. And they cannot afford the time to wait for others to unearth history, like those villagers of my Foreword who waited 2,000 years for the British to dig out a well that the Romans had filled in.
I for one am done with digging. But I trust that my own history has qualified me to archaeologize. My earliest Arab memories being those of Nasser’s smiling face and, more vaguely, of the Brits getting the bum’s rush in Aden on a flickering black-and-white TV screen, I am inevitably a post-imperialist. Arabist and historian by education but Arabian by experience – living in a land, not a library, in peace as well as war in my tower on its tell; living in a present built on a many-layered past – I am also a post-Orientalist: the ‘Orient’ is my home, not just my subject of study (or, God forbid, object of domination). Because of all this, while I look around and see disorder, injustice and, nowadays, the faces of dead youth smiling down from their martyrs’ posters, smiles blown up in both senses – while I see all this, I know that there can be no justification for imperialism, territorial or cultural, ‘Western’ or whatever. Those days are long over.
But there is another imperialism that is alive and well. The best (perhaps the only) answers to present Arab questions will emerge from the Arab past. That past, however, is and always has been invaded, colonized and exploited by homegrown power-raiders and power-wielders, in order to justify their continued grip on the present; and not just on the present. As Orwell knew, control the past and you control the future. Physical Arab lands have been reclaimed from the old occupying empires; the Arab past is still under occupation, from within.
New generations must know that this past is their country, too; that it is waiting to be liberated and then explored, with open eyes and minds. Only then can anyone think of building a better future on it.
CHRONOLOGY
TIME
EVENTS
LANGUAGE, CULTURE, SOCIETY, IDENTITY
2 million years BP?
hominids leave Africa via Sinai and Bab al-Mandab Strait
125,000+ years BP?
modern humans leave Africa via Sinai and Bab al-Mandab Strait
8th–5th millennia BC
most recent ‘major wet period’ in Arabia
6th millennium BC
people in S Arabia are herding cattle
5th millennium BC
Arabic-like features branch off from a Semitic root language
4th millennium BC
people in S Arabia are starting to grow crops and develop irrigation systems
people are settling the Arabian coastline, using mangroves for building and shellfish for food
3rd millennium BC
camels domesticated for milking, probably in SE Arabia
people living by the Arabian/Persian Gulf begin to export pearls
by 2000 BC
horse-drawn chariots used in N Arabia
2nd millennium BC
camels begin to be used as pack- and riding-animals
pioneer nomads moving from Fertile Crescent into Arabian Peninsula?
proto-Sabaeans leave Syria-Palestine, make their way to S Arabia
by 1000 BC
camel transport used across much of Arabia
camel culture enhances badawah, mobile society
in S Arabia, large-scale irrigation projects have begun
irrigation necessary for food crops leads to development of hadarah, settled society
1st millennium BC
Saba (Sheba) becomes the major power in S Arabia
the Marib Dam, perhaps pre-Sabaean in origin, is enlarged
10th century BC
biblical visit of S Arabian Queen of Sheba (Saba) to Solomon
853 BC
Gindibu the Arab provides camels for an anti-Assyrian force
earliest known inscription (Assyrian) mentioning Arabs
by 800 BC
Sabaeans trading with the Fertile Crescent
750 BC on
Qedar, perhaps a tribal confederation, active in N Arabia
730s BC
the Assyrians defeat Shamsi, ‘queen of the Arabs’
7th century BC
the Assyrians impose a puppet ‘queen’, Tabua, on Qedar
confederations in S Arabia united by loyalty to a single deity
5th century BC
Persians employ Arabs to defend their borders against Egypt
4th century BC?
horses begin to be used for riding in Arabia
3rd century BC on
Arabophone Nabataeans trade out of Petra
2nd century BC
S Arabian Minaeans trade with Egypt and the Aegean
1st century BC on
Arabophone Palmyrenes trade out of Tadmur (Palmyra)
26 BC on
a Roman expeditionary force briefly penetrates S Arabia
by 0 AD
camel saddles have been improved, enabling extended travel
proto-Arabic graffiti proliferate in N Arabia
Arabs are used widely as mercenaries by S Arabian powers
a distinct Arab identity has begun to form
1st century
earliest known Arabic text, embedded in an Aramaic text in Negev
Himyaris become a major power in S Arabia
106
Rome annexes Nabataean territories
2nd century
W Arabian Thamud tribe sends levies to the Romans
2nd century on
horse+camel combination: unique mobility and raiding power
Arabs and Arabic become prominent in S Arabia
3rd century on
Kindah nomads develop Qaryat (C Arabia) as their emporium
Sabaic etc. still written, but Arabic takes over S Arabian speech
in traditional accounts, Khuza’ah tribe are in control of Mecca
Mecca already a sacred centre
226
Sasanian dynasty established in Persia
244
Philip the Arab, born in Damascus, becomes Roman emperor
267
earliest fully Arabic text, an inscription at Mada’in Salih (Saudi Arabia)
272
Rome absorbs Palmyrene territories
late 3rd century
Hadramawt falls to Himyari-dominated state of Saba
S Arabia united under the Himyari-Sabaean state
the Lakhm tribe form a Persian client-dynasty at al-Hirah (Iraq)
Lakhmids have become a nucleus around which Arab identity solidifies
early 4th century
Persians extend influence over E Arabia
Arabophones infiltrate the Aramaic-speaking Fertile Crescent
Kindah and Madhhij tribes migrate from C to S Arabia
the Himyaris send expeditions N and E across Arabia
328
in his epitaph, the Lakhmid Imru’ al-Qays is ‘king of all the Arabs’
before 400?
a ‘high’ form of Arabic speech develops
Arabic script begins to develop from Nabataean
5th century on
high Arabic poetry becomes a pan-Arabian cultural product
introduction of the horse stirrup enhances Arab fighting power
increasing infiltration of S Arabia by nomad Arab tribes
Azd and its sub-tribe, Ghassan, migrate N and E from Marib
5th century
Qusayy, ancestor of Muhammad’
s Quraysh tribe, arrives in Mecca
Quraysh begin to control Arabian trade routes
c. 490
a branch of Ghassan forms a Byzantine client-dynasty in Syria
Ghassanids and Lakhmids are rival patrons of poetry
Arabic culture and identity empowered by inter-dynastic rivalry
the ailing Himyari state promotes its own Arab client-king from Kindah
490s–530s
intermittent tribal ‘War of al-Basus’ in N Arabia
early 6th century
the Byzantines entitle their client-ruler ‘king of the Arabs’
fighting between Himyari- and Persian-backed client-kings
6th century
frequent tribal wars flare up across Arabia
oldest extant high Arabic poems, by Kindah poets
prominence of su’luks – ex-tribal ‘vagabond’ leaders and poets
Christianity widely adopted in Ghassanid and Lakhmid areas
monotheism (Christian, Jewish, indigenous) spreads in S Arabia
early 6th century
the Himyari king espouses Judaism
c. 518
massacre by Himyaris of Christians at Najran
525
the Christian Ethiopians conquer the Himyari-Sabaean state
mid-6th century
the Kindah poet-leader Imru’ al-Qays courts Byzantium
wars between the Ghassanids and Lakhmids
prestige of high Arabic promotes Arab cultural self-awareness
Meccan leaders use joint capital to expand caravan trade
570
traditional dating of Ethiopian-led attack on Mecca
traditional dating of Muhammad’s birth
c. 575
Persians establish rule over S Arabia
c. 582
in tradition, the boy Muhammad is recognized as a prophet
late 6th century
Arabic script reaches Mecca
Mecca gains wide popularity as a pilgrimage destination
charismatic preacher Quss ibn Sa’idah, admired by Muhammad
by now, a firm sense of Arabs as a pan-Arabian cultural group
Byzantium and Persia both dispense with their Arab client-kings
early 7th century
Muhammad begins his contemplative retreats
final collapse of the Marib Dam
602
the Persians kill their last Lakhmid client-king
604
Arab tribes defeat a Persian force at Dhu Qar
c. 608
the Ka’bah in Mecca is rebuilt after a flood
Muhammad mediates in a dispute over the rebuilding
c. 610 on
Muhammad’s revelations begin
Persians occupy Byzantine territory in Syria and, briefly, Egypt
616?
some of Muhammad’s followers seek refuge in Ethiopia
619?
death of Khadijah, Muhammad’s first wife
before 620
the Qur’an, the first Arabic book, begins to take shape
620s
Byzantines regain territory from Persians
622
Muhammad and followers move from Mecca to Yathrib (Medina)
their hijrah, migration, is the start of the Islamic calendar
624
Muhammad raids a Meccan caravan at Badr
Muhammad changes prayer direction from Jerusalem to Mecca
625
Medinans defeated by Meccans at Uhud
626
the Jewish tribe Banu al-Nadir are expelled from Medina
627
the Meccans besiege Medina
many Medinan Jews are killed for allegedly backing the Meccans
Persian colonists in Yemen submit to Medinan rule
628
truce between Medina and Mecca
630
Muhammad takes over Mecca
630–1
Arabian tribal leaders pledge allegiance to Muhammad
631
Medinans besiege the town of al-Ta’if
‘false prophets’ Musaylimah (E Arabia) and al-Aswad (Yemen)
632
Muhammad’s ‘Farewell Pilgrimage’ to Mecca and last sermon
death of Muhammad
Abu Bakr elected khalifah, caliph or ‘successor’, to Muhammad
Abu Bakr gathers the disparate parts of the Qur’an
most Arabian tribes ‘apostasize’, i.e. cut ties with state of Medina
‘false prophets’ proliferate
633–4
Musaylimah is defeated by a force from Medina
al-Aswad is assassinated
other ‘false prophets’ capitulate
the Arabia-wide ‘apostasy’ is put down by force and diplomacy
the peninsula is united, in theory, under the rule of Medina
634
death of Abu Bakr, succession of Umar as caliph
635–c. 750
Arabs conquer an empire from W Europe to C Asia
major migrations of population from Arabia (mostly 635–44)
all Arabians are united, in theory, by scripture and empire
636
Arab defeat of Byzantines at al-Yarmuk (Syria–Jordan)
636/7/8
Arab defeat of Persians at al-Qadisiyyah (Iraq)
638
foundation of al-Basrah, garrison city in Iraq
638 or after
foundation of al-Kufah, garrison city in Iraq
639
Arabs begin incursions into Egypt
641
Arabs take the Egyptian fortress of Babylon (Old Cairo)
foundation of al-Fustat, garrison city in Egypt
642
battle of Nihawand opens E Persian empire to Arabs
644
death of Caliph Umar, Uthman nominated as successor
644 on
a committee produces a canonical written Qur’an
non-canonical oral variations of the Qur’an persist
656
some Arab troops in the provinces mutiny and march to Medina
Uthman killed by the mutineers
Ali, Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, becomes caliph
‘Battle of the Camel’ between Ali and the ‘pro-Uthman’ faction
657 on
Ali and the old regime of Quraysh fight at Siffin (Syria)
Arabs Page 68
