Some notes on the Arabic historiography of Tihāma in the pre‐Islamic and early Islamic periods

Abstract

This article discusses what may be learned about the Yemeni Tihāma in the pre‐Islamic and early Islamic periods from Arabic texts. In practice the texts that are available to us, consisting of a barely differentiated mixture of fact and legend, provide only glimpses of the pre‐Ismalmic history, although there are more substantial references in the early Islamic period. For details of the tribal populations of Tihāma, we have a fairly detailed picture of the situation in the 3rd/9th century in the works of al‐Hamdānī. Some of this may have been applicable in earlier centuries. Ibn al‐Muǧāwir's Tārīẖ al‐MustabṢir includes a number of intriguing legends, at least one of which may have a foundation in fact.