RES OURCESMuslim conquest of Iraq in the general context of early Islamic ex-
pansion may be found in F. Gabrieli's Mohammad and the Conquests
of Islam (New York, 1968), pp. 118-34, and D. R. Hill's The Ter-
mination of Hostilities in the Early Arab Conquests A.D. 634-656
(London, 1971), pp. 99-159. A substantial part of 'A. J::I. Zarrinkiib's
"The Arab Conquest of Iran and Its Aftermath," in The Cambridge
History of Iran (Cambridge, 1975), IV: 1-56, deals with the conquest
of Iraq. The most recent, extensive, critical evaluation of the Arabic
materials is F. M. Donner's The Early Islamic Conquests (Princeton,
1981), pp. 157-250.
The subsequent history of Iraq under Muslim rule tends to be or-
ganized along dynastic lines and reflects the assumption that the re-
placement of the Marwani (Umawi) dynasty by the 'Abbasi dynasty
in the middle of the eighth century marked a significant historical
change. C. H. Becker's "Studien zur Omajjadengeschichte," Zeitschrift
fur Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archaologie 15 (1900): 1-36,
is an influential study which helped to define this "period." L. Caetani's
Chronografia Islamica (Paris, 1912) was intended as a continuation
of his A1'!nali dell' Islam in five volumes down to A.H. 132 (A.D. 750),
bilt his selection and evaluation of information was based on ques-
tionable judgments about the reliability or unreliability of Arabic
transmitters. It can be used to identify some of the passages concerning
particular events but should not be used as a source of information
itself. ]. Wellhausen's Das arabische Reiche und sein Sturz (Berlin,
1902), translated into English by M. G. Weir as The Arab Kingdom
and its Fall (Calcutta, 1927; repr. Totowa, N.]., 1973) is the classic
presentation of the Umawi dynasty as an Arab state. His assertion
that tribal conflict among the Arabs led to the fall of the dynasty
became part of the standard interpretation. This was elaborated by
H. Lammens in a series of articles which emphasized the secular,
worldly aspects of the Umawi regime and were published in his "Etudes
sur le regne du calife omaiyade Mo'awia ler," Melanges de I'Universite
Saint-Joseph 1-3 (Beirut 1906-1908) and Etudes sur le siecie des
Omayyades (Beirut, 1930). Together the works of Wellhausen and
Lammens represented the standard interpretation of the Umawi "pe-
riod" for almost forty years (and still do in some quarters). Although
aspects of his interpretation remain controversial, the first scholar to
challenge Wellhausen systematically and to really argue for assimi-
lation between Arabs and non-Arabs before the advent of the 'Abbasi
dynasty was M. A. Shaban in his Islamic History A.D. 600-750 (A.H.