Kāzimah remembered: historical traditions of an early Islamic settlement by Kuwait Bay

Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies Volume 42 2012 Papers from the forty-fifth meeting of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held at the British Museum, London, 28 to 30 July 2011 Seminar for Arabian Studies Archaeopress Oxford Orders for copies of this volume of the Proceedings and all back numbers should be sent to Archaeopress, Gordon House, 276 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7ED, UK. Tel/Fax +44-(0)1865-311914. e-mail [email protected] http://www.archaeopress.com For the availability of back issues see The British Foundation for the Study of Arabia’s web site: www.thebfsa.org/seminar_proceedings.html Seminar for Arabian Studies c/o the Department of the Middle East, The British Museum London, WC1B 3DG, United Kingdom e-mail [email protected] The British Foundation for the Study of Arabia: www.thebfsa.org The Steering Committee of the Seminar for Arabian Studies is currently made up of thirteen members. The Editorial Committee of the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies includes six additional members as follows: STEERING COMMITTEE EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: ADDITIONAL MEMBERS Mr Simon Alderson (Treasurer) Professor Alessandra Avanzini Dr Mark Beech Dr Ricardo Eichmann Dr Robert Carter Professor Clive Holes Dr Nadia Durrani Professor Khaleel Al-Muaikel Professor Dr Robert G. Hoyland Professor Dan Potts Dr Derek Kennet Professor Christian Robin Mr Michael C.A. Macdonald Dr Ardle MacMahon (Secretary) Dr Venetia Porter Dr St John Simpson Mrs Janet C.M. Starkey (Editor) Professor Janet Watson Dr Lloyd Weeks (Chairperson) Opinions expressed in papers published in the Proceedings are those of the authors and are not necessarily shared by the Editorial Committee. The Proceedings is produced in the Times Semitic New font, which was designed by Paul Bibire for the Seminar for Arabian Studies. © 2012 Archaeopress, Oxford, UK. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. ISSN 0308-8421 ISBN 978-1-905739-54-7 The Steering Committee of the Seminar for Arabian Studies is most grateful to the MBI Al Jaber Foundation for its continued generosity in making a substantial grant towards the running costs of the Seminar and the editorial expenses of producing the Proceedings. Contents Transliteration............................................................................................................................................................... iii Editor’s Foreword...........................................................................................................................................................v In memoriam Walter Dostal.......................................................................................................................................... ix Alessio Agostini, New perspectives on Minaean expiatory texts...................................................................................1 Andrew Blair, Derek Kennet & Sultan al-Duwīsh, Investigating an early Islamic landscape on Kuwait Bay: the archaeology of historical Kadhima.........................................................................................................................13 Federico Borgi, Elena Maini, Maurizio Cattani & Maurizio Tosi, The early settlement of HD-5 at RaΜs al-Дadd, Sultanate of Oman (fourth–third millennium BCE)......................................................................................................27 Guillaume Charloux, Known and unknown archaeological monuments in the Dūmat al-Jandal oasis in Saudi Arabia: a review..................................................................................................................................................41 Vincent Charpentier, Jean-François Berger, Rémy Crassard, Marc Lacaze† & Gourguen Davtian, Prehistory and palaeo-geography of the coastal fringes of the Wahiba Sands and Bar al-Hikman, Sultanate of Oman.....................57 William Deadman, Unlocking the Early Bronze Age: attempting to extract Umm an-Nar tombs from a remotely sensed Hafit dataset (poster).........................................................................................................................................79 Michele Degli Esposti & Carl Phillips, Iron Age impact on a Bronze Age archaeological landscape: results from the Italian Mission to Oman excavations at Salūt, Sultanate of Oman....................................................87 Yamandú Hilbert, Jeffrey Rose & Richard Roberts, Late Palaeolithic core-reduction strategies in Dhofar, Oman.........................................................................................................................................................101 Frédéric Imbert, Réflexions sur les formes de l’écrit à l’aube de l’Islam..................................................................119 Edward J. Keall, Getting to the bottom of Zabid: the Canadian Archaeological Mission in Yemen, 1982–2011......129 Lamya Khalidi, Krista Lewis & Bernard Gratuze, New perspectives on regional and interregional obsidian circulation in prehistoric and early historic Arabia...................................................................................................143 Romolo Loreto, The Saudi-Italian-French Archaeological Mission at Dūmat al-Jandal (ancient Adumatu). A first relative chronological sequence for Dūmat al-Jandal. Architecture and pottery............................................165 Mohammed Redha Ebrahim Hasan Mearaj, Excavation at the ‘Tree of Life’ site......................................................183 S. Méry, R. Besenval, M.J. Blackman & A. Didier, The origin of the third-millennium BC fine grey wares found in eastern Arabia..............................................................................................................................................195 M. Mouton, M. Tengberg, V. Bernard, S. Le Maguer, A. Reddy, D. Soulié, M. Le Grand & J. Goy, Building H at Mleiha: new evidence of the late pre-Islamic period D phase (PIR.D) in the Oman peninsula (second to mid-third century AD)...............................................................................................................................205 Sultan Muhesen, Faisal al-Naimi & Ingolf Thuesen, An overview of archaeology and heritage in Qatar...............223 Harry Munt, The construction of Medina’s earliest city walls: defence and symbol..................................................233 Faisal al-Naimi, Richard Cuttler, Ibrahim Ismail Alhaidous, Lucie Dingwall, Garry Momber, Sadd al-Naimi, Paul Breeze & Ahmed Ali al-Kawari, Landscape signatures and seabed characterization in the marine environment of north-west Qatar (poster)..................................................................................................................245 Vitaly Naumkin, Leonid Kogan & Dmitry Cherkashin (Moscow); AΉmad ΚĪsā al-DaΚrhī & ΚĪsa GumΚān al-DaΚrhī (Soqotra, Yemen), Towards an annotated corpus of Soqotri oral literature: the 2010 fieldwork season...........................................................................................................................................261 Andrew Petersen & Tony Grey, Palace, mosque, and tomb at al-RuwayΡah, Qatar................................................277 Timothy Power & Peter Sheehan, The origin and development of the oasis landscape of al-ΚAin (UAE).................291 Alessia Prioletta, Evidence from a new inscription regarding the goddess ΚΕ(t)rm and some remarks on the gender of deities in South Arabia.....................................................................................................................309 Gareth Rees, Faysal al-Naimi, Tobias Richter, Agnieszka Bystron & Alan Walmsley, Archaeological excavations at the settlement of al-FurayΉah (Freiha), north-west Qatar.................................................................319 Tobias Richter, Faisal Abdulla al-Naimi, Lisa Yeomans, Michael House, Tom Collie, Pernille Bangsgaard Jensen, Sandra Rosendahl, Paul Wordsworth & Alan Walmsley, The 2010–2011 excavation season at al-Zubārah, north-west Qatar (poster).......................................................................................................................331 Axelle Rougeulle, Thomas Creissen & Vincent Bernard, The Great Mosque of Qalhāt rediscovered. Main results of the 2008–2010 excavations at Qalhāt, Oman....................................................................................341 Eleanor M.L. Scerri, A new stone tool assemblage revisited: reconsidering the ‘Aterian’ in Arabia........................357 Gunnar Sperveslage & Ricardo Eichmann, Egyptian cultural impact on north-west Arabia in the second and first millennia BC........................................................................................................................................................371 Margarethe Uerpmann, Roland de Beauclair, Marc Händel, Adelina Kutterer, Elisabeth Noack & Hans-Peter Uerpmann, The Neolithic site FAY-NE15 in the central region of the Emirate of Sharjah (UAE).............................385 Brian Ulrich, KāΞimah remembered: historical traditions of an early Islamic settlement by Kuwait Bay................401 Abdol Rauh Yaccob, Yemeni opposition to Ottoman rule: an overview.....................................................................411 Titles of papers read at the Seminar for Arabian Studies held at the British Museum, London, on 28–30 July 2011.......................................................................................................................................421 Transliteration Transliteration From Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 39 onwards, the modified transliteration system shown below has been For in operation. further detailsAuthors should noteofthese on the submission changes papers and thewhen preparing preparation their manuscripts of papers for submission. for publication, authors are For further requested to details on the submission of papers and the preparation of papers for publication, authors are requested to consult and consult and follow the latest Guidelines for Authors which are available online at at www.thebfsa.org/pdfs/PSAS_guidelines_ follow the latest Guidelines for Authors which are available online at www.arabianseminar.org.uk. authors_april2012.pdf. Quotations, Quotations,single single words, words, and andphrases phrasesfrom from Arabic, Arabic, or other or other languages languages writtenwritten in non-Roman in non-Roman alphabets, alphabets, are transliterated are transliterated according according to the set to the systems systems set out below. out below.  • Personal Personal names, names, toponyms toponyms and other and words other wordswhich whichhave haveentered enteredEnglish EnglishororFrench Frenchininaaparticular particularform, form,should shouldbe beused usedin in that form when they occur in an English or French sentence, unless they are part of a quotation in the original language, that form when they occur in an English or French sentence, unless they are part of a quotation in the original language, or of a correctly transliterated name or phrase. In the latter cases, they should be correctly transliterated, even when they or ofinaan occur correctly Englishtransliterated name or phrase. In the latter cases, they should be correctly transliterated, even when they or French sentence. occur in an English or French sentence.  Names of sites, archaeological periods, types of pottery, which have entered archaeological usage in a particular form Names • should be ofused sites, in archaeological that form: Umm periods, types an-Nar, of pottery, Julfar which have ware, Mleiha, entered Rumeila, etc.archaeological usage (see Guidelines forinAuthors a particular form for more should details). be used in that form: Umm an-Nar, Julfar ware, etc. (and where appropriate the correctly transliterated form should be added in the first instance in any paper, see Guidelines for Authors for more details). The transliteration systemsare The transliteration systems areasasfollows: follows: (a)Arabic (a) Arabic ‫ء‬ Μ ‫ج‬ j ‫ذ‬ dh ‫ش‬ sh ‫ظ‬ Ξ ‫ق‬ q ‫ن‬ n (dh) (sh) ‫ب‬ b ‫ح‬ Ή ‫ر‬ r ‫ص‬ Β ‫ع‬ Κ ‫ك‬ k ‫ﻩ‬ h ‫ت‬ t ‫خ‬ kh ‫ز‬ z ‫ض‬ Ρ ‫غ‬ gh ‫ل‬ l ‫و‬ w (kh) (gh) ‫ث‬ th (th) ‫د‬ d ‫س‬ s ‫ط‬ Γ ‫ف‬ f ‫م‬ m ‫ي‬ y  Vowels: a i u ā ī ū. Diphthongs aw ay. • Vowels: Initial a i is hamzah u omitted. ā ī ū. Diphthongs aw ay.   • Initial hamzah is omitted. The lām of the article is not assimilated before the ‘sun letters’, thus al-shams not ash-shams.  • Alifhamzat The maqΒūrah is transliterated al-waΒl ā. of the articleasshould be shown after vowels except after the preposition li-, as in the Arabic script, • The e.g. lām of the fīΜl-bayt, wa-Μl-wazīr, article is but assimilated before the ‘sun letters’, thus al-shams not ash-shams. not li-l-wazīr. TāΜThe  • marbūΓah (‫ )ة‬should hamzat al-waΒl of be therendered -ah, except article should in a after be shown construct: vowelse.g. birkah, except zakāh, after and birkatli-, the preposition al-sibāΉah, zakāt al-fiΓr. as in the Arabic script, e.g. wa-Μl-wazīr, fīΜl-bayt, but li-l-wazīr. • TāΜ (b) Ancient marbūΓah North (‫ )ﺓ‬should and South be rendered -ah, except in a construct: e.g. birkah, zakāh, and birkat al-sibāΉah, zakāt al-fiΓr. Arabian (b) Ancient North and South Arabian Consonants: Consonants: Μ Μ bb tt ΕΕ ΉΉ gg ΟΟ d d Ψ Ψr rz z s¹ s¹s² s³ s² Βs³ Β ΡΡ ΓΓ ΞΞ ΚΚ ΈΈ ff qq k k l l m mn nh hw Y w y OtherSemitic (c)(c)Other Semiticlanguages languagesappear appearininthe thetransliteration transliterationsystems systemsoutlined outlinedininthe Bulletinofofthe theBulletin theAmerican American Schools Schools of of Oriental Oriental   Research226 Research 226(1986), (1986),p.p.3.3. (d) Persian, Urdu, and Ottoman Turkish as for Arabic with the additional letters transliterated according to the system in the (d) Persian, Urdu, and Ottoman Turkish as for Arabic with the additional letters transliterated according to the system in the Encyclopaedia of Islam (Third Edition) except that Σ is used instead of zh. These instructions are available online at www.brill.nl/ Encyclopaedia of Islam (Third Edition) except that Σ is used instead of zh. These instructions are available online at AuthorsInstructions/EI3P.pdf with information about the transliteration of Persian, Ottoman Turkish, modern Turkish, and Urdu on www.brill.nl/AuthorsInstructions/EI3P.pdf with information about the transliteration of Persian, Ottoman Turkish, modern p. 5 of this Turkish, and document. Urdu on p. 5 of this document. Note on Fonts Note on Fonts Electronic versions of papers being submitted for publication should be submitted in Times Semitic New 12-point font if at all Electronic versions possible, with of papers double-line beingon spacing submitted A4-paperfor publication size should and with 2.54 be submitted cm margins in Times all round. Semitic This font set isNew 12-point available fontdownload for free if at all possible, from thewith Thedouble-line spacing for British Foundation on A4-paper the Study size and withwebsite of Arabia’s 2.45 cm margins all round. This font set is available (www.athebfsa.org/PSAS_guidelines.html) for free along with the download from the Arabian Seminar website (www.arabianseminar.org.uk) along with the recommended Greek font set, called recommended Greek font set, called TimesClassicGreek (tmsrr_l.ttf‎). TimesClassicGreek (tmsrr_l.ttf). Editor’s Foreword The Seminar for Arabian Studies is the only international academic forum which meets annually for the presentation of research in the humanities on the Arabian Peninsula. It focuses on the fields of archaeology, architecture, art, epigraphy, ethnography, history, language, linguistics, literature, and numismatics from the earliest times to the present day. A wide range of original and stimulating papers presented at the Seminar is published in the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, reflecting the dynamism and scope of this interdisciplinary event. The Proceedings present the cutting edge of new research on Arabia and include reports of new discoveries in the Peninsula. They are published each spring in time for the subsequent Seminar held in July. We hope you find the papers in this volume fascinating. We encourage you to recommend the volume to your academic institutions and colleagues and look forward to further stimulating and informative Seminars. The Seminar in July 2011 comprised sessions on Palaeolithic and Neolithic Arabia; The Early Bronze Age and Bronze Age transformations in Arabia; late pre-Islamic Arabia; early Islamic and medieval Arabia; Islamic archaeology in Arabia; epigraphy and ancient Southern Arabia; and the literature and society of Arabia. A full list of all papers presented at the Seminar in July 2011 is provided at the end of this volume, but it is worth highlighting the impressive geographical distribution and chronological range of these papers, most of which are published in this volume of the Proceedings, which also includes notes in memoriam on Walter Dostal (1928– 2011), a constant and loyal supporter of the Seminar and one of the best-known representatives of the anthropological communities of Central Europe and the German-speaking countries in the last quarter of the twentieth century. He will be greatly missed. At the July 2011 Seminar there were several papers about connections between Arabia and Africa, including a re- examination of the evidence for the Aterian in Arabia from the perspective of the Saharo-Arabian corridor; and on the ancient Egyptian cultural impact on north-west Arabia in the second and first millennium BC. On Arabia in general, topics included third-millennium fine grey wares found in eastern Arabia; obsidian circulation in prehistoric and early historic Arabia; early graffiti from the first centuries of Islam; and the traditional Arabic poem as ritual. On South Arabia, contributors provided new evidence on the goddess ΚΕ(t)rm and some remarks on the gender of deities; new perspectives on a group of expiatory texts on the Minaean confession of sins from Barāqish, which usefully help better to define certain social and religious aspects in the first millennium BC; and on the South Arabian contribution to the making of Umayyad iconography. Papers about Bahrain covered topics that included pottery from QalΚat al-BaΉrayn and Dilmun during the late Early Dilmun period (post-‘IIc’); the fascinating ‘Tree of Life’ site; and settlement at al-Jaww from the late eighteenth century. Papers about Kuwait focused on KāΞimah and the early Islamic landscape in Kuwait Bay. Qatar has consistently been well represented in recent Seminar conferences with a dedicated focus session in 2009. In 2011 topics about Qatar covered an important ΚUbaid multi-occupational site at RaΜs ΚUshayriq in northern Qatar; a late Islamic palace, mosque, and tomb at al-RuwayΡah; settlement at al-FurayΉah (also known as Freiha), north-west Qatar, from the mid- seventeenth century; eighteenth- and nineteenth-century rural settlement in northern Qatar; as well as an overview of new directions for the archaeology of Qatar. Saudi Arabia was also very effectively represented. There were papers on the oasis of TaymāΜ in the second millennium BC; on Dūmat al-Jandal, the ancient Adummatu; an archaeological survey of the Farasan islands; and a delightful and informative paper on Medina’s first city wall. On the Sultanate of Oman, the chronological breadth of coverage was substantial. There were papers on the Late Palaeolithic of the Najd plateau, Dhofar; and on RaΜs al-Дadd in the late fifth to third millennium BC. There were accounts about the Early Bronze Age funerary archaeological landscape of the western part of JaΜalan region and of Wādī Дalfayn; the impact of Iron Age occupation on a Bronze Age archaeological landscape with results from excavations at Salūt; and on the prehistory and protohistory of the coastal fringes of the Wahiba Sands and Barr al-Дikmān. Topics also included the site of MulayΉah (also known as Mleiha) where the discovery of luxury goods indicated the affluence of its inhabitants and their integration into long-distance trade networks with southern Mesopotamia, the Levant, and Editor’s Foreword the Indo-Pakistani area from the beginning of its occupation in the late third century BC; and another well-argued paper on the rediscovery of the Great Mosque of Qalhāt. There were several papers about the United Arab Emirates: a Neolithic site in the Sharjah Emirate; excavations at Tell Abraq (Sharjah); the rise and ruin of Julfār al-Nudūd, Julfār, RaΜs al-Khaimah, the only medieval port site and urban settlement on the Arabian shore of the lower Gulf between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries AD; and the settlement patterns and foreign contacts of the Islamic period al-ΚAin oases. A major highlight at the Seminar was the delightful paper given by Saif bin Aboud Al-Bedwawi about dibs of Arabia, the date-syrup industry in the old Emirates, complete with samples for the audience to enjoy. Topics of papers on Yemen included the Himyarite capital Нafar in al-Najd region with a focus on the latest centuries of the Himyarite empire (AD 270–525) and the late and post-Himyarite period (AD 525–632); the history of medieval Zabīd; fortified Islamic sites of the Dhamār basin in the central highlands; and Yemeni’s opposition to Ottoman rule, a topic of interrelationships that has yet to be explored in more depth. There was also a commentary on Soqotri folk literature. Most intriguing and informative was a paper on the restoration of the mosques of SāΉ and ΚAynāt in Wādī ДaΡramawt by Salma Samar Damluji. This year, a stimulating topic, ‘From the capital of Petra to the provincial city of Hegra: new insights on the Nabataeans’, was the subject of the MBI Al Jaber Foundation Annual Lecture at the British Museum. It was given by Laïla Nehmé, a Nabataean specialist and epigrapher, who has been working in the Middle East for the last twenty-five years, and is a member of the team Mondes sémitiques of the Laboratoire ‘Orient & Méditerranée’ (Université Paris IV, Université Paris 1, École Pratique des Hautes Études). In 2008, a French-Saudi team began archaeological excavations at the site of MadāΜin СāliΉ, the former city of Hegra, in north-west Saudi Arabia. We anticipate that fascinating results of the excavations at Hegra will be presented at conferences of the Seminar in future years. A special session on the Nabataeans was included in the Seminar programme in July 2011, resulting in a Special Supplement entitled The Nabataeans in Focus: Current Archaeological Research at Petra. Papers from the Special Session of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held on 29 July 2011, which has been edited most diligently by Laïla Nehmé and Lucy Wadeson. Lucy Wadeson is the G.A. Wainwright Postdoctoral Fellow at the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford and the Director of the Funerary Topography of Petra Project (FTPP) and of the International al-Khubtha Tombs Project (IKTP) in Petra. The Supplement is testament to the notable expansion in Nabataean studies and the increased interest in Petra. Papers present the latest results of new projects and studies, which focus on little- studied aspects of Petra and Nabataean society. The Proceedings appear on schedule as a result of intense and effective cooperation between the editorial and production team, the Editorial and Steering Committees, peer reviewers, and the many contributors to the volume. The energy of the authors and their efficient cooperation, which are to be applauded, have enabled the production schedule with its very tight deadlines to remain on track. This is particularly impressive when authors are often in the Middle East undertaking fieldwork in very remote locations. In addition, excitingly, Archaeopress is including some colour images in the Proceedings for the second year running. Another much welcomed development! All papers are subject to rigorous peer review in order to maintain the highest academic standards and meet criteria laid down for publication, and therefore not all the papers that are offered are accepted for publication. We are indebted to a wide range of excellent expert peer reviewers. Their rigour, attention to detail, and enthusiasm means that the standard of the papers published is improving year by year. The Proceedings also benefit from the support of enthusiastic and diligent Editorial and Steering Committees, which provide an extended range of expertise and support. Apart from the Editorial Committee which includes professional academics of the highest standing in their respective fields, the editorial team includes our copy-editor, Helen Knox, whose attention to detail and cheerful and patient disposition cannot be faulted and is much appreciated. Paul Starkey has kindly continued to check any Arabic transliteration queries, for which many thanks. The professionalism and kindness of Rajka Makjanic of Archaeopress, who is always ready to sort out production issues with enthusiasm, are also really appreciated. The amount of time- consuming attention to detail and accuracy dedicated by the team cannot be overestimated, as previous editors of the Proceedings can also attest. As one example, over the last four years there has been considerable time and effort invested in providing as correct and consistent a transliteration of place and personal names as possible, as well as a really thorough provision of correct publication details for cited references: time and effort that has been well spent vi Editor’s Foreword and should provide useful starting points for future research — for there is so much more waiting to be discovered about Arabia. Dr Ardle MacMahon, the Secretary for the Seminar, and Lloyd Weeks, the Seminar Chairperson, also provide excellent logistical support. Thanks are also due to Guillaume Charloux for providing a delightful image of QaΒr Mārid, the fortress dominating the palm grove and the ancient villages of Dūmat al-Jandal oasis (north-west Saudi Arabia) looking south, for the cover of this edition (©Dūmat al-Jandal Archaeological Project). I am very pleased to announce that there has been an exciting new development which should be much appreciated by anyone researching aspects of Arabia that are covered by the Seminar. From February 2012, past papers that were published in the Proceedings are now available online through JSTOR. This followed discussions between Rob Carter and myself with Archaeopress: we are indebted to Dr David Davison of Archaeopress who made all the necessary arrangements and to Derek Kennet and Michael Macdonald for arranging their initial digitization. It is also possible to buy a CD-ROM containing the entire Proceedings up to 2007 as searchable PDF files. For details, please contact Archaeopress ([email protected]). Another important development is that from late 2012, the existing Seminar for Arabian Studies website will cease to operate. All Seminar-related information has been migrated onto the website of the newly established charitable organization, the British Foundation for the Study of Arabia (BFSA; www.thebfsa.org). All necessary information regarding the Seminar can be found on the relevant Seminar and Publications pages of the BFSA website, including the annually updated Guidelines for Authors and Guidelines for Editors and the Times Semitic New font that is used by most contributors to the Proceedings. From July 2012, the traditional ‘slash’ method for including symbols and diacriticals will no longer be used. Authors should note too that the recommended Greek font is also available online. For more information about the Seminar for Arabian Studies please visit the website of The British Foundation for the Study of Arabia (BFSA) or contact: Dr Ardle MacMahon (Secretary), Seminar for Arabian Studies, The British Museum, c/o Department of the Middle East, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG, UK. E-mail: seminar.arab@ durham.ac.uk. Janet C.M. Starkey Editor of the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies Honorary Research Fellow, Department of Archaeology, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK e-mail [email protected] vii Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 42 (2012): 401–410 KāΞimah remembered: historical traditions of an early Islamic settlement by Kuwait Bay Brian Ulrich Summary Medieval Arabic sources contain multiple references to KāΞimah, a settlement area on Kuwait Bay in the early Islamic period to which modern Kuwaitis look for a pre-modern heritage. The two most celebrated, involving a tryst between a pre-Islamic poet and a Lakhmid princess and the Battle of Dhāt al-Salāsil during the Islamic conquests, are almost certainly not factual accounts. Geographical sources from the third/ninth century, however, provide an interesting portrayal of the area during its most developed phase and its relationships with other areas. In addition, accounts rooted in tribal tradition allow educated guesses as to population movements in the area from the eve of Islam until the third/ninth century. These indicate long-term patterns of both northward migration from Arabia into Mesopotamia and a process of settlement some time after the rise of Islam. Keywords: KāΞimah, Tamīm, Bakr b. WāΜil, Islamic conquests, travel routes In Kuwait today, the historical region of KāΞimah plays Shaykh Дusayn Khalaf KhazΚal provided a more thorough an important role as a claimed cultural antecedent for the treatment, mentioning many of the historical traditions modern state. Indeed in Kuwait International Airport, one about KāΞimah found in the classical Arabic sources sees a branch of That Al Salasil, a retailing, publishing, (KhazΚal 1962, i: 21–24). and travel firm which takes its name from a battle (Dhāt In his monograph KāΞimah fī al-adab wa al-taΜrīkh al-Salāsil) reportedly fought at the site at the beginning of (KāΞimah in Literature and History), YaΚqūb Yūsuf al- the Arab conquests, while the prominent Kazma Sporting Ghunaym suggested that there were really two periods of Club cites the location’s significance in Kuwaiti history Kuwaiti history, one in which it was known as KāΞimah as the motive for taking the name (Kazma Sporting Club and the Kuwaiti phase (al-Ghunaym YY 1958: 4). For 2011). In 1948, the first magazine published in Kuwait AΉmad ΚAbd Allah al-ΚAlī, KāΞimah is simply an earlier was named KāΞimah (Anonymous 2001: 7). ΚAbd al- name for modern Kuwait (al-ΚAlī 2002: 14). Al-Ghunaym Azīz al-Rashīd, Kuwait’s first modern historian, briefly also suggested that the remains at JahrāΜ and al-Сubiyyah mentions the Dhāt al-Salāsil engagement, as well as represented those associated with the historical accounts KāΞimah’s occurrence in medieval Arabic literary and of KāΞimah (al-Ghunaym YY 1958: 75–78). Shaykh geographical sources, and says that nomadic Arabs used KhazΚal noted ruins at al-Сubiyyah which he said were it as autumn and winter pasture because of its wells and the remnants of a city settled after the destruction of location near the road to southern Iraq (al-Rashīd 1936: the Tower of Babel whose inhabitants remained there 105). In a work by Sayf al-Shamlān, which is still used as until moving to Khuzistan during the Umayyad period a textbook in Kuwaiti schools, KāΞimah is one of several (KhazΚal 1962, i: 20–21).1 He also said that at JahrāΜ there places mentioned for their importance in the history of were remnants of a pre-Islamic maritime village under early Islamic Kuwait (Louër 2008: 54; al-Shamlān 1959: rubble, as well as old coins and graves which were found 36). Al-Shamlān identifies the location with the region when digging wells, forming altogether a settlement of Kuwait’s second city JahrāΜ (Jahrah in some older zone extending around two parasangs (sg. farsakh, pl. works) near the south-western edge of Kuwait Bay (Fig. farāsikh) (12 km) from north to south and one and a half 1) and discusses its association with Arabic poets and the Battle of Dhāt al-Salāsil (al-Shamlān 1959: 86–87). In his 1 For a recent summary of survey and excavation in that area, see Carter TaΜrīkh al-kuwayt al-siyāsī (Political History of Kuwait), & Crawford 2010. 402 Brian Ulrich Figure 1. Approximate location of places mentioned in the text. (© Google Earth). parasangs (9 km) from east to west. Al-Rashīd mentioned for literary effect or to make authors’ political and moral the presence at JahrāΜ of tombs and buried baked bricks points. On the other hand, the third/ninth century saw (al-Rashīd 1936: 58; KhazΚal 1962, i: 25). Al-Shamlān the emergence of a geographical literature, which while cited these remains as evidence for his connection serving literary functions often had a practical aspect as between JahrāΜ and KāΞimah, saying also that agriculture well, particularly in its route guides. The archaeologically had destroyed archaeological remnants at a place called rich second/eighth century is unfortunately little dealt al-Khuwaysāt between JahrāΜ and KāΞimah (al-Shamlān with in these sources. However, especially in the context 1959: 86–87; al-Ghunaym YY 2004: 102, 123). Then in of excavated remains, possible trajectories of change can 2002, Sultan al-Duwīsh discovered an excavation site be charted by comparing the pre-Islamic and third/ninth- north of al-Khuwaysāt in the area today called KāΞimah, century material. and published a book adding his finds to the existing historical studies (Kennet et al. 2011: 161; al-Duwīsh 2005). Al-Duwīsh’s discovery prompted the initiation of Geography of KāΞimah the ‘Kadhima Project’, with which the present research is associated. One way to look at KāΞimah geographically is as an area The purpose of this paper is to review the references of sufficient groundwater to support extensive settlement, to and accounts of KāΞimah in written sources from the similar to al-Yamāmah only smaller. This historic region early Islamic period. These are extant from the third/ninth of KāΞimah was much larger than the site known today century and later, and concern two periods. The most by that name. In works describing roads, KāΞimah is often substantial accounts deal with the immediate pre-Islamic mentioned as a stop, indicating the term could refer to a decades and the Islamic conquests. This material was of specific settlement. Two examples of this usage are found interest for the construction of a historical and literary in Ibn Khurdādhbih, director of the caliphal messenger heritage for the Islamic community and the Arab elites of system (barīd) who published a directory of its routes the caliphate. However, it was often dramatically worked around 870 CE (Ibn Khurdādhbih 1889: 151, 193). Al- KāΞimah remembered: historical traditions of an early Islamic settlement by Kuwait Bay 403 Hamdānī mentions it along with Oman, Bahrain, and Basra wa al-masālik, which places KāΞimah on the road to as forming the eastern border of the Arabian Peninsula, al-Yamāmah, but not on that to Mecca (1977: 50–51). but these are clearly guide points for a line rather than This is also what we see in Ibn Khurdādhbih and Ibn contiguous regions. Later he mentions it as a place between Rustih, although the latter does not include KāΞimah on Safwān (near modern Сafwān) and al-QaΓīf, which are the route to al-Yamāmah, and in fact follows the Wādī both settlements (al-Hamdānī 1993: 56, 69, 85). Al-Bakrī, al-BāΓin before breaking away from the hajj road (Ibn however, mentions villages named Thahlal and Khurram Khurdādhbih 1889: 146, 151; Ibn Rustih 1967: 180, 184). as being at KāΞimah, suggesting a broader region with Ibrāhīm al-Дarbī, a Hadith specialist who died in 285/898, named settlements within it (al-Bakrī 1945–1951, i: 347; ii: provides more detail on the northern branches, saying the 493). Al-ΚAdān, which generically is today’s south-eastern roads to Mecca and al-Yamāmah forked at Safwān, and Kuwait, is also sometimes reported as part of KāΞimah (al- that there was another fork at KāΞimah between roads Ghunaym YY 1997: 10-12). headed to al-Yamāmah and Yemen. He also says that the In a tale set during the reign of the Lakhmid ruler al- Кarīq al-Munkadir passed through al-Сammān, which he NuΚmān, KāΞimah is said to be a hollow or valley (jawf) placed in the Wādī al-BāΓin, as well as al-Dawwah, and (Abū al-Faraj al-IΒfahānī 1927–1961, xiii: 22), while it that this route was very dry. His information is somewhat is also described as having a ‘gap’ (naqb) from which confused, however, as he also reports a route from Basra one descends (Abū al-Faraj al-IΒfahānī 1970–1974, xviii: through the Wādī al-BāΓin using the same toponyms as 17). Lughdah al-IΒfahānī reports that coming from the other sources (al-Дarbī 1969: 573–578). Lughdah al- south, one passes through a region called al-Mukhārim IΒfahānī indicates that there were two routes from Mecca before descending to KāΞimah, and that there was a to Basra, a desert route passing through the Wādī al-BāΓin second downward passage into the region as well (al- and an easier one through KāΞimah, al-Сammān, and al- IΒfahānī L 1968: 320–321). One of the more important Dawwah, with the name ‘Кarīq al-Munkadir’ applying to area heights, said to be in the middle of KāΞimah, was the latter (Lughdah al-IΒfahānī 1968: 338). Al-Dawwah called al-Maqarr and had the grave of Ghālib b. СaΚΒaΚah, is probably a large ridge or hill in modern al-Dibdibah, father of the poet al-Farazdaq (Yāqūt 1990, v: 203). so this route seems similar to Lorimer’s route between Al-Ghunaym was uncertain where exactly this was, but Kuwait City and Дafar BāΓin as well as modern Kuwait’s suggested Amghīrah on the north shore of Kuwait Bay Highway 70 (al-Ghunaym YY 2004: 123; Lorimer 1970, west of Kuwait City and east of modern KāΞimah (al- ii/b: 1072–1073). Ghunaym YY 1958: 73; 2004: 111). Another important Of places along the Wādī al-BāΓin route, al-Ghunaym landmark was the mountain al-RaΉā, identified with identifies al-RuΉayl with the place of the same name today, al-RaΉiyyah just south-west of JahrāΜ (2004: 125). The and Shajiyyah with Shaqāyā in the far west of Kuwait (al- al-NuΚmān-period description also describes KāΞimah Ghunaym YY 2004: 130). A place called al-Дufayr was as filled with merchants and pilgrims (Ήujjāj) (Abū al- located 28 Arab miles north of al-RuΉayl and either 18 or Faraj al-IΒfahānī 1927–1961, xiii: 22). The latter may 30 Arab miles from Basra, which in early Islamic times refer to some pre-Islamic pilgrimage, but more likely it was centred near modern al-Zubayr, about 20 km south- represents a stylized description of the area current in the west of today’s Basra (Pellat & Longrigg 1960: 1085). He Abbasid period. KāΞimah is not known as a pre-Islamic did not suggest a specific site for al-Дufayr, but placed it in commercial centre, but the presence of merchants is the far north-west along the border with Iraq (al-Ghunaym mentioned by Lughdah al-IΒfahānī (1968: 321). YY 1998: 91). Al-Bakrī reported its inhabitants as the The sources are complicated regarding KāΞimah’s Banū ΚAnbar (1945–1951, ii: 459). Yāqūt’s source lists it as relationship with hajj routes. In MuΚjam mā istaΚjam, al- the first watering place in the Wādī al-BāΓin along the hajj Bakrī says that it was on the Кarīq al-Munkadir, the hajj road from Basra, while Ibn al-Athīr placed it near a hillock road that passed through Basra to Arabia from its northern called al-СaΉΒaΉān (Yāqūt 1990, ii: 320; Ibn al-Athīr 1870, terminus at a place called ‘al-Munkadir’ somewhere i: 507). It seems safe to identify it with the archaeological in Iraq (al-Bakrī 1945–1951, iv: 1109). Other sources, site of BaΉrah Дūshān, especially since the Arab mile, however, claim the road from Basra to Mecca went down while usually about 2 km, was an inexact unit probably the Wādī al-BāΓin that today forms the boundary between tied to estimated travel times more than specific distances. Iraq and Kuwait, and that only the route to eastern The presence there of fired bricks typical of Iraq could Arabia passed through KāΞimah. Al-Bakrī himself gives indicate the attention of Basran governors and notables to the latter picture in another work, his Kitāb al-mamālik maintaining the hajj route. 404 Brian Ulrich Battle of Dhāt al-Salāsil edited al-Кabarī 1993) suggests that, ‘Probably Sayf has only taken a popular etymology that would suggest itself for that battle and created another battle out of it’ (al- Material in al-Кabarī attributed to Sayf b. ΚUmar (d. Кabarī 1993: 13 n. 86). 180/796) represents the only source for a battle at The most likely reason for Sayf relocating Dhāt al- KāΞimah during the Islamic conquests. According to Salāsil to KāΞimah is to add to the glorification of Khālid Sayf, in 12/633, after Khālid b. al-Walīd had suppressed b. al-Wālid. Sayf’s history of the conquests generally the Ridda movement in al-Yamāmah, the caliph Abū Bakr promotes a proto-Sunni agenda, as part of which he ordered him to invade Iraq, beginning with al-Ubullah, focused on the virtues of the Companions of the Prophet, a port at the head of the Persian Gulf. He was also to the ones who had chosen Abū Bakr as the first caliph and meet another general at the Lakhmid capital al-Дīrah, were thus reviled by Shi’ites for denying the claims of with the one who arrived there first earning overall ΚAlī. He also displays a regional loyalty to lower Iraq and command. Abū Bakr also ordered Khālid to allow any a desire to glorify his own Tamīm tribal grouping (1993: who wished to leave his forces and return home. The xix–xxii). Blankinship has noted that Sayf moved the general did so, was abandoned by the people of Medina, Battle of al-Yarmūk two years earlier than all other sources and had to be reinforced by a man named al-QaΚqaΚ b. have it so as to accommodate his claim that Khālid had ΚAmr al-Tamīmī. Khālid then divided his troops into three led that important victory before his dismissal by ΚUmar, groups, intending to rendezvous at al-Дufayr. The Persian the second caliph (1993: xvii–xviii). Something similar commander, Hurmuz, initially went to KāΞimah, but has happened with Dhāt al-Salāsil, which also probably learning of Khālid’s plans, headed to al-Дufayr himself. serves as a moral fable in presenting the Persians as When Khālid learned of this, he in turn began heading having to chain themselves together to avoid desertion for KāΞimah, news of which led Hurmuz to head back to while the Arabs fought willingly and valiantly. The KāΞimah, which he reached first, seizing the areas that reference to the people of Medina leaving Khālid also had water. The Persians chained themselves together so fits this agenda, as that city was long a centre of support as to prevent anyone fleeing, which they had also begun for ΚAlī and his descendants, while al-QaΚqaΚ b. ΚAmr al- doing at al-Дufayr. When the Muslims arrived, they Tamīmī, who takes their place and whose exploits are attacked and defeated the Persians, and Khālid killed at the least exaggerated, was a member of Sayf’s own Hurmuz in single combat despite treachery on the part Usayyid lineage (1993: 8 n. 56). of the latter’s bodyguards. This battle, which opened the way to al-Ubullah, was called Dhāt al-Salāsil after the Building activity at KāΞimah Persians’ chains (al-Кabarī 1993: 7–14; 1879–1901, i: 2020–2026). Both medieval and modern scholars have regarded The idea of a Lakhmid fort at KāΞimah comes from the Sayf b. ΚUmar as a controversial source for early Islamic account of the poet al-Muraqqash the Younger in Abū history (Anthony 2010: 167–173). Unusually, al-Кabarī al-Faraj al-IΒfahānī’s Kitāb al-aghānī (Book of Songs). himself interjects an assessment that his account of this According to this account the Lakhmid ruler al-Mundhir campaign is untrue (al-Кabarī 1993: 14–15; 1879–1901, III put his daughter FāΓimah bt. al-Mundhir under guard i: 2025–2026). Numerous other sources report a Battle in a fortress (qaΒr) at KāΞimah, along with a serving girl of Dhāt al-Salāsil in 8/629, with this one taking its name called Bint ΚAjlān. The purpose of this was to prevent from a place somewhat north of Wādī Qurā or in the lands men from interacting with his daughter, but Bint ΚAjlān of the Judhām, who were Byzantine allies inhabiting the was able to slip out at night and, carrying them on her steppes between Arabia and Syria (Pourshariati 2008: back so as to leave no extra tracks, bring men from 193; Bosworth 1965: 573; al-Wāqidī 1966, ii: 769–774; among those at the waters to spend the night with the Ibn SaΚd 1905–1940, ii: 94–95, 134; vi: 45; vii: 188; princess. Al-Muraqqash was stopping to graze his camels al-Balādhurī 1959, i: 380–381; Yāqūt 1990, iii: 263; when FāΓimah spied him from the top of the fortress. al-Bakrī 1945–1951, iii: 744–745). Sayf also portrays After being particularly aroused by his grooming habits, Hurmuz as corresponding during the campaign with FāΓimah requested that Bint ΚAjlān bring him to her. Al- Shīrūyih Qubād and Ardashīr III, Sasanian rulers from Muraqqash then began having regular sexual intercourse 628 to 630 (Pourshariati 2008: 191–192; al-Кabarī 1993: with both women until his friend and kinsman ΚAmr 11; 1879–1901, i: 2023). Khalid Yahya Blankinship (who b. ΚAwf, on learning of what he was doing, threatened KāΞimah remembered: historical traditions of an early Islamic settlement by Kuwait Bay 405 blackmail if he did not get to take the poet’s place for prominence Lughdah al-IΒfahānī attaches to the structure, a night. After some anguish al-Muraqqash agreed, but ‘fortress’ is also the probable sense of the ribāΓ which al- FāΓimah learned of the deception and declared she would Дarbī mentioned as located at the intersection of the roads not see him again. Al-Muraqqash, before he left and to Bahrain and al-Yamāmah, although more broadly that feeling guilty, gave her some camels (Abū al-Faraj al- term could relate to any fortified edifice, and was also used IΒfahānī 1927–1961, vi: 136–139). of observation towers and secure caravanserais (al-Дarbī This is clearly a story meant to contextualize poetry in 1969: 573; Chabbi & Rabbat 1995: 499–501; Musarwa an entertaining fashion, and its value is almost exclusively 2006: 63–83, 109–110). Rabbat has described the typical to illuminate Abbasid visions of the Lakhmids and late layout as fortified enclosures with a gateway entering pre-Islamic Arabia. Caskel even asserts that the poet in onto a courtyard surrounded by rooms, stables, and often question never existed (1965: 963). There are, however, a mosque (Chabbi & Rabbat 1995: 506). A connection two possible connections to other material. One is that, between KāΞimah and weaponry is also mentioned in al- according to a line of poetry, ΚAbd Allāh b. ΚAbbās b. Bakrī, who reports from an authority on literature named ΚAlī stayed in a ruined qaΒr at KāΞimah while travelling YaΚqūb b. al-Sikkīt (d. 244/858) that KāΞimah’s water was from Basra to Mecca during the caliphate of ΚAlī b. Abī used to refine iron, referencing a line by the Umayyad- Кālib (Ibn ΚAbd Rabbih 1953, v: 99). This could be just period poet al-BaΚīth of the MujāshiΚ b. Dārim of Tamīm a flight of poetic fancy, perhaps recollecting the story of that swords were sent to KāΞimah for that purpose (al- al-Muraqqash and FāΓimah. If it does refer to an actual Bakrī 1945–1951, iv: 1110; al-Ghunaym YY 1958: 11 n. incident, the qaΒr here is almost certainly not a palace 3; al-Ghunaym ΚAY 1996: 76–77; Ibn Durayd 1958: 241). in the later Abbasid sense. One possibility would be something more like a fortified tribal compound, which was important in both Arabia and the Lakhmid capital The inhabitants of KāΞimah of al-Hīrah (Conrad 1981: 18–22). Another possible meaning, suggested by Garth Fowden in the context of Nomadic Bakr b. WāΜil seem to have entered north- Syria and Jordan, is a ‘country residence’ of some notable, eastern Arabia in the early sixth century, following the usually taking the form of a large courtyard dwelling Taghlib b. WāΜil, who entered the Euphrates region. The (Fowden 2005: 274–247). Bakr at that time, however, went no farther than what The second potential connection to other sources is is now Kuwait and maintained a north–south migration that al-Muraqqash the Younger was a member of the pattern along the shores of the Persian Gulf. Both Bakr Qays b. ThaΚlabah (Abū al-Faraj al-IΒfahānī 1927–1961, and Taghlib seem to have been important supporters of vi: 127; al-ΚAwtabī 2006, i: 172; Ibn Дazm 1962: 319). the Kindah who became powerful in northern Arabia This lineage was also mentioned in an account attributed during that period, and members of the Bakr subgroup to Abū ΚUbaydah according to which Ziyād b. Abīhi, the Shaybān are portrayed as close to the Kindah leader Дujr Umayyad caliph MuΚāwiyah’s viceroy in the east, sent a at the Battle of Bardān. The Bakr b. WāΜil’s old lands to man named ΚAlī b. Zahdam to seek the poet al-Farazdaq the south-west were taken over by the Tamīm, and later in the dwelling place of a Christian woman named Bint in the sixth century Tamīm also became interspersed with Marrār of the Qays b. ThaΚlabah who lived in the qaΒbah their new pastures. After a period of peace, Tamīm began of KāΞimah. Other sources, however, claim that she was to come into conflict with the Bakr at the end of the sixth from the Banū ΚIjl, who like the Qays b. ThaΚlabah were century (Caskel 1960: 963; Lecker 2005: 39; Ibn al-Athīr from the Bakr b. WāΜil (Anon. 1905–1912, ii: 611).2 1870, i: 507). Ibn ΚAbd Rabbih includes a lengthy section QaΒbah here clearly refers to a fortified settlement that of battles between the Bakr b. WāΜil and Tamīm (Ibn ΚAbd may have served as the chief town of an ill-defined region Rabbih 1953: vi, 38–59). According to Abū ΚUbaydah, rather than the primarily military outpost connoted by the before Islam the Bakr b. WāΜil used to graze their herds English ‘fort’ (Miquel & Deverdun 1978: 684–685). in and raid Tamīm lands during bad years (1953, vi: 53). Lughdah al-IΒfahāni mentions a structure at KāΞimah, During the early first/seventh century, the Bakr entered which can clearly be translated by the English ‘fort’ (ΉiΒn) lower Iraq, which the Taghlib had abandoned, and also in which were stored weapons such that it was ready for fought the Tamīm there (1953, vi: 55). enemies at all times (al-IΒfaΉanī L 1968: 321). Given the Al-Bakrī says that KāΞimah was among the waters of the Bakr b. WāΜil group of Banū Shaybān, and a 2 This accepts the reading of the text’s quΒaybah offered by Y. al-Ghunaym. tradition that the Prophet MuΉammad liked to graze 406 Brian Ulrich his camels with the people of KāΞimah is attributed to in the area, and were part of an alliance of minor Tamīm one Abū ΚAmr al-Shaybānī, indicating that the group groups called the al-Дishshān (al-Ghunaym YY 2004: 70; was promoting its reputation (al-Bakrī 1945–1951, iv: Lecker 2005: 64). Yāqūt placed al-Maqarr in the lands of 1110; Ibn SaΚd 1905–1940, vi: 70). Caskel located their the Banū Dārim, the dominant lineage among the Mālik range as north and south of KāΞimah, whereas Donner b. ДanΞalah b. Mālik b. Zayd Manāt (Yāqūt 1990, v: placed them primarily in southern Iraq on the right bank 203; Lecker 2005: 61–62). The MujāshiΚ in particular are of the Euphrates and extending towards the Persian Gulf probably associated with the area, as they were the group (Caskel 1960: 963; Donner 1980: 22). As with most to which al-Farazdaq belonged and, as noted above, al- tribes, it included both settled and nomadic elements, but Farazdaq’s father was buried at al-Maqarr (al-Ghunaym it had a dominant nomadic component which gave it the YY 2004: 69; Ibn Durayd 1958: 240). Interspersed with reputation as the leading group within the Bakr b. WāΜil the Tamīm throughout the region were the Џabbah, part (Donner 1980: 22–23). Some of them became Christians, of a confederacy called the al-Ribāb which was allied and many Shaybāni leaders maintained close ties to the with the Banū SaΚd (Caskel 1965: 71). Shortly before the Lakhmids and Sasanians despite fighting the latter in the coming of Islam, they killed the Shaybānī hero BisΓām much-remembered Battle of Dhū Qār (1980: 26–29). b. Qays (1965: 72). Bistām raided Tamīm and Џibbah Although some Shaybānīs supported the early Islamic groups living in the deserts around the Wādī al-BāΓin (Ibn armies, those which were most powerful during the pre- ΚAbd Rabbih 1953: 47). Islamic period opposed them (1980: 30). In 65/684, the Kharijite leader Najdah sent someone The Qays b. ThaΚlabah mentioned above were also to collect taxes from the Bedouin, and at KāΞimah he was part of Bakr b. WāΜil, and both Caskel and Donner attacked by Tamīm (Ibn al-Athīr 1870, iv: 203). This does place them primarily along the shores of the Gulf in not mean that the Tamīm lived at KāΞimah, however, as northern Bahrain (Caskel 1960: 963; Donner 1980: 18). it could simply have been an administrative centre where If the Christian woman was Qaysi, it may indicate that taxes were collected from the Bedouin as well as the some had moved to KāΞimah, or she may have been a inhabitants. Writing in the third/ninth century, Lughdah dependent or widow. The Qays b. ThaΚlabah were also al-IΒfahānī says that most of the people of KāΞimah part of an alliance called the Lahāzim, which probably were of Tamīm origin (1968: 321). The larger regional formed during the sixth century to defend against the picture renders plausible a scenario where KāΞimah was increasingly aggressive Tamīm in al-Dawwah and al- controlled by the Bakr b. WāΜil on the eve of Islam, which Сammān (Donner 1980: 17–18). They also generally was al-Bakrī’s primary interest, but was overtaken by the opposed the spread of Islam (1980: 32). Abū al-Faraj al- Tamīm by the time of the geographers. As noted above, IΒfahānī also includes a story in which two members of over the long term Tamīm had followed Bakr towards the Bakr tribe of ΚIjl were killed in KāΞimah during the north-eastern Arabia. Al-Ghunaym notes poetry that reign of the Lakhmid ruler al-NuΚmān (Abū al-Faraj al- indicates that al-Sayyidān was at one time controlled by IΒfahānī 1927–1961, xiii: 21). The ΚIjl were also of the the Bakr b. WāΜil (al-Ghunaym YY 1998: 67). At some Lahāzim, and Donner placed them near the Shaybān point, the Shaybān claimed Safwān, but their attempt to along the right bank of the Euphrates, from the head of drive the Banū Māzun from it failed (Ibn ΚAbd Rabbih the Persian Gulf and extending south-west into the desert 1953, vi: 51). Bakr b. WāΜil also controlled the twin (Donner 1980: 17, 20–21). Many ΚIjlis were Christians at villages of Nabāj and Thaytal before Qays b. ΚAΒim the time of the Islamic conquests (1980: 26). al-Minqarī led its conquest by the Banū SaΚd (Anon. Most of the Tamīm in the area belonged to the SaΚd b. 1905–1912, ii: 1023–1025; al-Balādhurī 1978, viia: Zayd Manāt. Al-Sayyidān, the currently uninhabited wadi 44–45). Caskel mentions that after the coming of Islam, known as al-Sadah in central Kuwait was among their the Shaybān migrated towards Kufa and further north in winter pastures and had enclosures for both sheep and Mesopotamia, and that Bakr b. WāΜil disappeared from camels (al-Ghunaym YY 2004: 127; al-Bakrī 1945–1951, the area around Basra (Caskel 1960: 964). iii: 771; Anon. 1905–1912, i: 482). Of their subgroups, Such a process of displacement need not have been the Banū Minqar are associated with al-RaΉā, the Banū violent or complete. In addition, it is unlikely we would RubīΚah with a watering place still named after them, detect it in the archaeological record. Although the and the Banū Дimmān with the villages of al-Nabāj and Tamīm were considered the camel nomads of pre-Islamic Thaytal in al-Сammān (al-Ghunaym YY 2004: 69–72). Arabia par excellence, by the time Ibn SaΚīd wrote in the Banū Дirmāz from the Mālik b. ΚAmr b. Tamīm were also seventh/thirteenth century, the Tamīm in Arabia largely KāΞimah remembered: historical traditions of an early Islamic settlement by Kuwait Bay 407 resided in settlements (ΉawāΡir and qurā) and their perspective on the Islamic conquests. Furthermore, the pastures had been taken over by the Qays ΚAylān and period immediately after those conquests saw an increase КayyiΚ (Ibn SaΚīd 1982, i: 415). Michael Lecker suggests, in permanent settlement and commercial activity, as well based on genealogical sources, that most Tamīm, as the building of larger structures, at least one of which including those from some of the groups discussed probably had a military function. Further excavations can here, remained nomadic immediately after Islam (2005: reveal more about these developments, illuminating both 67–68). That does not mean all did, and settlement could their physical manifestations and aspects of the region’s have begun as early as the second/eighth century. One past that lie outside the interests of the extant written possible interpretation of Area E at KāΞimah is that new material. tribal subgroups settled there, building new collections of permanent structures to create the vast site we have today. Acknowledgements Conclusion Thanks are due to Derek Kennet for inviting me to The two most famous accounts involving KāΞimah, the participate in the Kadhima Project, as well as the many Battle of Dhāt al-Salāsil and the story of al-Muraqqash team members who welcomed me and with whom I the Younger and FāΓimah, are literary inventions. have had profitable conversations. Thanks also to the Nonetheless, the written sources can contribute to staff of the Center for Research and Studies on Kuwait our understanding of the Kuwait Bay area in the early for their magnificent hospitality and assistance during Islamic period. In the first place, we can understand my brief time there in January 2010. Lawrence Conrad how it fits into travel routes, which can shed light on its kindly read a draft of this article prior to publication. My relationship with other areas. In addition, we can label attendance at the 2011 Seminar for Arabian Studies was the groups present, and say something about what literate made possible by a Shippensburg University Council of elites elsewhere understood of their way of life and the Trustees Presidential Faculty Development Grant and region’s economy. Over the centuries, the far north-east funding from the Shippensburg University College of of Arabia has seen waves of tribal migration towards the Arts and Sciences. Victor Ordonez prepared the map of Euphrates, movements which provide some long-term Kuwait. References al-ΚAlī A.ΚA. 2002. Al-kuwayt: taΜrīkh wa haΡārah. Kuwait: Dhāt al-Salāsil. Anonymous/ed. A.A. Bevan. 1905–1912. NaqāΜiΡ Jarīr wa al-Farazdaq. (3 volumes). Leiden: Brill. Anonymous/ed. ΚA.Y. al-Ghunaym. 2001. KāΞimah: majallah taΒdur bil-kuwayt. Kuwait: Markaz al-BuΉūth wa al-Dirāsāt al-kuwaytiyyah. Anthony S. 2010. The composition of Sayf b. 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