The Banu al-Harith ( Arabic : بَنُو الْحَارِث Banū al-Ḥārith or Arabic : بَنُو الْحُرَيْث Banū al-Ḥurayth ) is an Arabian tribe which once governed the cities of Najran , Taif , and Bisha , now located in southern Saudi Arabia .
19-614: The Banu Harith descend from the Qahtanite people , one of the most prominent Arab tribes originating from Yemen . The earliest recorded ancestor of the Qahtanites is Joktan , one of the two sons of Eber . The Qahtanite people are divided into the two factions, the Himyarite and Kahlani tribes. The Kahlani tribe can be further broken into smaller sub-groups which include the Banu Harith which
38-458: Is Ya'rub , and his son Yashjub is the father of Saba'. All Yemenite tribes trace their ancestry back to this "Saba", either through Himyar or Kahlan , his two sons. The Qahtani people are divided into the two sub-groups of Himyar and Kahlan , who represent the settled Arabs of the south and their nomadic kinsmen ( nomads ). The Kahlan division of Qahtan consists of four subgroups: the Ta' or Tayy ,
57-534: Is mentioned in multiple ancient Arabian inscriptions found in Yemen. Arab traditions believe that they are the original Arabs. In some Judeo-Christian-Islamic traditions such as Jubilees and some Jasherian tales the Qahtanite Arabs descend from Jokshan son of Abraham through Keturah and half brother of Ishmael son of Abraham through Hagar. According to Arab tradition, the Qahtanites are from South Arabia, unlike
76-524: The Adnanites who are from the north of Arabia descended from Ishmael through Adnan . Arab tradition maintains that a semi-legendary ancestral figure named Qahtan and his 24 sons are the progenitors of Yemen who controlled the Arabian Peninsula known as Qahtani . The genealogists disagree about the pedigree of Qahțān [himself]. Some trace him back to Ismā'īl b. Ibrāhīm , saying that his [name]
95-563: The Ancient Near East gradually relinquished their geopolitical superiority to surrounding cultures and neighboring imperial powers, usually due to either internal turmoil or outside conflict. This climaxed with the arrival of the Babylonians , and subsequently the rivaling Medes and Persians , during the 7th and 6th centuries BCE, respectively. Though the Semites lost geopolitical influence,
114-660: The Aramaic language emerged as the lingua franca of much of the Near East . However, Aramaic usage declined after the defeat of the Persians and the arrival of the Hellenic armies around 330 BCE. The Ghassanids (ca. 250 CE) were the last major non-Islamic Semitic migration northward out of Yemen. They revived the Semitic presence in the then Roman -controlled Syria . They initially settled in
133-524: The Azd group which invaded Oman, the 'Amila - Judham group of Palestine, and the Hamdan - Madhhij group who mostly remain in Yemen. The Kahlan branch includes the following tribes: Azd ( Aus and Khazraj , Bariq , Ghassan , Khuza'a and Daws ), Hamdan , Khath'am , Bajila , Madhhij , Murad , Zubaid , Ash'ar , Lakhm , Tayy ( Shammar ), and Kinda . Early Semites who developed civilizations throughout
152-518: The Book of Genesis 10:25 it reads: "And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg ; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan." Joktan's sons in the order provided in Genesis 10:26–29 , were Almodad , Sheleph , Hazarmaveth , Jerah , Hadoram , Uzal , Diklah , Obal, Abimael , Sheba , Ophir , Havilah , and Jobab . In Pseudo-Philo 's account (ca. 70), Joktan
171-717: The Hauran region, eventually spreading to Palestine, and Jordan , briefly securing governorship of Syria away from the Nabataeans . Between the 7th and 14th centuries, the Qahtanites became involved in the Arab conquests , migrating to the newly conquered territories and intermingling with the local populations. In the Umayyad era, a blood feud broke out between Qahtanites and the Adnanite tribes of Qays , which continued in various forms and degrees till
190-615: The Muslims , being as "one nation", but retaining their Jewish religion . They were given the same rights as Banu Awf and entered into mutual protection pacts with the Muslim tribes. The small remnants of Banu Harith continued to live semi-autonomously in the border city of Najran until the 1930s. As a result of the Saudi–Yemeni War the Saudis had conquered Najran in 1934. Persecution increased and
209-543: The 19th century in what has become known as the Qays–Yaman rivalry . Joktan Joktan (also written as Yoktan ; Hebrew : יָקְטָן , Modern : Yŏqṭan , Tiberian : Yāqṭān ; Arabic : يقطان , romanized : Yaqṭān ) was the second of the two sons of Eber ( Book of Genesis 10:25; 1 Chronicles 1:19) mentioned in the Hebrew Bible . He descends from Shem , son of Noah . In
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#1732854967801228-593: The South Arabian region of Hadhramaut and according to various Bible dictionaries, the name "Hazarmaveth" means "court of death" which reflects a meaning similar to the Arabic folk etymologies of the region. Hadoram according to Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan is interpreted as denoting "the south" and it was a fortress to the south of Yemen's Sana'a . Theories (based on a literal reading of Genesis 10:30 , which states that Joktan's descendants migrated eastward) suggested that Joktan
247-474: The Yoqtan ( Joktan ) son of Eber ( Hūd ) in the Hebrew Bible (Gen. 10:25–29). or genesis 25:2-3 that Qahtan is the similarly named Jokshan son of Abraham and Keturah. Among the sons of Qahtan are noteworthy figures like A'zaal (believed by Arabs to have been the original name of Sana'a ), Hadhramaut and Jurhum whose descendants formed the second Jurhum tribe from which Ishmael learned Arabic. Another son
266-506: The annoyance of the other two princes. There is an Arab tradition that Joktan was the progenitor of all the purest tribes of Southern Arabia. Joktan has been identified with Qahtān (Arabic: قحطان), the ancestral figure of Qahtanites , in traditional Arab genealogy. Three of Joktan's sons have connections to South Arabia. Sheba is identified as the ancient South Arabian kingdom of Saba. Hazarmaveth ( Biblical Hebrew : חֲצַרְמָוֶת, tr. Ḥăṣarmāweṯ; Arabic : حضرموت) has been identified with
285-721: The governor, Amir Turki bin Mahdi, allowed the Najrani Jews a single day to either evacuate or to convert to Islam. The Banu Harith fled south to Sana'a and Aden . Their descendants currently make up a very small component of the Yemenite Jewish population which now mostly reside in Israel today. Qahtanite Qahtanite ( / ˈ k ɑː t ə n aɪ t / ; Arabic : قَحْطَانِي , romanized : Qaḥṭānī ) refers to Arabs who originate from modern-day Yemen . The term "Qahtan"
304-413: Was Qahṭān b. al - Hamaysa ' b. Tayman b. Nabt b. Ismā'īl b. Ibrāhīm. Wahb ibn Munabbih and Hishām b. Muhammad al-Kalbi held this genealogy (as true). Hisham ibn al-Kalbi quoted his father as saying that he had been contemporaneous with [older] scholars and genealogists who traced Qahțān's pedigree in this way. Other [genealogists] argue that the [name] was Qahţăn b. 'Abir b. Shalakh . Qahtan with
323-800: Was brought to an end during the Christian invasion. After the Christian conquest of Najran, a sub-clan of the tribe emigrated to the Dhank region of Oman while another emigrated south and founded the district of Bani Al Harith in Sana'a . In 523, the Himyarite king Dhu Nuwas (Dunaan), who had converted to Judaism, massacred the Christians there. They were included in Point 31 of the Constitution of Medina and honored as allies to
342-508: Was established by Harith bin Ka'b. The Banu Harith converted to Judaism during pre-Islamic times. They wore a jambiya on their belt and worked primarily in goldsmithing and repairing arms. The Banu Harith allied with Banu Madh'hij in order to launch an attack on Najran and they were able to successfully conquer the city. Banu Harith lived peacefully beside Banu Hamdan and they were the most powerful house which ruled Najran for many centuries. This
361-458: Was first made prince over the children of Shem , just as Nimrod and Phenech were princes over the children of Ham and Japheth , respectively. In his version, the three princes command all persons to bake bricks for the Tower of Babel ; however, twelve, including several of Joktan's own sons, as well as Abraham and Lot, refuse the orders. Joktan smuggles them out of Shinar and into the mountains, to
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