There is, further, a passage in Yâḳût’s Dictionary which might help to
support the theory of a pre-Mohammadan origin (vol. ii., p. 626, under
Dûmat ej Jandal). In the accounts given by the Arab historians of the
invasion of Mesopotamia in 12 A.H. (A.D. 633-4), by Khâlid ibn u’l
Walîd, frequent mention is made of ’Ain et Tamr, which Yâḳût expressly
states to be the same as Shefâthâ (Shetâteh is the modern colloquial
form of the name). When Khâlid ibn u’l Walîd had taken the oasis, which
was inhabited by Christian Arabs, and appears to have been the one place
that offered him serious resistance (Teano: _Annali dell’Islam_, vol.
ii., p. 940), he is said to have marched on Dûmat ej Jandal, which he
captured, putting to death its defender, Ukeidir ’Abdu’l Malik el
Kindî.[84] It is generally admitted that the name Dûmat ej Jandal in
this account is an error, and that the fortress which was taken by the
Mohammadans in the year 12 A.H. was Dûmat el Ḥîrah. (For the reasons
for substituting Dûmat el Ḥîrah for Dûmat ej Jandal in Ṭabarî’s text,
see Teano, _op. cit._, vol. ii., p. 991.) Now Yâḳût gives two
conflicting traditions concerning the foundation of Dûmat el Ḥîrah, but
he expresses no uncertainty as to its position. It was near to ’Ain et
Tamr, and its ruins were known in Yâḳût’s day (thirteenth century).
According to the first tradition given by Yâḳût, the Prophet sent Khâlid
ibn u’l Walîd in the year 9 A.H. against Ukeidir, who was lord of Dûmat
ej Jandal. Khâlid captured Dûmat ej Jandal and made a treaty with
Ukeidir, but after the death of Mohammad, Ukeidir broke the treaty,
whereupon the Khalif ’Umar expelled him from Dûmat ej Jandal. He retired
to Ḥîrah and built himself a palace near to ’Ain et Tamr, which he
called Dûmah. This Dûmah, near ’Ain et Tamr, is no doubt Dûmat el Ḥîrah
which Khâlid besieged and took in the year 12 A.H. The second tradition
is substantially the same as the first as far as the Mohammadan invasion
is concerned, but Yâḳût here implies that Ukeidir dwelt in the first
instance at Dûmat el Ḥîrah, and was accustomed to resort to Dûmat ej
Jandal for the purposes of the chase, and he adds that Ukeidir named
Dûmat ej Jandal after Dûmat el Ḥîrah. Prince Teano (_op. cit._, vol. ii.
p. 262) has exposed the improbabilities which attend this explanation,
and he concludes that both traditions are equally untrustworthy, and
doubts the authenticity of any part of the story of Ukeidir. It does,
however, appear to me to be possible that the ruins of Dûmat el Ḥîrah
which were standing in Yâḳût’s day were no other than the abandoned
palace of Ukheiḍir, though it is not necessary to accept either of
Yâḳût’s versions of the story of its foundation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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