Thread by @JenniBns

Here are Jewish artifacts found at an excavation site in Tayma,Saudi Arabia.
Tayma was a Jewish oasis during the pre-Islamic era. It was the hometown of Jewish poet Shmuel Ben Adiya,famous for his unconditional loyalty towards Prince Imru al Qais in the 6th century.

#ArabianJews

The story of Shmuel Ben Adiya is narrated in “Kitab Al Aghani”, an encyclopedic collection of songs and poems in the early Arab medieval age.

The story goes as follows:
Prince Imru Al Qais, abandonned by his followers, sought refuge in the castle of Shmuel Ben Adiya.

Prince Al Qais, wishing to get the assistance of the Roman emperor Justinian I, left his armor and his most valuable goods in Shmuel’s keeping.
Unfortunately, he was killed on his way by Arab assassins who then ran to Shmuel’s castle in order to steal Prince Imru’s treasure.

Little did they know that Shmuel Ben Adiya was never going to betray his friend !
The killers threatened to slit his youngest son’s troat. Shmuel declared that while “his son had brothers, his honor, once lost, could never be recovered”.
Eventually the men left empty-handed.

Shmuel belonged to the Banu Harith tribe, a large and powerful tribe composed of former Arab polytheists converted to Judaism and ethnic Jews expelled from Judea in the 1st century.
The Banu Harith originated from Najran, Southern Arabia, and slowly moved up North for trade.

This tribe had excellent relationships with many polytheist Arab tribes, especially the Banu Hamdan tribe.
The Banu Harith also played a small role in Islamic history since Shmuel’s granddaughter, Safiya, would become one of Muhammad’s wifes.

The few descendants of the Banu Harith tribe moved back to Najran (Yemen) and lived there until 1930, when Saudi Arabia annexed the area. Persecutions arose and Jews were forced to either convert to Islam or flee.
Most Jews then fled to Sana’a and British Palestine .