Tanukhids

The Tanûkhids or Tanukh were a confederation of Arab semi-nomadic tribes, sometimes characterized as Bedouin Saracens. Like the Lakhmids, they first rose to promenince in northern Arabia in the third century BCE. Both Lakhmid and Tanukhid inscriptions have been found at Umm al-Jimal in Jordan and Namara in Syria, with the two groups often confused due to the complexity of tribal geneaologies.

In the fourth century CE, the Tanukhids formed a major grouping of Rome's allies in the East, ranging 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 Iran a century previous. The Tanukhids played a key role in the defeat of Zenobia's forces by Emperor Aurelian and served as "foederati" in the Roman East. In 378, their Queen Mavia led them in a revolt against Emperor Valens. A truce was struck and was respected for a time, with Mavia even sending a fleet of cavalry in response to Roman requests for assistance in staving off an attack by the Goths. The alliance crumbled under Theodosius I, with the Tanukhids again revolting against Roman rule.Ball, 2001, pp. 97-102]

References

Bibliography

*Citation|title=Rome in the East: The Transformation of an Empire|first1=Warwick|last1=Ball|year=2001|publisher=Routledge|ISBN=0415113768

Further reading

*Shahîd, "Rome and the Arabs: a Prolegomenon to the Study of Byzantium and the Arabs" (Washington: Dumbarton Oaks) 1984. The opening volume of Shahîd's multi-volume history of Byzantium and the Arabs.