Pre-Islamic Arabia up to the 600sChapter 6 (part 1 of 5)

Islam did not arrive until the 600s

Arabian Peninsula Before Islam• People considered

backwards• Lived in the desert• Nomads who rode

camels

Bedouins = Arab nomads who rode camels

Clans

• Tough to survive in desert• Families joined to form

clans• Clans joined to form tribes

Rubin Family

Insana Family

Bergersen Family

Costello Family

Rubinsana Clan

Bergello Clan

L’Town Tribe

Clan LeadershipClan councils – Shaykhs met to make rules, enforced by warriors

Shaykhs = Clan leaders selected by elders

Examples of Rules:Regulated use of watering holes and grazing land

Clan HierarchiesShaykh

sLarge herds, several wives, many

children

WarriorsFrom families who made up

the clan

Slave Familiesconquered from other clans

Wealth Disparities

Wealth DisparitiesWithin clans some families were wealthy, while some were poor

Within tribes, some clans wealthy, some poor

Series1

Rubins

Insanas

Rubinsana

Berglo

The Big Problem – Clan Fighting

• Fights constantly broke out between clans

• Fought over issues such as:- Grazing land- Defeat in horse race- An insult

• These feuds often lasted 100s of years

• Constant infighting hurt the bedouins:- Drained resources- Weakened bedouins compared to their neighbors

Women in Pre-Islamic Arabia

Had more status than in surrounding empires (Byzantine and Sasanian)

Played key economic roles: milking camels, weaving clothes, raising children

Women did not have to wear veils, that came later

Women still not equal: couldn’t be warriors, and property inheritance/divorce laws favored men

ReligionIn Pre-Islamic Arabia, religion was mostly mix of:

1. Animism2. Polytheism

Animism = worship of nature Polytheism = belief in many gods

Pre-Islamic Arab Culture

Poetry was main cultural output and how we know what life was like

Pre-Islamic art and architecture

not advanced

Visitors to Arab cities like Mecca thought architecture was

unimpressive

2 Major Cities: Mecca and Medina

MeccaGrew b/c along trade route

Ruling Tribe = Quraysh

Ruling Clan = Umayyad

The Ka’ba

1) Religious shrine in Mecca

2) Site of yearly truce as pilgrims came to Mecca

3) Helped business b/c visitors traded in peace

4) Big reason for Mecca being major city

MedinaCity of the Prophet Muhammad

Constant fights for control left Medina behind Mecca

Like Mecca, grew b/c along trade route

(formerly called Yathrib)