Dirasat fi Tarikh al-Arab al-Qadim
- Author died
- 1429 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Maʻrifah al-Jāmiʻīyah
Dirasat fi Tarikh al-Arab al-Qadim (Studies in Ancient Arab History) is a specialized historical work by the Egyptian historian Muhammad Bayyumi Mihran (d. 1429 AH / 2008 CE), published in 1397 AH / 1977 CE by Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh as the first volume in its historical series. The work provides a comprehensive survey of pre-Islamic Arabian history, geography, kingdoms, and primary epigraphic and literary sources.
Scope and Purpose
In his introduction, Mihran argues that early Islamic historians—such as al-Tabari, al-Mas'udi, al-Baladhuri, al-Dinawari, Ibn al-Athir, and Ibn Khaldun—often treated pre-Islamic Arabian history merely as brief, imprecise introductory preambles to their detailed Islamic annals because they relied on oral transmission rather than contemporary written records. In contrast, modern historiography has access to thousands of South Arabian inscriptions, rock graffiti in northern Arabia (Thamudic, Lihyanite, and Safaitic), and external Assyrian, Babylonian, Greek, Roman, and Jewish records.
Mihran frames the study of ancient Arabian history as both a national and religious necessity: nationally, because the Arabian Peninsula served as the cradle of the Semitic peoples and early migrations to Egypt, Syria, and Iraq; and religiously, because God chose prophets from Arabia, and understanding the significance of Islam requires examining the pre-Islamic society in which it emerged.
Structure and Contents
The book consists of nineteen chapters arranged thematically and chronologically:
- Sources and Archaeological Research (Chapters 1–2): Evaluates epigraphic finds, non-Arab sources (Jewish, Christian, Greek, and Roman travel accounts), and Arabic sources (the Quran, Hadith, tafsir, sirah, pre-Islamic poetry, lexicons, and classical geographers), followed by a history of modern scientific explorations in southern, northern, and eastern Arabia.
- Geography and Origins (Chapters 3–6): Details the geography, natural resources, climate, caravan routes, and traditional divisions of the peninsula (Yemen, Tihama, Hijaz, Najd, and al-Arud, alongside the classical Greco-Roman classifications Arabia Deserta, Arabia Petraea, and Arabia Felix). It examines the etymology of the word Arab, the extinct tribes (al-Arab al-Ba'ida, such as 'Ad, Thamud, Tasm, Jadis, Jurhum, and the Amalekites), prehistoric eras, and Semitic migration theories.
- South Arabian Kingdoms (Chapters 7–11): Traces the histories, rulers, and cities of the ancient southern kingdoms: Ma'in, Hadramawt, Qataban, Saba (including the Mukarrib and royal periods), and Himyar, concluding with the Axumite occupation, the Yemeni liberation movement, and the subsequent Persian domination.
- Western and Northern Centers (Chapters 12–19): Analyzes the historical development of Mecca (focusing on Qusayy ibn Kilab's leadership) and Yathrib (Medina, covering its Arab and Jewish populations and neighboring settlements such as al-Ta'if, Tayma, Dumat al-Jandal, and Mada'in Salih). It concludes with the northern kingdoms and buffer states: the Nabataeans, Lihyanites, Palmyrenes (featuring Odaenathus and Zenobia), the Ghassanids, the Lakhmids of al-Hira, and the Kingdom of Kinda.
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