His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, confirmed that the Nabataeans came to the United Arab Emirates about four thousand years ago from the eastern region of Jordan, when this region was completely empty of people, and they are the original inhabitants of it according to His Highness’s study and research on the subject of tribes.
His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, in his telephone interview with the Al Rabia and Al Nas programme, which is broadcast live on Radio Al Rabia from the Emirate of Ajman, said that the region of eastern Jordan, from which the Nabataeans came, was the first region to begin development in human history, even thousands of years before the development of China. He pointed out that the tribes that came from there and settled in the United Arab Emirates were the origin of development when the region was uninhabited.
His Highness added that the result of this social development in the eastern Jordan region made the man on that land a farmer instead of being a picker and gatherer of fruits from under the trees, and instead of being a hunter of animals and poultry, he worked on raising sheep and cattle.
His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah added that as a result of the development taking place in the eastern region of Jordan, the place became crowded and the region began to expand and the Nabataean state was formed about six thousand years ago. His Highness explained that four thousand years before this date, these numbers of the Nabataean state crossed along the coast of the Hijaz Mountains until they reached the UAE and Oman, stressing that the origin of the population of the United Arab Emirates and these people is from this state called the Nabataean state.
His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah pointed out that when these Nabataeans came to the Emirates, they brought many things that were present in that region and transferred them to this place that was empty of people. He stressed that the tribes of Shuhuh and Habous or Dhahourin are the origin of the people of the United Arab Emirates who came to it 4000 years ago when the region was empty of people.
His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah cited some archaeological phenomena that are considered historical evidence of the arrival of the Nabataeans, pointing out that the graves in the area are graves with four chambers with the same system found in eastern Jordan, and the irrigation system found in the Emirates and eastern Jordan is the same, and this is called the Dawoodi system in reference to Dawud bin Suleiman.
His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah said that the Nabataeans preserved their ancient language, which is the ancient Arabic language, which is the same language they speak there and they were able to preserve it because of their isolation.
He added that those who came from Yemen were also Arabs, pointing out that it is said in history that the Arabs of Oman “developed” that is, they became Nabataeans, and from them comes Nabataean poetry, which does not originally exist in Arab countries or other Arabic languages, while it is another language called Nabataean, and this poetry does not exist in the Arabian Peninsula.
His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah spoke about the origins of the names of the tribes that go back to the Nabataeans, explaining that the Habous were given this name because they were confined to the mountains, while the Dhahuris were given this name because they showed the zakat when it was collected, and the Shuhuh were given this name because they were stingy with zakat after an incident related to the beating of a woman from among them who refused to give zakat. His Highness confirmed that what was said about the Shuhuh being the apostates of Oman is a statement devoid of truth.
Among the evidence that confirms the validity of the Nabataean origins that His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah spoke about when taking samples from the people of the Arabian Peninsula and analyzing them using DNA, it became clear that they belonged to the Nabataeans, especially since they settled in other places as a result of being left behind on the road when they came to the country.
Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, had previously spoken about the stages of human settlement in the Arabian Peninsula, saying, “The region was connected to Africa and it is said that human presence was centered in Ethiopia. Many in-depth studies were conducted on human settlement, and some artifacts were found in Mleiha similar to those found in Ethiopia, which indicates that man crossed this region and then moved to Asia.”
His Highness added, “In ancient times, man was a hunter-gatherer, hunting animals and picking up what fell from trees. However, after a while, civilized societies emerged, and the first of these societies began to appear in the Fertile Crescent region – adjacent to the southern borders of the Levant, north of the Arabian Peninsula, where the point of connection and communication between the peninsula and Asia is located – where peoples developed themselves so that they replaced hunting with domestication and made domesticated animals, and replaced picking from under trees with agriculture and picking fruits. In it, the first human society on the face of the earth was formed, and the Fertile Crescent region attracted many people because it was the most abundant place for all the requirements of life. However, the region could not accommodate the increasing numbers of people, so groups headed to the Hijaz (Makkah and Medina), and other groups continued on their way to the coasts of the Arabian Gulf.”
His Highness added: Other peoples came to the region besides those who came from the Fertile Crescent, as the Persians had influence and control over this region until Alexander the Great came and occupied the region. Before that, the region witnessed the emergence of Malik bin Fihr, who was Azdi and moved with his group until he reached the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula and sought stability, but they fought him and he was victorious over them due to the collapse of the Sassanids, so this region remained controlled from this side where Daba is, and most of the existing antiquities are Roman, even the Byzantine coin casting mold is engraved with the emblem of Alexander the Great.
There was also a large kingdom in the Levant that expanded until it reached the coasts of the Arabian Gulf in this region in the year 272 AD. It was called Palmyra, and it was Arab. Their queen was Zenobia. She established ports on the eastern coasts of the island and connected to India. Its power became comparable to that of the Romans. Its remnants still exist in Ras Al Khaimah, such as the Al-Zaba Palace.
The tribes of the region that fell under the rule of the Kingdom of Palmyra are called the Nabataeans and there must have been one of their people among them to this day. After the fall of the kingdom as a result of what it brought upon the Romans and Persians in terms of cutting off the connection with the East, the Nabataean tribes moved to live in the mountains and they are known as the Shuhuh, the Habous and the Dhahriyyin. They are Arab tribes from the Levant. In my study on this topic, it became clear to me that there are aflaj that were designed on the basis of being waterways and pipes that cut through the mountains, highlands and valleys called (Falaj Dawudi) and they are found in the eastern region and the Levant. There are also quadruple graves in the eastern region that contain a grave for the dead, a grave for food, a grave for drink and a grave for the dead’s family to sit in. This grave has the same form in the Levant, which indicates the existence of a connection between them.
The name Al-Habus comes from the word “Habs”, which means that they remained confined in the mountains, but this did not prevent them from forming a community with its own agriculture, water sources, and life. They would descend from the top of the mountains during times of calm.
His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah continued his talk about the human settlement of the region during the period of the spread of the Islamic call, saying: “After Islam reached the regions of the eastern coast and the Gulf coast at the hands of the Islamic leader Omar bin Al-Aas, several events occurred, including the incident of the Omani apostasy or the Dibba apostasy, which is not an apostasy in the true sense, but rather a distortion that was addressed. The reason for that apostasy was that a woman from Habus refused to pay the obligatory zakat on the money, so the zakat collector hit her, so she screamed and her people were alarmed to support her, and the people were divided into two groups, one of them paid the zakat and showed it, so they were called the Dhahiriyyin, while the other group was stingy withholding the zakat and withheld it, so they are the Shuhuh and the Habus. Anyone who looks at these tribes today will find that their appearance is closest to the Levant, and some of their words are similar to the words of the Levant.”
Follow our latest local and sports news, and the latest political and economic developments via Google News