pre-islamic arabia:poetry,tribal rivalry and heroism 17The Ghassànìds
The Ghassànìds are said to have originated from a tribe that emi-
grated from South Arabia at the end of the third century after the
destruction of the dam of Ma"rib and established itself to the south
east of Damascus on the South-to-North trade route (Hitti, 1963).
Some are said to have emigrated to the area shortly before the
destruction of the dam (Al- ̨abarì). Like other tribes in the area,
which emanated from an Arabian origin, the Ghassànìds who were
Christianised had two languages; Aramaic and Arabic. By the end
of the fifth century they came under the influence of the Byzantines.
The Ghassànìds were allies, and perhaps clients, of the Byzantines
and served as a buffer between the Byzantine Empire and the nomads’
sporadic attacks on the Empire’s borders and at the time of the
Islamic conquests the Ghassànìds fought alongside the Byzantines in
the battle of Yarmùk in 636 A.C. (Hitti, 1963). Later, the Ghassànìd
king embraced Islam (but renounced it afterwards and fled to
Constantinople when the second Caliph wanted to reduce him to a
Bedouin status in a dispute that erupted between them). The
Ghassànìds period is marked with important achievements in archi-
tecture, houses of basalt, palaces, triumphal arches, theatres and
churches. Poetry, as the art of word at the time, was encouraged by
the Ghassànìd kings, whose generosity in paying poets was renowned.
The Lakhmìds
The Lakhmìds, in some aspects, were the mirror image of the
Ghassànìds in the east. They originated from Yemenite tribes, called
Tanukh, who emigrated to North Arabia around the beginning of
the third century A.C. and settled in the west of Euphrates (ibid.).
With the establishment of the Lakhmìd dynasty in al-Hira, the
Lakhmìds became allies, or perhaps clients, to the Persian Empire
and, similar to the Ghassànìds, served as a buffer area between the
Persians and the prevalent attacks of the Bedouins on the Empires
frontiers. The Lakhmìds who spoke Arabic, but used Syriac in writ-
ing, were mostly pagans, with a Christian minority (ibid.). The
influence of Christianity increased, however, during the reign of the
last king, al-Nu"man III (580–602 A.C.), when the king, whose mother
was Christian, became Christian. The Lakhmìds civilization did not
reach the level of its counterpart in Petra and Ghassànland. However,
they also encouraged poetry and rewarded poets generously.