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The Lakhm were a Qaḥṭānī Arab tribe of southern Syria closely connected to the Judhām and ʿĀmila. According to the traditional genealogy, the eponym Lakhm was of Qaḥṭānī origin and the brother of Judhām and ʿĀmila, although some argued that the tribe was actually from the Nizār (Caskel, 2:53–6; Ibn Durayd, 225–7). In historical times, these three “sister tribes” were political allies and occupied the same region in southern Syria. The Lakhm were considered the most ancient and illustrious of the …

Al-Ḥīra was the capital of the Arab principality of the Lakhmids or Naṣrids (c. 300 to 602 C.E.). Located near present-day Najaf, in Iraq, the site began to attract nomad settlers taking advantage of the power vacuum resulting from the turmoil in the early third century C.E. between the decline of the Arsacids and the rise of the Sāsānids. Simultaneous changes in the ecosystem and microclimate also favoured the establishment of the city in an area that had now become fertile and salubrious. The …