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[German version] (Μαλῖχαι; Malîchai). According to Ptol. 6,7,23, a people of Arabia felix, in the hinterland of the Red Sea. The M. probably correspond to the Banū Malik in ʿAṣīr in modern Saudi Arabia (cf. Baramalacum, Plin. HN 6,157). Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg)

[German version] According to Ptol. 6,7,37 (Μαγουλάβα/ Magoulába, also Μαγούλαυα/ Magoúlaba), town in Arabia Felix between Silaeum and Menambis. Probably the identical to modern al-Maḥǧar al-Alā. Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg) Bibliography H. v. Wissmann, Zur Geschichte und Landeskunde von Altsüdarabien (SAWW, Phil.-histor. Klasse 246), 1964, 417 (map) Id., M. Höfner, Beiträge zur historischen Geographie des vorislamischen Arabien (AAWM, Geistesund sozialwiss. Klasse), 1952, no. 4, 37.

[German version] (Ὄκηλις/ Ókēlis, Ptol. Geog. 6,7,7; Peripl. m. r. 25; Acila, Ocilia, Plin. HN 6,104; Str. 16,4,5). Small monsoon harbour on the Arabian coast (Bāb al-Mandab). In the 3rd and 2nd century BC, O. belonged to Qatabān, then to the Ḥimyār kingdom. It probably corresponds to the modern harbour of Al-Šaiḫ Saīd. Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg) Bibliography L. Casson, The Periplus Maris Erythraei, 1989, 157-158  A. Sprenger, Die alte Geographie Arabiens, 1966, 67, 77  H. von Wissmann, Zur Geschichte und Landeskunde von Altsüdarabien (SAWW, Philol.-histor. Kl. 2…

[German version] (Μακοράβα; Makorába). According to Ptol. 6,7,32, city in north-western Arabia Felix, already at an early time equated with Mecca. Based on the southern Semitic root mkrb (‘temple’, ‘sanctuary’ but also ‘altar’). In pre-Islamic Mecca there was a temple to the moon god Hubal, who was worshipped by the tribes in the neighbourhood. Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg) Bibliography H. v. Wissmann, Zur Geschichte und Landeskunde von Altsüdarabien (SAWW, Phil.-histor. Klasse 246), 1964, 185, n. 380.

[German version] (Ζεερῖται/ Zeërîtai, Ζειρῖται/ Zeirîtai or Εἰρῖται/ Eirîtai). A people in Arabia mentioned in Ptol. 6,7,24 but still not unequivocally located. [1] places their territory in Wādī al-Irḍ (modern Wādī Banī Ḥanīfa near Al-Riyāḍ), and therefore central Arabia; [2] in the area of Oman as far as the Wādī al-Dawāsr, and therefore dispersed across the whole of the Al-Rub al-Ḫālī desert. Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg) Bibliography 1 A. Sprenger, Die alte Geographie Arabiens, 1875 (repr. 1966), Nr. 395 2 E. Glaser, Skizze der Geschichte und Geographie Arabie…

[German version] Region in southern Arabia mentioned in a partly extant naval report of 323 BC in Theophr. Hist. pl. 9,4,2 (Μαμάλι/ Mamáli), probably Mamal near modern Aṣīr in Saudi Arabia on the coast. Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg) Bibliography H. v. Wissmann, De mari Erythraeo (Stuttgarter Geogr. Stud. 69), 1957, 300 n. 42b Id., M. Höfner, Beiträge zur historischen Geographie des vorislamischen Südarabien (AAWM, Geistes- und sozialwiss. Klasse), 1952 no. 4, 76, 82, 85f., 95, 104, with maps Id., Zur Geschichte und Landeskunde von Altsüdarabien (SAWW, Philos.-histor…

[German version] According to Plin. HN 6,158 a people in the interior of southern Arabia, which has not been successfully identified. It may be derived from the name of the modern town of Ḏamār, to the southeast of Ṣana'a. In Plinius the two (also unlocated) cities of Sagiatta and Canthace are classed as theirs. The context suggests that the Z. lived in the territory of the Homeritae at Sapphar (Ẓafār). Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg) Bibliography E. Glaser, Skizze der Gesch. und Geogr. Arabiens, vol. 2, 1890 (repr. 1976), 136, 142 f. J. Pirenne, Le Royaume Sud Arabe de Qataban et…

Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg) [German version] A. History from 1060 (CT) Sicily (S.) was under Norman rule until the end of the 12th cent., and, in adjusting to Western European conditions, especially from the time of William I (1154-1166), experienced an immense process of feudalization and an ecclesiastical and cultural reorientation to Latin Catholic Christianity. William II’s death without issue in 1189 introduced a period of instability, followed by the acquisition of the Sicilian throne by the Ho…

[German version] (Ζάμης/ Zámēs, also Ζάμητος/ Zámētos). According to Ptol. 6,7,20 a long mountain range in central Arabia. This is presumably not the Jurassic escarpment of Ğabal Ṭuwaiq (see [1. 213 f., 279], see also [2]), which extends across the Arabian peninsula, since that corresponds to the Μάρειθα/ Máreitha mentioned in Ptol. loc.cit., but rather, as in [3. no. 315] and [4. 192], the Šammar Mountains much farther to the north [5]. Cf. also [6] (with a map of pre-Islamic Arabia). Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg) Bibliography 1 E. Glaser, Skizze der Geschichte und Geogra…

[German version] (Fāṭima). Daughter of  Muhammad and his first wife Ḫadı̄ǧa; wife of the future Caliph Alı̄ b. Abı̄ Ṭālib ( Ali), mother of al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusain; she is the only daughter of the prophet to be universally venerated by Muslims, who ascribe extraordinary powers to her. Especially among the  Shiites and the Ishmaelites she is regarded as a miraculous woman, in whom Christian (equated with the Virgin Mary) and gnostic traits (F. as the incarnation of light) come together. Little is known about the historic F. Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg) Bibliography H. Lammens, Fāṭ…

[German version] ( al-Kūfa). Like Basra, founded in the early period of Islamic conquests (AD 639). Garrison city south of what was later Baghdad, on the right bank of the Euphrates, near the capital city of the Lakhmids, al-Hira. K. soon became the new capital city of Iraq and superseded Sassanid Ctesiphon, that from then on slowly declined. During the Caliphate ( Caliph) of Ali, K. rose for a short time to the status of overall capital city, and remained after Ali's murder (AD 661) a centre of Shiite agitation ( Shiites). However, it lost in importance after the founding of Baghdad. Toral-Nieh…

[German version] [1] W. I Sixth Umayyad caliph (born AD 668, reigned 705-715; Umayyads A.), continued his father Abd-al-Malik's policy of Islamization. He had the church of Saint John standing on the site of the Temple of Hadad/Jupiter in Damascus (C.) converted into a mosque (Umayyad mosque; see Arabic-Islamic cultural sphere I. A.) and had the al-Aqṣā Mosque built in Jerusalem and the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina (Yaṯrib). Under his rule the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (in 711) and of Cho…

[German version] According to Ptol. 6,7,25 (Μασονῖται; Masonîtai) a tribe southwest of the K lîmax óros (Κλῖμαξ ὄρος, today Ǧabal Išbīl) in Arabia Felix. Probably connected to maṣanī (‘fortresses’). Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg) Bibliography H. v. Wissmann, Zur Geschichte und Landeskunde von Altsüdarabien (SAWW, Philos.-histor. Klasse 246), 1964, 415.

[German version] (Ζααβράμ, also Ζαβάμ/ Zabám, Ζααράμ/ Zaarám, Ζάμβρα/ Zámbra). City on the western coastal strip of the Arabian Peninsula. According to Ptol. 6,7,5 domain (βασίλειον/ basíleion) of the Kinaidokolpites (cf. also Steph. Byz. 293,16, where it is Ζαδράμη/ Zadrámē). Z. was probably the seat of power of a dependent prince (elsewhere in Ptol. μητρόπολις/ mētrópolis) and according to [1. 65] was in Marsā Ibrāhīm (Portuguese: Massabraim), the port of the Al-Līṯ oasis to the south of Jeddah (see [5]); others [2; 3; 4] locate Z. nearer to Mecca in the Wā…

[German version] Abū Ǧaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Ǧarīr al-Ṭabarī (AD 839-923). Significant Persian-Arab historian, lawyer and Koranic commentator. His 'Universal History' ( Taʾrīḫ) begins with a creation story; histories follow of Israel, ancient Persia and pre-Islamic Arabia. After an account of the life of Muhammad, T.'s chronicle is constructed annalistically and contains a detailed presentation of the Islamic campaigns of conquest and the periods of the Umayyads and the Abbasids up to AD 915. The significance of T.'s hi…

[German version] (Τερηδών/ Terēdṓn, Ptol. 5,19,5; Ἰρίδωτις/ Irídōtis or Διρίδωτις/ Dirídōtis, Arr. Ind. 41,6). Arabian city in lower Mesopotamia, 420 km south-east of Baghdad on the Šaṭṭ al-Arab (combined course of the Euphrates [2] and Tigris shortly before their mouth). Although B. lies at the site of the Persian settlement of Vahištābāḏ Ardašer (preceded perhaps by ancient Diridotis/Iridotis or Teredon), it is essentially a new foundation originating during the period of the Arab conquest (AD 635), an…

[German version] [1] City in Arabia Felix to the northwest of Adan (Σάρακα/ Sáraka). City in Arabia [II] Felix to the northwest of Adan. Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg) [German version] [2] Desert in the Sinai Peninsula (Σάρακα/ Sáraka, Σαρακήνη/ Sarakḗnē, Ptol. 5,17,3). Desert in the Sinai Peninsula (modern al-Tīḥ) inhabited by the Σαρακηνοί/ Sarakēnoí. There is probably a connexion with the Sarakēnoí who, according to Ptol. 6,7,21, lived in the Ḥiǧāz in Arabia. There has been no explanation of the etymology of this designation, used from the 3rd cent. AD on synonymously with Sceni…

[German version] (Μάκκαλα; Mákkala). According to Ptol. 6,7,41, a city in Arabia Felix. We should probably reject the obvious identification with the modern harbour town of Mukallā/Yemen on the south coast, as it is inconsistent with the sequence of place names in Ptolemy. It corresponds rather with Manqal in the hinterland of Mélan óros (Μέλαν ὅρος, Arabic as-Saudāʾ). Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg) Bibliography H. v. Wissmann, Zur Geschichte und Landeskunde von Altsüdarabien (SAWW, Phil.-histor. Klasse 246), 1964, 417 (map).

[English version] Nach Ptol. 6,7,10 (Μαιφάθ κώμη) Ort im Gebiet der Ἀδραμίται/ Adramítai (Küstenbewohner Ḥaḍramauts) nahe der Küste nordöstl. von dem Hafen Kane. Befand sich wohl im Wādı̄ Maifa und ist nicht zu verwechseln mit dem im Wādı̄ Maifaa gelegenen Maipha. Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg)

[English version] (Μαλῖχαι). Nach Ptol. 6,7,23 Volk in Arabia Felix im Hinterland des Roten Meeres. Die M. entsprechen wohl den Banū Malik in Aṣīr im h. Saudi-Arabien (vgl. auch die Baramalacum, Plin. nat. 6,157). Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg)