Qaryat al-Faw

Posted at Mar 17/2007 03:52PM:
Zöe: Qaryat al-Faw (or al-Fau), formerly Qaryat Dhat Kahl, is a modern city southeast of Mecca that was the capital of the Kinda Kingdom (~350-550 CE according to Hoyland). Qaryat al-Faw was situated along an important trade route and had a large fortified marketplace and a regular trade fair, and was supported by irrigated agriculture. The Kinda kingdom built a certain unity among many of the tribes of northern Yemen and into central Arabia, which in turn created the space for pre-Islamic poetry to have a structure for its development. Kinda elites and wealthy individuals became patrons to poets, and in a sense, the poetry almost became the language of state (I. Straughn).

Posted at Mar 19/2007 09:37AM:
ian: Look at me, I get formal citiations. One additional point: central to the site itself was its walled (and possibly fortified market) demonstrating that trade was still a major element of the link between south Arabia and the Hijaz.