Tihamah تِهَامَةُ Tihāmah | |
|---|---|
 Map of the Tihamah of Hijaz and Yemen shown in the west coast of theArabian Peninsula | |
| Region | Arabian Peninsula |
| Countries |  Saudi Arabia Yemen |
| Cities | Jeddah,Yanbu,Al Qunfudhah,Jizan,Midi,Al Hudaydah,Khaukha, andMocha |
Tihamah orTihama (Arabic:تِهَامَةُTihāmah) is theRed Seacoastal plain of theArabian Peninsula from theGulf of Aqaba to theBab el Mandeb.[1]
Tihāmat is theProto-Semitic language's term for 'sea'.Tiamat (orTehom, in masculine form) was the ancientMesopotamian god of the sea and of chaos. The word appears in theHebrewBible astəhōm (Genesis 1:2), meaning "primordial ocean, abyss".[2]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion with: post-Muhammad era. You can help byadding to it.(May 2020) |
During the era of the Islamic prophetMuhammad, many military expeditions took place here including theBattle of Hamra al-Asad and caravan raids. Beginning in January 623CE, some of the Muslims resorted to the tradition of raiding the Meccan caravans that traveled along the eastern coast of theRed Sea fromMecca to theSyrian region.[3]
While at Ḥamra' al-Asad (حَمْرَاء ٱلْأَسَد), Muhammad made an agreement withMabad al-Khuzaah at Tihamah, in which Mabad pledged not to conceal anything from him. Mabad was then sent to Mecca to dissuadeAbu Sufyan ibn Harb from fighting.[4]: 341 In Mecca, Mabad met with Abu Sufyan and exaggerated that Muhammad had gathered a great force to fight Abu Sufyan. Abu Sufyan and his companions were planning a massive and decisive attack onMedina to finish off the Muslims once and for all. Hearing Mabad's talk of the great military strength of Muhammad, Abu Sufyan retreated from his plan of an immediate attack on the Muslims. In this fashion Muhammad successfully managed to prevent the massive onslaught the Meccans were planning.[5][4]: 342
The region is sometimes subdivided into two parts,Tihāmat Al-Ḥijaz (تِهَامَة ٱلْحِجَاز; northern part) andTihāmatʿAsīr (تِهَامَة عَسِيْر; southern part).[1] The Yemeni part (Arabic:تِهَامَة ٱلْيَمَن,romanized: Tihāmat Al-Yaman) is an extension ofTihamat ʿAsir.[6] The plain is constricted and attains its greatest widths, 60 to 80 km (37 to 50 miles), south ofMedina and Mecca.[1] The cities ofYanbu,Jeddah andAl Qunfudhah are located in the Hijazi part of the Tihamah. TheAsiri-Yemeni part of the Tihami plain includes the cities ofJizan andAl Hudaydah. The temperatures in Tihamah are probably some of the hottest on earth.Tihamah in Arabic means severe heat and lack of wind.[7]
The extensive sandy coastal plain (the Tihamah) is a hot and inhospitable area parallel to the Red Sea, and most of it, north ofZabid (Yemen), is devoid of trees. However, in a few places there is dense shrub composed almost exclusively ofVachellia flava and it may be assumed that this was originally the dominant natural vegetation of the Tihamah.Salvadora persica occurs in thickets, and there are odd trees ofBalanites aegyptiaca and colonies of wild doum palm (Hyphaene thebaica), as well as planteddate palms (Phoenix dactylifera).[8]
Over sixteenmegalithicmenhirs were discovered by Edward Keall, director of theRoyal Ontario Museum's Canadian Archaeological Mission near the village ofAl-Mutaynah (ٱلْمُتَيْنَة) in the Tihami area. The stones were made ofgranite and weighted up to 20 tonnes (20,000 kg). Three of the upright stones measured around 8 feet (2.4 m) tall with one fallen being over 20 metres (66 ft) in length.Copper tools suggested to date to the same era as the construction of the stones were dated to around 2400 to 1800 BCE. An even more archaiclithicindustry was found along with potterysherds that were dated between 1200 and 800 BCE.[9]
The Red Sea coastal plain is constricted throughout its length, attaining its greatest widths, 40 to 50 miles, south of Medina and south of Mecca. The name Tihāmah, used for the whole plain, is sometimes subdivided into Tihāmat Al-Ḥijāz and Tihāmat ʿAsīr.
Yemen may be divided into five major regions: a coastal plain running north-south known as the Tihāmah (an extension of the Tihāmat ʿAsīr), the western highlands, the central mountains (the Yemen Highlands), the eastern highlands, and finally the eastern and northeastern desert regions.
It is so called because of its severe heat and lack of wind, from the word At-Taham which refers to extreme heat and lack of wind.
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