Footnote: al-Hijaz and Archeology and silence of the Hijazi sources. Babylon, Ugarit and al-Hijaz prior to Islam

Submitted by dhimmi no more (United States), Oct 18, 2021 at 07:07

Dr. Pipes,

Hoyland reviewed the extant archeology of Arabia prior to Islam. One would expect archeological findings that would shade light on the rise of Islam in al-Hijaz. However, there is total silence. Wansbrough believes that the "silence" of the sources is because Islam did not start in al-Hijaz. He moved the origin of Islam to Mesopotamia and to be more specific to a Judeo-Christian "Sectarian Milieu" in Mesopotamia.

Here is Hoyland's book:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FBFF22/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i2

Wansbrough compared the plethora of archeological findings in the case of Ugarit (the Ugaritic civilization came to an end around 1200 BC) with the silence of the sources from al-Hijaz prior to Islam.

Here is an introduction to Ugarit:

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ugar/hd_ugar.htm

More? It seems that the Saudis study archelogy in al-Hijaz and what they seem to find are archeological findings of far older civilizations and here is a recent discovery of a stunning image carved on stone of the last king of Babylon and it was carved some 2550 years ago.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9832103/Archaeologists-discover-2-550-year-old-image-King-Babylon-carved-rock.html

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