Chapter 6 Chapter 2 Arabia

Unlike the windswept Byzantium, the birthplace of the Arab Empire was barren and desolate.As the largest peninsula in the world, surrounded by the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, there is not a single permanent river on the land of more than 3.2 million square kilometers. Most of the area is a gravel plain, Lava fields, deserts or fields.The dry and scorching grasslands have bushes that feed camels, and there are few oases suitable for farming. Therefore, although the Arabian Peninsula is sandwiched between Egypt and Mesopotamia (two river basins), it seems to have been forgotten by the creator.Until many years after the Mesopotamian Civilization and Egyptian Civilization fell, there was still no noticeable movement here, only the camel bells rang.Perhaps, apart from Allah, no one would have imagined that a great civilization that would affect the world would arise in this place where the birds don't shit.

This is a miracle. The creators of the new civilization are a branch of Arabs called Bedouins (Bedouins, also translated as Bedouins or Bedouins), which means "wilderness nomads".They belong to the Mediterranean type of the European race, and they mainly live by raising camels, horses, and sheep. They migrate periodically along fixed routes every year, and the nomadic distance is often more than 1,000 kilometers.Only a few residents who are lucky enough to live in the oasis grow barley, wheat, melons and dates, or engage in commerce and handicrafts.So dates and camels have become the most distinctive scenery and symbols of this peninsula.

Knowing this, it is not difficult to understand why Islamic culture likes and is so close to green, and calls heaven Paradise and hell Hell.Yes, the summer temperature in the hottest part of the peninsula exceeds 50 degrees Celsius, and the surface temperature of the desert is even higher than 70 degrees Celsius.Who among the people living here does not yearn for a green garden?The living conditions of the Bedouins are indeed too harsh. Fortunately, there is still business. The commercial road is called Hejaz, also translated as Hejaz.It starts from Jordan in the north, ends in Yemen in the south, and passes through the three provinces of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the middle. It is backed by the Hijaz Mountains and parallel to the Red Sea. It is as narrow and long as the Red Sea. It has always been a commercial road connecting Europe and Asia.Those oriental goods loaded on sailboats, mainly luxury goods, including gems, spices and silk from India and China, were transported to Yemen via the Arabian Sea. In order to avoid the war between Byzantium and Persians, they often chose to transport them by land Syria and the Mediterranean coast, and then shipped to Europe to sell at a high price.

Such a road can really be called "the way to make money". What's more, the southern part of the peninsula is also the production area of ​​frankincense and myrrh, although not the only one in the world.The resins of these two olive plants were vital to many ancient civilizations as spices and salves.The Hebrews used them to sacrifice gods and beauty and cure diseases, the Romans used them to cover up the stench of cremation, and the Egyptians used them to make the best mummies, and as a result, they were worth almost gold. With frankincense and myrrh, and the Hijaz trade route, the Bedouin who raised camels easily changed themselves from a herdsman to a semi-nomadic and semi-trading people.The powerful tribes organized caravans, and those stragglers wearing knickerbockers and machetes stuck in their waists became guides and bodyguards.For them who are used to riding camels and traveling long distances, there is obviously no difficulty in changing their identities.

The caravan was huge in scale, at most it was said that there could be up to 300 people and 2,500 camels, and thousands of camels were probably the standard configuration.Such a mighty team is walking on a long journey, not only needs safety, but also supplies along the way.The former transformed caravans into armed groups, while the latter gave birth to urban economies.Moreover, these cities also have unique titles - they are aptly called "caravan cities" by the academic circles. Caravan cities developed from merchant stations, although some of them were once Jewish settlements.In fact, the villages on the oasis were originally gardens for nomads to obtain agricultural products, and now it is also logical to become a transfer station and supply station for caravans.Stations become cities as their needs grow into vast agglomerations of hotels, shops, workshops, and farmers' markets.

Such a city is of course limited in size, but it is of great significance to the Arabs.Because, as pointed out in the second volume of the history of China, "The State", the boundary between prehistory and civilization lies in the state, and the symbol of the state lies in the city.In other words, once a nation establishes a city, their country and civilization will be born sooner or later. What's more, there are not one or two cities on the commercial road.As caravans must stop to rest their feet, buy sandals, saddles and water skins, they are one after another from south to north, just like the ancient Egyptian city-state-Nome.It's just that it is the Nile that connects Nome like pearls, and the Hijaz connects the caravan cities.It is the uniqueness of Islamic civilization that history is created by trade routes rather than rivers.All kinds of mysteries can be said to be contained in it.

Come see Mecca. As the birthplace of Muhammad and the rise of Islam, Mecca was not what it is today.At that time, this unremarkable town was located in the dry and sandy "cropless valley", hopelessly surrounded by two layers of desolate and treeless mountains.Flat-roofed houses of stone or dry brick—bricks that were dried rather than fired—constituted its crowded residential quarters, and only a holy spring and a temple in an open square in the center of the city suggested that it must will be extraordinary. This is Zamzam Spring and Kaaba. Kaaba is a transliteration of Ka'ba (Arabic, the same below unless otherwise noted), which means "cube house".This square box-like building is sacred because it contains a black meteorite.It is considered a sacred object that fell from the sky, and it is said to be placed by the first ancestor of mankind.The Bir'Zam-zam spring next to the Kaaba is also extraordinary. It was dug and even stepped on by the ancestors of the Arabs under the guidance of the Creator.

The miraculous and sacred black meteorite and Zamzam made Mecca a pilgrimage center for Arabs before it became the first holy place of Islam, and also won peace for the city.Six years after Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, that is, after 586 A.D. when Muhammad was sixteen years old, Mecca was agreed by various tribes as a forbidden place where fighting was not allowed, and the guardianship of managing affairs and maintaining order was handed over to the Gulai clan. The original meaning of the word Quraysh is coin or shark, but either interpretation is suitable for this tribe.In fact, they are predators among the Bedouin people, not only the whole people are engaged in business, but also rich and generous, although they originally lived on nomads and plunder.But when the hijaz became the "way to make money", the shrewd Gulai clan immediately put down their butcher knives, and instead relied on renting out camels and escorting caravans to make a fortune, and developed into a professional trading tribe that settled in Mecca.

The Gulai people who have become a trading nation undoubtedly know business well.They not only successfully turned Mecca into a caravan city on the Hijaz trade route, but also maintained the city's status as a pilgrimage center well, and made a big fuss by using the practice of forbidden places and forbidden months.In the month when fighting is forbidden, they provide various conveniences for Arabs in the Midwest who come to Hajj and trade, and even organize the annual Ukaz (Ukaz) market, just like the current trade fair and commodity exhibition . Mecca prospered day by day. Prosperous Mecca attracts visitors from all directions, whether they want to pray devoutly in the modest sanctuary or conduct fair trade in the colorful market.In short, before the Prophet announced the apocalypse, Mecca had become both the commercial center and the religious center of the peninsula.Although strictly speaking, Mecca at this time can only be called a pilgrimage center, but it is only a matter of time before it becomes a religious center.

This is not only different from the Chinese capital, which is mainly a political center, but also different from the Greek city-state, which is mainly a commercial center.Of course, what was born out of this could neither be a Chinese-style continental farming civilization, nor a Greek-style maritime business civilization, but could only be a third kind of nomadic business civilization besides the two. In fact, the life seeds of Islamic civilization were conceived in the gorgeous turn of the Bedouin from nomadism to commerce, the dual character of the two centers of Mecca, and the spread of Judaism and Christianity through commerce.This allowed the Arabian Peninsula to gather a very creative force and made possible the rise of Islam as a world religion.Although the completion of this historical mission still needs the power of another city, in any case, the new civilization is ready to emerge.

All that is needed now is a prophet, a guide. We know that he is Muhammad.

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Notes: For the statement, see 14:37.All quotations in this book use Ma Jian’s translation (China Social Science Press, 1996 edition), and the labeling method follows academic practice. translation.For the historical fact that Mecca became a forbidden place, see "Dictionary of Religion" edited by Ren Jiyu.