The Tanûkhids (التنوخيون) or Tanukh (تنوخ) or Banū Tanūkh (بنو تنوخ, romanized as: ) were a confederation of Arab tribes, sometimes characterized as Saracens. They first rose to prominence in northern Arabia and southern Syria in the 2nd century CE. Both Lakhmid and Tanukhid inscriptions have been found at Umm el-Jimal in Jordan and Namara in Syria. The ancient Tanukh tribal confederation was largely taken over by several branches of the large Azd and Quda'a tribes. Their main base during the time of their most famous ruler, Queen Mavia, was in Aleppo. During the 8th and 9th centuries, the Tanukhid strongholds were the cities of Qinnasrin and Maarat al-Numan.
In the late 2nd century, a branch of the tribe of Azd, from Southern Arabia, migrated to al-Hasa where Tanukhids were settling. The Azdies allied with the Tanukhids, becoming part of the confederation. The two sheikhs (tribal leaders) gave up the rule to Malik ibn Fahm (196–231), who led them into what is now Iraq and Syria, and after skirmishing with other tribes in the area, he controlled all of Jordan, and parts of Iraq, he was succeeded by his brother 'Amr ibn Fahm who reigned for a short period, and after him Jadhima ibn Malik reigned (233–268). After Jadhima's death, he was succeeded by his sister's son 'Amr ibn Adi, a Lakhmid, because Jadhima had no sons, thus establishing the Lakhmid dynasty. Other Tanukhids settled in Syria. 'Amr ibn 'Adi is claimed in the Arab legends to have been the sole victor in the war against Zenobia's Palmyrene Empire, but these myths "are probably an amalgam of fact and fiction." It is clear, however, that the Tanukhids played a key role in the defeat of Zenobia's forces by Emperor Aurelian.
In the 4th century AD, the Tanukhids became the first Arab tribe to serve as foederati (allies) in the Roman East. Their territory spanned from Syria in the north to the Gulf of Aqaba, areas into which they had migrated from southern Arabia after the rise of Sassanian influence in Yemen a century earlier.