ʿĀd
ʿĀd (Arabic عاد) was an ancient Arab tribe and a district in South Arabia that was led by 'Ad ibn Kin'ad.
Location
The 'Ad occupied what is now eastern Yemen and western Oman, running from the Arabian Sea up into the Dhofar Mountains and to the edge of the Rub` al-Khali. There is speculation that this is the locale where camels were first domesticated.[1] Ubar, a major transshipment point for the frankincense trade in ancient times, lay in 'Ad.
History
The 'Ad tribe established themselves in South Arabia settling to the East of the Qahtan tribe. They established the Kingdom of 'Ad around the 10th century BC to the 3rd century AD.
The 'Ad nation was known to the Greeks. Claudius Ptolemy's Geographos refers to the inhabitants of the capital Ubar
Some Rulers of 'Ad
- Ad ibn Kin'ad: The first leader of 'Ad. He lived somewhere between the 23rd to 10th century BC.
- Aldahn Khuljan: Known to the Persians and Hadramites. He lived 4th to 3rd century BC.
- Shaddad: Known to the Himyarites as the last leader of 'Ad. He lived 4th-6th century AD.
The Fall of the 'Ad
Sometime between 3rd century AD and 6th century AD the 'ad state seems to have crumbled, due in large measure to a natural catastrophe which seems to have destroyed much of Ubar.
The 'Adid are mentioned in the Qur'an as being the people to whom the Islamic prophet Hud (هود) was sent by Allah to guide them back to the righteous path of faith. According to the story, the citizens did not heed his warnings and the town was destroyed by Allah in a great storm.
Other factors that led to the decline of the 'Ad[2]:
- The Hadramite Qahtani tribes incursions towards Oman 4th to 3rd century BC.
- The rise of Christianity (in which burial customs shifted, leaving a far smaller market for frankincense the backbone of 'Adid economy).
'Adid Language
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The 'Ad tribe shared the land and economic resources of their neighbors the west (Qahtan). And until a recent time historians linked the 'Adid language to the South Semitic family. However, the immediate region of the 'Ad is still settled by the Mahra and Shahra tribes (who still collect frankincense) that speak an ancient language closer to the Eastern Semitic (Akkadian) family than to the South Semitic family (Sabean, Himyarite and Ethiopic variety). The Shara still consider themselves Arabs descended from the 'Ad (not Qahtan).
Today the Mahra and Shahra languages are listed among the Eatsern Semitic languages (Akkadian and Eblaite) or even as an independent group the Eastern South Semitic (since Akkadian and Eblaite are extinct).
Relation to Semitic languages
The Eastern South Semitic languages are known for their extremely archaic nature, especially in their system of phonology -- for example, they preserve the lateral fricatives of Proto-Semitic, which were lost in all other Semitic languages thousands of years ago.
South Arabia in general remains as the only region in the world to remain exclusively Semitic through history. However, its unknown if the Western South Semitic family (which includes many Western Semitic and Eastern Semitic elements), but then most of the Western Semitic languages can be related to the Aramiac Christians and Hebrew speakers presence in ancient Yemen. Also the Western Southern Semitic family spread/evolved in the direction North to South and East to West sequence which indicates a more Eastern/Northern origin perhaps in the Rub' Al Khali just to the North of the 'Ad.
The 'Adid language shares many Eastern Semitic elements (which predates any recorded Semitic influence in Western Yemen or Africa) and until this day the Mahra and Shahra languages are considered the purest of the Semitic tongues, mainly due to the long isolation in the 'Ad region which might not favor it in this case as the origin of all Semitic tongue, instead a common origin or close relation to the Akkadians who lived with them directly in the Empty Quarter of the Arabian peninsula before they split to Akkadians who headed to Akkad[3] and 'Adids who headed to the 'Ad. The Magan (Oman) connection with Ancient Sumer (which will be conquered by the Akkadians) adds another dimension to this theory.