community
Tayma
Tayma, Saudi Arabia · Arabia & Arab frontier
27.622, 38.550
Attested. Jewish presence is attested in inscriptions of the region and Islamic sources. Al-Samaw'al's Jewish identity and poems are traditional.
The oasis of Tayma had a Jewish community in late antiquity, remembered in Islamic tradition and in the poet al-Samaw'al. An inscription at Hegra names a 'Samuel' of Tayma, Jewish or Christian. Earlier, the Babylonian king Nabonidus lived at Tayma in the 6th century BCE.
Added from later research
abrahamic
Tayma
Tayma is an ancient oasis where the Babylonian king Nabonidus lived for ten years (c. 552–543 BCE). Some scholars link his stay to the Prayer of Nabonidus at Qumran and to Daniel 4. In late antiquity it had a Jewish population, including the poet al-Samaw'al ibn 'Adiya, famed for loyalty.
attested. Nabonidus' stay is attested by cuneiform and local inscriptions. Al-Samaw'al is a figure of Arabic poetic tradition, and his historicity is traditional.
Source stance: neutral. Inscriptions (neutral) and Islamic tradition (outsider).
People and groups named here
- al-Samaw'al ibn 'Adiya (poet, per tradition)
- Nabonidus (6th century BCE)
Sources
- Tayma (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Christianity in pre-Islamic Arabia (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Pleiades place 814739: Thaima
Pleiades Gazetteer (ISAW, NYU). Accessed 2026-11-11.
Further reading
Councils here
None in this list.