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I.BeforetheConquest
3030Lakhmids
Towardstheendofthefifhcentury,intheareabetweentheArabianPen-
insulaandMesopotamia,theprocessoftheformationoftheLakhmids’state
wasbroughttocompletion(BanūLakhm).Al-H.ra,itscapital,waslocatedin
thevicinityofthelaterAl-Kūfaandtoday’sAl-NadjafinIraq
22.However,thereis
nohistoricalevidencethatcouldshedsomelightonthefoundationofAl-H.ra.
Teoldestdocumentthatcontainsthenameofthecitycomesfrom132.
TebeginningsoftheLakhmids’kingdomdatebacktothethirdcentury
andareconnectedwiththearrivalontheseterritoriesoftheconfederationof
theTanūkhtribesfromtheArabianPeninsula.Followingthedambreachin
Ma’rib(thedamhadcrackedseveraltimesbeforeitfelloutofusealtogether
around540),theTanūkhssetouttojourneyinanortheasterlydirectionand
settledintheenvironsofAl-Bahrain.Conflictsarosebetweenthesetribeswhich
madesomeofthemdecidetomigratetoMesopotamia.
Accordingtothetradition,theLakhmids’dynastywasfoundedbyMślik
IbnFahmal-Azd..TisbulerstatewasavassalofSassanidPersia.TeLakhmids
professedNestorianism,havingadopteditfromthelocalpopulation.Tebish-
opricwasinAl-H.ra.Althoughthekingdomwastoagreatextentmadeup
ofChristians,Al-NucmśnIIIAbūśbūs(around580-602),thelastkingof
theLakhmiddynasty,turnedouttobetheonlyChristianonitsthrone.Ac-
cordingtosomeaccounts,itwasfromAl-H.rathatChristianityspreadtoNa-
djrśn,inthesouthoftheArabianPeninsula.Besides,theuraysh-atribeof
whichProphetMuhammadwasonceamember-weretoowetheirabilityto
writetotheLakhmids.However,thekingdomwasdefinitelymulti-religious.
ApartfromChristians,itwashometopolytheists,ZoroastriansandtheJews.
Imrual-ayscanbeconsideredthemostfamousruleroftheLakhmidKingdom,
knownforbequeathinganequallyfamousepitaphcalledtheNamśrainscription
23.
TeKingdomreachedthepeakofitspowerduringthereignofAl-MundirIII
(505/512-554).IntheByzantinesourcestherulerappearsunderthenameof
Alamundaros.AccordingtoArabhistorians,heremainedinpowerformore
22G.Rothstein,DieDynastiederLahmideninal-Hîra:EinVersuchzurarabisch-per-
sischenGeschichtezurZeitderSasaniden,Berlin1899;I.Shahid,Lakhmids,[in:]EI,
vol.V
,pp.632-634;I.Shahid,A.L.F.Beeston,al-Hîra[in:]EI,vol.III,pp.462-463;
N.V.Pigulevskaja,ArabyugranicVizantiiiIranavIV-VIvv.,Moskva-Leningrad1964,
pp.57-123;M.M.Dziekan,HistoriaIraku,Warszawa2007,pp.27-32;J.Danecki,
Arabowie…,pp.58-60.
23See:J.Danecki,Wstępdodialektologiijęzykaarabskiego,Warszawa1989,p.17.For
thetranslationofthismonumentintomodernlanguagessee:K.Versteegh,TeArabicLan-
guage,Edinburgh2001,p.31;N.V.Pigulevskaja,Araby…,p.23.