Tayma

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Tayma

Tayma (; also transliterated Tema) is a large oasis

Oasis

In geography, an oasis or cienega is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source. Oases also provide habitat for animals and even humans if the area is big enough....
with a long history of settlement, located in northeastern Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, KSA , is an Arab country and the largest country of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south....
at the point where the trade route between Yathrib (Medina

Medina

Medina is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Prophet Muhammad....
) and Dumah begins to cross the Nefud

Nefud

Al-Nefud or The Nefud is a desert in the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula, occupying a great oval depression. It is 180 miles long and 140 miles wide, with an area of 40,000 square miles ....
desert. Tayma is located 264 km southeast of the city of Tabouk, and about 400 km north of Medina

Medina

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Encyclopedia

Tayma (; also transliterated Tema) is a large oasis

Oasis

Saudi Arabia

Medina

Nefud

Medina

History

The oldest mention of the oais city appears as "Tiamat" in Assyrian inscriptions dating as far back as the 8th century BCE. The oasis developed into a prosperous city, rich in water wells and handsome buildings. Tiglath-pileser III received tribute from Tayma, and Sennacherib named one of Nineveh

Nineveh

Nineveh , an "exceeding great city", as it is called in the Book of Jonah, lay on the eastern bank of the Tigris in ancient Assyria, across the river from the modern-day major city of Mosul, Iraq....
's gates as the Desert Gate, recording that "the gifts of the Sumu'anite and the Teymeite enter through it." It was rich and proud enough in the 7th century BCE for Jeremiah

Jeremiah

Jeremiah was one of the 'greater prophet' of the Hebrew Bible. He was the son of Hilkiah, a priest of Anathoth.His writings are put together in the Book of Jeremiah and, according to tradition, the Book of Lamentations....
to prophesy against it (Jeremiah 25:23). It was ruled then by a local Arab

Arab

An Arab is a person who Identity as such on linguistic or cultural grounds. The plural form, Arabs , refers to the Ethnocultural group at large....
dynasty. The names of two 8th-century BCE queens, Shamsi and Zabibei, are recorded.

In 539 BCE, Nabonidus

Nabonidus

Nabonidus was the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, reigning from 556-539 BCE....
retired to Tayma for worship and looking for prophecies, entrusting the kingship of Babylon to his son. From this we can recognize Tayma as being an important place.

Cuneiform

Cuneiform

Cuneiform can refer to:*Cuneiform script, an ancient writing system originating in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium BC*Cuneiform , three bones in the human foot...
inscriptions possibly dating from the 6th century BCE have been recovered from Tayma. It is mentioned several times in the Old Testament. The biblical eponym

Eponym

An eponym is a person, whether real or fictitious, after whom a particular toponym, ethnonym, regnal year, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named....
is apparently Tema, one of the sons of Ishmael. Archeological investigation of the site, under the auspices of the German Archaeological institute, is ongoing.

The Tayma stele discovered by Charles Hubert in 1883, now at the Louvre

Louvre

The Louvre Museum , located in Paris, is a historic monument, and a national museum of France. It is a central landmark, located on the Rive Droite of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement of Paris ....
, lists the gods of Tayma in the 6th century BCE: ?alm of Ma?ram and Shingala and Ashira. This Ashira may be Athirat/Asherah

Asherah

Asherah , in Semitic mythology, is a Semitic mother goddess, who appears in a number of ancient sources including Akkadian language writings by the name of Ashratum/Ashratu and in Hittites as Asherdu or Ashertu or Aserdu or Asertu....
.

Jews of Tayma

According to Arab tradition, Tayma was inhabited by a Jewish community during the late classical period, though whether these were exiled Judea

Judea

Judea or Jud?a is the name given to the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel , an area now divided between Israel and the West Bank ....
ns or the Arab descendants of converts is unclear. The town fell to the Muslims in the 630s and the inhabitants were subjected to a dhimma pact, and later expelled.

Middle Ages

Tayma and neighboring Khaybar

Khaybar

Khaybar is the name of an oasis some 95 miles to the north of Medina , Saudi Arabia. It was inhabited by Jews before the rise of Islam, and was conquered by Muhammad in 628 A.D....
were visited by Benjamin of Tudela

Benjamin of Tudela

Benjamin of Tudela was a medieval Kingdom of Navarre, sometimes called "Rabbi", was a medieval explorer from Spain who traveled through Europe, Asia, and Africa in the 12th century....
some time around 1170. Benjamin was a Jew from Tudela

Tudela, Navarre

Tudela is a municipality in Spain, the second city of the autonomous community of Navarre. Its population is around 40,000. Tudela is conveniently sited in the Ebro valley....
in Spain. He travelled to Persia and Arabia in the 12th century.

In the summer of 1181 Raynald of Châtillon

Raynald of Chatillon

Raynald of Ch?tillon was a knight who served in the Second Crusade and remained in the Holy Land after its defeat. He ruled as Principality of Antioch from 1153 to 1160 and through his second marriage became lordship of Oultrejordain....
attacked a muslim caravan near Tayma, in spite of a truce between Sultan Saladin

Saladin

ala ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub , better known as Saladin in medieval Europe, was the Sultan of Egypt and Greater Syria. He led the Islamic opposition to the Second Crusade and Third Crusade....
and king Baldwin IV of Jerusalem

Baldwin IV of Jerusalem

Baldwin IV of Jerusalem , called the Leper or the Leprous, the son of Amalric I of Jerusalem and his first wife, Agnes of Courtenay, was Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1174 to 1185....
.

Points of interest

Qasr Al-Ablaq castle is located on the southwest side of the city. It was built by Jewish poet and warrior Samuel ibn 'Adiya and his grandfather 'Adiya in the 6th century CE.
The Qasr Al-Hamra palace was built in the 7th century BCE.
Tayma has an archaeologically significant perimeter wall built around 3 sides of the old city in the 6th century BCE.
Qasr Al-Radhm
Haddaj Well
Cemeteries
Many Aramaic, Lihyanite, Thamudic
Thamudic

Thamudic is an Old North Arabian dialect known from pre-Islamic Arabia inscriptions scattered across the Arabian desert and the Sinai. Dating to between the 4th century BC and the 3rd or 4th century AD, they were incorrectly named after the Thamud people, with whom they are not directly associated....
, Nabataean language inscriptions, around Tayma
Qasr Al-Bejaidi
Al-Hadiqah Mound
Many museums

External links

Tayma
The 12 Tribes of Ishmael: Tema
, translation at Livius.org
, translation at Livius.org