Lihyan

Lihyan (لحيان, Liḥyān; Greek: Lechienoi), also called Dadān or Dedan, was a powerful and highly organized ancient Arab kingdom that played a vital cultural and economic role in the north-western region of the Arabian Peninsula and used Dadanitic language. The Lihyanites ruled over a large domain from Yathrib in the south and parts of the Levant in the north. In antiquity, the Gulf of Aqaba used to be called Gulf of Lihyan. A testimony to the extensive influence that Lihyan acquired. The term "Dedanite" usually describes the earlier phase of the history of this kingdom since their capital name was Dedan, which is now called Al-'Ula oasis located in northwestern Arabia, some 110 km southwest of Teima, both cities located in modern-day Saudi Arabia, while the term "Lihyanite" describes the later phase. Dadan in its early phase was "one of the most important caravan centers in northern Arabia". It is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. The Lihyanites later became the enemies of the Nabataeans. The Romans invaded the Nabataeans and acquired their kingdom in 106 AD. This encouraged the Lihyanites to establish an independent kingdom to manage their country. This was headed by the King Han'as, one of the former royal family, which governed Al-Hijr before the Nabataean invasion. The Arab genealogies consider the Banu Lihyan to be Ishmaelites, Arabs descended from Ishmael, although in Jewish tradition they are thought to be descended directly from Abraham through his second wife Keturah (rather than from Ishmael). The term Dedan (ddn) appears in ancient texts exclusively as a toponym (name of a place), while the term Lihyan (lḥyn) appears as both a toponym and an ethnonym (name of a people). Dedan appears originally to have referred to the mountain of Jabal al-Khuraybah. In Minaic inscriptions the two terms appear together with the former indicating a place and the latter a people. Nonetheless, in modern historiography the terms are often employed with a chronological meaning, Dedan referring to the earlier period and Lihyan the later of the same civilization.