Qur'ānic Geography Independent Scholars Press QG15.indd 1 2/20/2011 3:15:53 PM QG15.indd 2 2/20/2011 3:15:53 PM Qur'ānic Geography A SURVEY AND EVALUATION OF THE GEOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES IN THE QUR'ĀN WITH SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS FOR VARIOUS PROBLEMS AND ISSUES DAN GIBSON Independent Scholars Press Canada QG15.indd 3 2/20/2011 3:15:53 PM Qur'ānic Geography by Dan Gibson Copyright © Dan Gibson, 2011 ISP (Independant Scholar’s Press is an imprint of CanBooks, Saskatoon, Can- ada.) All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval sys- tem, or transmitted in any form, by any means, electronic, mechanical, pho- tocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the pub- lisher, except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gibson, Daniel 1956 - Qur'ānic Geography: a survey and evaluation of the geographical references in the Qur'ān with suggested solutions for various problems and issues. / Dan Gibson p. cm. - (Studies in antiquity and early Islam) Includes bibliographic references and index. ISBN: 978-0-9733642-8-6 1. Islamic Empire - History 622-661 2. Islamic Empire - History 661-750 - Historiography. 3. Middle East - Civilization - History - To 622 - Historiography For further orders contact: www.canbooks.ca Printed by Friesens Book Division, Altona, Manitoba, Canada QG15.indd 4 2/20/2011 3:15:53 PM In memory of my father, David J. Gibson, who worked so long and hard on matching the Edomites with the Hyksos. QG15.indd 5 2/20/2011 3:15:53 PM QG15.indd 6 2/20/2011 3:15:54 PM CONTENTS Abbreviations . ix Acknowledgements . xi Introduction . 1 PART I Geographical Background to Arabia Chapter 1 Geographical Locations in the Qur'ān . 7 Chapter 2 The Founding of the Nations . 17 PART II The People of ’Ad Chapter 3 The People of ’Ad . 30 Chapter 4 ’Ad in the Bible . 40 Chapter 5 The Kings of ’Ad . 55 Chapter 6 ’Ad and the Book of Job . 61 Chapter 7 ’Ad and the Pharaohs . 73 Chapter 8 ’Ad, Edom and the Hyksos . 97 PART III The People of Midian Chapter 9 The People of Midian . 118 PART IV The People of Thamud Chapter 10 The Kingdom of Thamud . 131 Chapter 11 Thamudic Trade Routes . 146 Chapter 12 The Thamudic Golden Age . 166 Chapter 13 The Thamudic Kingdom Crumbles . 173 vii QG15.indd 7 2/20/2011 3:15:54 PM Part V Pre-Islamic Arabia Chapter 14 The Tribes of Arabia . 187 Chapter 15 The City of Medina . 213 Part VI Islam’s Holy City Chapter 16 The Holy City . 221 Chapter 17 The Qibla . 238 Chapter 18 Archeological Evidence . 251 Chapter 19 Literary Evidence . 275 Chapter 20 Historical Evidence . 302 Chapter 21 Navigation and Pre-Islamic Poetry . 333 Chapter 22 The Abbāsid Writers . 346 Chapter 23 The Case for Aqaba and Al-Aqṣa . 357 Chapter 24 Qur'ānic Geography . 370 Part VII Appendices A Timeline of Early Islamic History . 382 B Annotated Bibliography of Early Islamic Sources . 414 C Early Qur'āns . 435 D Bibliography of Secondary Source . 442 E Index . 460 viii QG15.indd 8 2/20/2011 3:15:54 PM ABBREVIATIONS AASOR Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research ADAJ Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan AD Anno Domini (Originally used as Anno Domitian) AJA American Journal of Archaeology Alī Maulana Muḥammad ’Alī’s translation of the Qur'ān (1917) ARAM Journal published by the ARAM Society for Syro-Mesopo tamian Studies Asad Muḥammad Asad’s translation of the Qur'ān (1980) BAR Biblical Archaeology Review BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research BASP The Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists BC Before Christ BNP Date according to Brill’s New Pauly BSOAS Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies CE Coptic Encyclopaedia, ed. A.S. Atiya. 8 vols. New York 1981 EL2 Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, ed. H.A.R. Gibb et al. Leiden and London, 1960- proceeding ELs Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam, ed. H.A.R. Gibbs and J. H. Kramers, Leiden and London, Brill 1953 HUCA Hebrew Union College Annual IRAQ British School of Archeology in Iraq JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society JNES Journal of Near Eastern Studies KJV King James Version (Bible) NIV New International Version (Bible) PEQ Palestine Exploration Quarterly Pickthall Muḥammad Marmaduke Pickthall’s translation of the Qur'ān (1930) Yusif Alī ’Abdullāh Yūsuf ’Alī’s translation of the Qur'ān (1934) ix QG15.indd 9 2/20/2011 3:15:54 PM QG15.indd 10 2/20/2011 3:15:54 PM ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have always found it difficult to write acknowledgements because I great- ly fear I will leave out someone of importance. In the past, every time I have written such a page, I have indeed failed to acknowledge someone. I suppose this comes from being such a poor writer that I must rely on so many people to help me. Researchers, fellow historians, English language proofers, artists, graphic artists and more have participated in preparing this book for print- ing. Not only this, my family have been supportive in allowing me to take two years to concentrate on getting it into print. In reality this means feeding me, telling me when it’s too late or too early to be working, and knowing that husband or father will not be available to do things that he normally does. Two years is a long time to give up a loved one, so I very much appreciate their cooperation that allowed me to do this project. As for the others, here are a few of the people who were of help along the way. Hopefully I haven’t missed too many. During the years of doing research and forming opinions my son Josiah and I talked for countless hours, checking facts and sparking one another with ideas. Then we would argue against ourselves, and often as not would end up dismissing our ideas as unsupportable. In time however, more and more sup- portable ideas came to light. Josiah grew up in the Middle East, walking the deserts and climbing the hills with his older brothers. His interest in history and archeology usually meant he was the first to arrive at a place of interest and was often the last one to leave. Without his input and dialog this project would possibly not have seen the light of day. I must especially thank Colin Bearup from the UK who has helped me by arguing with me through this and several other books in the past. It is always good to have a friend who says: “You can’t say that,” then tells me why not, and then ends up telling me how to say it better! I must also thank John Hill, an ex-Canadian living in Australia, with expertise on China 2000 years ago and its relations with the outside world, including Rome and Islam, who gave many helpful insights and ideas. Years earlier when he came to me for help in locating Arabian places named in an- xi QG15.indd 11 2/20/2011 3:15:54 PM cient Chinese documents, I had no idea how great an impact this would have on me or my view of history. John taught me to also look at Arabian history from an Asian perspective rather than considering only European, Biblical, or Islamic views. Dr. Joshua Lingel has also been a big help in obtaining research materials and providing me with access to other historians and experts. While Joshua was not an expert in Islamic history per se, he had several in his group of friends who could intelligently speak into parts of this study. Along with this he has also been a good friend with helpful comments and criticisms. Dr. Alan Guenther was also very helpful in pointing out several small er- rors and suggesting additional materials that related to the founding of Islam. His probing questions stimulated me to present my arguments better, and his kind thoughtful manner is what makes for a good friend as well as a scholar. Along with these I would also like to express thanks to Eldon Boettger who proofread the initial manuscript. Without the help of these and others along the way, a project such as this would never have been completed and I owe them all my profound thanks. My wife Mary also did a great deal of copy-editing, pointing out my Eng- lish grammar mistakes and I am indebted to her for all her work, and her sharp eye in catching both my English and Arabic mistakes. Lastly I must include a disclaimer, that although all of these people helped in the process and production of this writing, not all of them agreed with everything presented in the book, and I would not wish their names to be as- sociated or assumed as supportive of the various theories that I present here. Dan Gibson xii QG15.indd 12 2/20/2011 3:15:54 PM INTRODUCTION When I first began this project, I discovered to my great pleasure that I would receive assistance from my father, even though he died when I was only nine years old. All of his research was packed away in cardboard boxes and stored in closets and basement nooks until someone came along with an interest in ancient history and decided its worth. Since no one seemed to be forthcoming when my mother was moving into smaller accommodations, the books and papers found a place in our home.