Khaybar

Khaybar (Arabic: خيبر‎, IPA: [ˈxɑjbɑrˤ, ˈxajbɑr, ˈχæjbɑr, ˈχɛjbɑrˤ]) is the name of an oasis some 153 km to the north of Medina (ancient Yathrib), Saudi Arabia. Before the rise of Islam, this fortress town was inhabited in former times by Jewish tribes. It fell to Muslim forces in 629 AD

History

Pre-Islamic

In 567, Khaybar was invaded and vacated of its Jewish inhabitants by the Ghassanid Arab Christian king Al-Harith ibn Jabalah. He later freed the captives upon his return to the Levant. A brief account of the campaign is given by Ibn Qutaybah, and confirmed by the Harran Inscription. See Irfan Shahid's Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century for full details.

7th century

In the 7th century, Khaybar was inhabited by Jews, who pioneered the cultivation of the oasis and made their living growing date palm trees, as well as through commerce and craftsmanship, accumulating considerable wealth. Some objects found by the Muslims when they entered Khaybar — a siege-engine, 20 bales of Yemenite cloth, and 500 cloaks — point out to an intense trade carried out by the Jews. In the past some scholars attempted to explain the siege-engine by suggesting that it was used for settling quarrels among the families of the community. Today most academics believe it was stored in a depôt for future sale, in the same way that swords, lances, shields, and other weaponry had been sold by the Jews to Arabs. Equally, the cloth and the cloaks may have been intended for sale, as it was unlikely that such a quantity of luxury goods were kept for the exclusive use of the Jews.

Khaybar (disambiguation)

Khaybar or Khaibar may refer to:

Places

Other

See also

Khaibar-1

The Khaibar-1 (Arabic: خيبر-1‎) is Syrian-made 302 mm Artillery rocket used by Hezbollah to attack cities and towns in northern Israel. The name of the rocket was first revealed on July 28, 2006 by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a speech on Al-Manar television station.

The Khaibar-1 is significant because the rocket has a 100 km range, longer than most of the Katyusha-type rockets in the Hezbollah rocket force. The rocket was first fired at the Israeli city of Afula, east of Haifa. In early August 2006, Khaibar-1 rockets were reported to hit Beit Shean, about 70 km south of the Lebanese border,Hadera, and Haifa, Israel's third-largest city. The expression 'Hai-bar' in Hebrew, which is pronounced in a similar way as Khaibar, means a breeding ground for animals. This resulted in many Israelis reacting to the name of the rocket with humor.

Origin of the name

Khaibar, also spelled Khaybar, is an oasis approximately 95 miles east of Medina, which was once the largest Jewish settlement in Arabia. The name was chosen as a reminder of the Battle of Khaybar, a battle that took place in 629 between Muhammed and his followers against the Jewish people who inhabited the settlement.