Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Mecca (Makkah) 6th to 8th century
- Merchant’s city
- Ka'aba
- (temple for pagan Arabs where they placed their idols and worshipped them)
- —at center of Ka’aba, large black stone that fell from sky (probably meteor),
considered holy by pagan Arabs
- —represented place of refuge b/c fighting forbidden in Ka’aba
- —gathering place
- —first temple on earth built by Adam (Adem), who was 90 feet tall
- —later rebuilt by Abraham and Ishmael (Ibrahim, Ismail)
- Epicenter of Islam religion
- —”fifth pillar” of Islam
- —in 628, Muhammad and followers peacefully marched to Mecca for pilgrimage
- —both Muslims and Meccas entered Treaty of Hudaybiyyah
- —Muslims and Quraysh would stop fighting and Muslims could be allowed to enter
the city in the next year
- —2 years later, Quraysh violated the truce
- —instead of fighting, Mecca surrendered to Muhammad,
who declared amnesty for the inhabitants
- —Mecca cleansed of its idols and cult images in the Ka’aba,
declared holiest site in Islam by Muhammad
- Area
- —around Mecca completely barren
- —Mecca was the wealthiest and most important Arabian settlement
- —abundant water from Zamzam Well
- —site of holiest shrine in Arabia: Ka’aba
- —crossroads of major caravan routes
- —harsh conditions in the Arabian peninsula
- —constant conflict between tribes
- —once a year truce was declared and they would go to Mecca for
pilgrimage
- —religious journey
- —pay homage to the shrine
- —drink from Zamzam Well
- —the time each year when:
- —disputes arbitrated
- —debts resolved
- —trading at Mecca fairs
- —gave tribes a common sense of identity (why Mecca so
important)
- Literature
- —Poetry in 8th century Arabia refined art; thought of as the ultimate
intellectual production within tribes
- —Famous poems posted on walls of Ka’aba for people to read and enjoy
- —Arabs developed high level of fidelity of literary works (especially
poetry)
- —Most famous poems were Mu’allaqat (“The Suspended Odes,"
or "The Hanging Poems"
- —7 renowned poets:
- Imru' al-Qais
- Labīd
- Time in his lengthened chain of years has bound /
Our mortal race, nor e’er his conqueror found: / I've
seen him pass by day, I've seen by night, / And still,
unchanged, return with morning's light. / Time, like
Lebīd, grows older every day, / But waxes stronger,
while I waste away.
- Tarafa
- Zuhayr ibn Abi Sulma
- Antara Ibn Shaddad
- Amr ibn Kulthum
- Harith ibn Hilliza
- People
- —polygamy
- —patriarchal society
- —infant females killed at birth (Islam prohibited this
later; called it barbaric)
- —under Islam, both genders expected to travel to Mecca
in worship
- —prayed in mosques unsegregated from men
- —women’s full ‘personhood’ respected
- —dowry to be paid to the woman and not her family
- —women contributed to the canonization of the Qu’ran
- —engaged in commercial transactions
- —encouraged to seek knowledge
- —both instructors
and pupils
- —Aishah (born in Mecca), Muhammad’s last wife,
authority in medicine, history and rhetoric
- —behaved relatively autonomously in
early Islam
- —did not hold religious titles, but held
political power (some w/husbands, some
alone)
- —Khayzuran governed Muslim Empire under
three Abbasid caliphs in 8th century
- —traded in slaves (not
necessarily black
Africans—slaves no by race,
but by conquest)
- Language Family
- —Hejazi Arabic
- —Peninsular
- —Arabic
- —Central Semantic
- —Semantic
- —Afro-Asiatic