Rome, Persia, and Arabia : Shaping the Middle East From Pompey to Muhammad

__Rome, Persia, and Arabia__ traces the enormous impact that the Great Powers of antiquity exerted on Arabia and the Arabs, between the arrival of Roman forces in the Middle East in 63 BC and the death of the Prophet Muhammad in AD 632. Richly illustrated and covering a vast area from the fertile lands of South Arabia to the bleak deserts of Iraq and Syria, this book provides a detailed and captivating narrative of the way that the empires of antiquity affected the politics, culture, and religion of the Arabs. It examines Rome’s first tentative contacts in the Syrian steppe and the controversial mission of Aelius Gallus to Yemen, and takes in the city states, kingdoms, and tribes caught up in the struggle for supremacy between Rome and Persia, including the city state of Hatra, one of the many archaeological sites in the Middle East that have suffered deliberate vandalism at the hands of the ‘Islamic State’. The development of an Arab Christianity spanning the Middle East, the emergence of Arab fiefdoms at the edges of imperial power, and the crucial appearance of strong Arab leadership in the century before Islam provide a clear picture of the importance of pre-Islamic Arabia and the Arabs to understanding world and regional history. __Rome, Persia, and Arabia__ includes discussions of heritage destruction in the Middle East, the emergence of Islam, and modern research into the anthropology of ancient tribal societies and their relationship with the states around them. This comprehensive and wide-ranging book delivers an authoritative chronicle of a crucial but little known era in world history, and is for any reader with an interest in the ancient Middle East, Arabia, and the Roman and Persian empires. Cover......Page 1 Half Title......Page 2 Title Page......Page 4 Copyright Page......Page 5 Dedication......Page 6 Table of Contents......Page 8 Figures......Page 10 Acknowledgements......Page 12 Note to the Reader......Page 13 Introduction......Page 14 Arabs and Arabias......Page 16 Tribes and states......Page 20 Graeco-Roman and Syriac literary sources......Page 22 Inscriptions and archaeological sources......Page 26 Muslim literary texts......Page 27 Germans and Arabs......Page 28 Notes......Page 30 Introduction......Page 36 Arab scenitae, Arab raiders......Page 38 Arab townspeople from Emesa to Characene......Page 39 Arabs and the end of the Roman Republic......Page 53 Augustus and the Arabian Peninsula......Page 55 From Augustus to Severus......Page 60 The creation of the Province of Arabia......Page 62 Trajan in the east......Page 66 The Parthian wars of Marcus Aurelius and Septimius Severus......Page 67 Conclusion......Page 70 Notes......Page 71 Rome and Persia......Page 79 Monotheism and empire......Page 81 The end of Hatra, Sasanians in Oman, and Himyarites in Arabia Deserta......Page 84 Mara al-Qays: a late antique king at the edge of the Roman empire......Page 92 ‘So much for this dangerous tribe’......Page 97 The revolt of Mavia......Page 101 Religious communities......Page 102 Al-Hira......Page 110 Towards the sixth century: Kinda, Mudar, and Maadd......Page 113 Notes......Page 116 Introduction......Page 126 The idea of the ‘super-phylarchate’......Page 127 Before al-Harith, 500–528......Page 133 Aksum and Himyar: Najran, 523......Page 136 Al-Harith and Alamoundaros......Page 138 Abraha......Page 153 The death of Alamoundaros and the treaty of 561/2......Page 155 Al-Mundhir: statesman and warrior......Page 157 Al-Numan and the collapse of the Arab dynasty at al-Hira......Page 167 Conclusion......Page 171 Notes......Page 173 Introduction......Page 183 Measuring legacies......Page 184 Early Islam and late antiquity......Page 185 Was there such a thing as ‘Arab identity’ in late antiquity?......Page 189 The afterlife of the super-phylarchates......Page 191 Heritage destruction......Page 193 The nature and character of Arab tribal leadership......Page 195 Pre-Islamic Christian inscriptions in Arabic......Page 199 Middlemen......Page 202 Arabs, Germans, and state formation......Page 204 Links to the divine......Page 208 Arab kingship and late antiquity......Page 211 Notes......Page 213 References......Page 220 Index......Page 246 "Rome, Persia, and Arabia traces the enormous impact that the Great Powers of antiquity exerted on Arabia and the Arabs, between the arrival of Roman forces in the Middle East in 63 BC and the death of the Prophet Muhammad in AD 632. Richly illustrated and covering a vast area from the fertile lands of South Arabia to the bleak deserts of Iraq and Syria, this book provides a detailed and captivating narrative of the way that the empires of antiquity affected the politics, culture, and religion of the Arabs. It examines Rome's first tentative contacts in the Syrian steppe and the controversial mission of Aelius Gallus to Yemen, and takes in the city states, kingdoms, and tribes caught up in the struggle for supremacy between Rome and Persia, including the city state of Hatra, one of the many archaeological sites in the Middle East that have suffered deliberate vandalism at the hands of the 'Islamic State.' The development of an Arab Christianity spanning the Middle East, the emergence of Arab fiefdoms at the edges of imperial power, and the crucial appearance of strong Arab leadership in the century before Islam provide a clear picture of the importance of pre-Islamic Arabia and the Arabs to understanding world and regional history. Rome, Persia, and Arabia includes discussions of heritage destruction in the Middle East, the emergence of Islam, and modern research into the anthropology of ancient tribal societies and their relationship with the states around them. This comprehensive and wide-ranging book delivers an authoritative chronicle of a crucial but little known era in world history, and is for any reader with an interest in the ancient Middle East, Arabia, and the Roman and Persian empires"-- Información editorial "Rome, Persia, and Arabia traces the enormous impact that the Great Powers of antiquity exerted on Arabia and the Arabs, between the arrival of Roman forces in the Middle East in 63 BC and the death of the Prophet Muhammad in AD 632. Richly illustrated and covering a vast area from the fertile lands of South Arabia to the bleak deserts of Iraq and Syria, this book provides a detailed and captivating narrative of the way that the empires of antiquity affected the politics, culture, and religion of the Arabs. It examines Rome's first tentative contacts in the Syrian steppe and the controversial mission of Aelius Gallus to Yemen, and takes in the city states, kingdoms, and tribes caught up in the struggle for supremacy between Rome and Persia, including the city state of Hatra, one of the many archaeological sites in the Middle East that have suffered deliberate vandalism at the hands of the 'Islamic State.' The development of an Arab Christianity spanning the Middle East, the emergence of Arab fiefdoms at the edges of imperial power, and the crucial appearance of strong Arab leadership in the century before Islam provide a clear picture of the importance of pre-Islamic Arabia and the Arabs to understanding world and regional history. Rome, Persia, and Arabia includes discussions of heritage destruction in the Middle East, the emergence of Islam, and modern research into the anthropology of ancient tribal societies and their relationship with the states around them. This comprehensive and wide-ranging book delivers an authoritative chronicle of a crucial but little known era in world history, and is for any reader with an interest in the ancient Middle East, Arabia, and the Roman and Persian empires"-- Provided by publisher