Thamud

thumb|250px|right|The archaeological vestiges of Mada'in Saleh are often compared with those of Petra, the Nabatean capital situated 500 km (310.7 mi) north-west of Mada'in Saleh.[http://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/1293.pdf "ICOMOS Evaluation of Al-Hijr Archaeological Site (Madâin Sâlih) World Heritage Nomination"]. World Heritage Center. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
The Thamūd (Arabic: ) were a people of ancient Arabia who were known from the 1st millennium BC to near the time of Muhammad. Although they are thought to have originated in southern Arabia, Arabic tradition has them moving north to settle on the slopes of Mount Athlab near Mada'in Saleh. According to the Qur'an, the Thamud were punished and destroyed by a soundwave (rajfa).
Numerous Thamudic rock writings and pictures have been found on Mount Athlab and throughout central Arabia.Encyclopædia Britannica Online
== History ==
The oldest known reference to Thamud is a 715 BC inscription of the Assyrian king Sargon II which mentions them as being among the people of eastern and central Arabia subjugated by the Assyrians.M. Th. Houtsma et al., eds., E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936
They are referred to as "Tamudaei" in the writings of Aristo of Chios, Ptolemy, and Pliny.Phillip Hitti, A History of the Arabs, London: Macmillan, 1970, p. 37.
=== The Qur'an ===
The Qur'an mentions Thamud in Sura Al-A'raf in the context of several prophets who warned their people of coming judgement. Verse 74 says of Thamud, "Ye build for yourselves palaces and castles in (open) plains, and carve out homes in the mountains". This could refer to the rock-cut tombs of Mada'in Saleh (the Cities of Saleh)
In the Qur'an, ʿĀd and Thamud are generally mentioned together as a matter of context. The verses advise Thamud to take warning from the destruction of ʿĀd.
This verse suggests some kind of relationship between ʿĀd and Thamud, and ʿĀd may even have been a part of Thamud's history and culture. Just as Nuh's (Noah) people were seen as the ancestors of ʿĀd, it seems ʿĀd were seen in a similar relation to Thamud.
The ʿĀd were a people living in southern Arabia. Some remains of Thamud were found in the region where ʿĀd had lived, especially around the region where capital city of the Hadramites, the descendants of ʿĀd, stood.
A bit further on from the passage quoted above, the Qur'an says,
In Sura Al-Qamar it says " For We sent against them a single Mighty Blast, and they became like the dry stubble used by one who pens cattle."
==== Hadith ====
`Abd Allah ibn `Umar (ca. 614–693) narrated that while Muhammad was passing by Thamud's houses on his way to the Battle of Tabouk, he stopped together with the people there. The people fetched water from the wells from which the people of Thamud used to drink. They prepared their dough (for baking) and filled their water skins from it (the water from the wells). Muhammad ordered them to empty the water skins and give the prepared dough to the camels. Then he went away with them until they stopped at the well from which the she-camel (of Salih) used to drink. He warned them against entering upon the people that had been punished, saying "Do not enter the house of those who were unjust to themselves, unless (you enter) weeping, lest you should suffer the same punishment as was inflicted upon them."
=== Historians ===
The famous historian Ali ibn al-Athir mentions the Thamud in his book The Complete History (Arabic: الكامل في التاريخ - al-Kamil fi at-tarikh) composed ca. 1231.
==== Ibn Khaldun ====
Historian and scholar, Ibn Khaldun also mentions the Thamud several times in his great universal history al-Kitābu l-ʻibār ("Book of Evidence"), but only in passing, seldom giving much information.
Some examples from the Muqaddimah ("Introduction"):
== Script ==
A script graphically similar to the Semitic alphabet (called Thamudic) has been found in southern Arabia and up throughout the Hejaz.Brian Doe, Southern Arabia, Thames and Hudson, 1971, pp. 21-22. The script was first identified in a region in north central Yemen that is known as Thamud, which is bound to the north by the Rub' al Khali, to the south by the Hadhramaut and to the west by Shabwah. The script was named after the place where it was first discovered, not for the people. Inscriptions in Thamudic come mostly from northern Saudi Arabia, but can be found throughout the Arabian peninsula.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History - Thamudic inscriptions exhibit
== Identity ==
very little information is known about the Identity or the nationality of Thamud, but they are referred to as Arabs"àrabes" in the records of the Greek Historian Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca historica, Volume II, Book III, Page 219
The title and description given by Photius to Thamud indicates that they had a status similar to Qedarites who have been identified as Arabs. The Arabs in Antiquity: Their History from the Assyrians to the Umayyads, Page 299 
In 2003, Professor Jan Retsö in a research in his book "The Arabs in Antiquity" has finally concluded that Thamudic people were true Arabs. The Arabs in Antiquity: Their History from the Assyrians to the Umayyads, Page 299
==See also==
*Atlantis of the Sands
== References ==
==External links==
*Photos of Thamud dwellings at Madain Saleh, Saudi Arabia
*The story of the Prophet Salih
*The Arab Identity of Thamud
Category:Ancient peoples
Category:History of the Arabian peninsula
Category:History of Saudi Arabia
Category:History of Islam
Category:Arab groups