Tumita7029 at 03:31, 29 March 2026

2026-03-29T03:31:50Z

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{{Short description|Oasis in Medina Province, Saudi Arabia}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name = Khaybar
|other_name =
|native_name = {{lang|ar|خَيْبَر}}
|native_name_lang = ar
|settlement_type =
|image_skyline = Khaybar - deserted houses.jpg
|imagesize =
|image_alt =
|image_caption = Ancient ruins of Khaybar
|image_map =
|image_seal =
|pushpin_map = Saudi Arabia
|pushpin_label_position =
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|coordinates = {{coord|25|41|55|N|39|17|33|E|region:SA|display=inline,title}}
|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = {{flag|Saudi Arabia}}
|subdivision_type1 = [[Regions of Saudi Arabia|Region]]
|subdivision_name1 = [[Al Madinah Region]]
|subdivision_type2 =
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|established_title = established
|established_date =7thcentury
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|timezone = [[Arabia Standard Time|AST]]
|utc_offset = +3
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'''Khaybar'''{{Efn|Other [[Arabic transliteration|standardized Arabic transliterations]]: {{transliteration|ar|DIN|Ḫaybar}} / {{transliteration|ar|Wehr|ḵaybar}}. Anglicized pronunciation: {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|aɪ|b|ər}}, {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|aɪ|b|ɑr}}.}} ({{IPA|ar|ˈxæjbɑr|lang}}, {{lang|ar|خَيْبَر}}) was an [[oasis]] in [[Medina Province (Saudi Arabia)|Medina Province]], [[Saudi Arabia]], situated some {{convert|153|km|mi|abbr=}} north of the city of [[Medina]]. Prior to the arrival of [[Islam]] in the 7th century, the area had been inhabited by [[Jewish tribes of Arabia|Arabian Jewish tribes]] until it was conquered by the [[Muslims]] under [[Prophet Muhammad]] during the [[Battle of Khaybar]] in 628 CE.

== History ==
[[File:Pre-Islamic_Bronze_Age_Khyber_Map.png|thumb|278x278px|'''Pre-Islamic Bronze Age Khayber Map''' Black markings are outer fortifications, pink markings are inner fortifications, brown represents elevations (i.e. valleys, plateaus, mountains)]]

===Bronze Age===
{{Main|Al-Natah}}
The archaeological site of [[al-Natah]] in the oasis covered about 1.5 hectares with some 500 residents, protected by ramparts. The occupation dates from around 2400 to 1500 BCE, from the late Early [[Bronze Age]] to the early Late Bronze Age.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2024-10-30 |title=Bronze Age Town of Al-Natah Represents 'Slow Urbanism,' Archaeologists Say |url=https://www.sci.news/archaeology/bronze-age-town-al-natah-13389.html |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=Sci.News: Breaking Science News}}</ref>

===Pre-Islamic===
[[Pre-Islamic Arabia|Before the advent of Islam]] in the 7th century [[Common Era|CE]], indigenous Arabs and [[Jews]] made up the population of Khaybar, but when Jewish settlement in northern Arabia began is unknown.{{Efn|In a research conducted by [[David Samuel Margoliouth]] and published in the ''[[Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society]]'' in the last century, he points out the fact that the Jews of Khaybar and Yathrib (in Saudi Arabia), as early as the 6th century CE when Jews still lived there before they were evicted to places in [[Syria (region)|Syria]] and to the city of Al-[[Kufa]]h in Iraq, they did not differentiate between the non-accentuated "thau" ('''ת''') and the accentuated "tau" ('''תּ''') although both letters have distinct phonetic sounds by those scrupulous in the use of proper [[Hebrew grammar]] (See: Margoliouth, D.S.: "A poem attributed to Al-Samau'al." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Published by the Society, 22, Albemarle St. London W. London, 1906. p. 364).}} In 567, Khaybar was invaded and purged 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]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.islamport.com/b/5/adab/%df%ca%c8%20%c7%e1%c3%cf%c8/%c7%e1%e3%da%c7%d1%dd/%c7%e1%e3%da%c7%d1%dd%20005.html |title=Ibn Qutaybah: al-Ma'arif |access-date=2009-07-20 |archive-date=2012-09-09 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120909212342/http://www.islamport.com/b/5/adab/%DF%CA%C8%20%C7%E1%C3%CF%C8/%C7%E1%E3%DA%C7%D1%DD/%C7%E1%E3%DA%C7%D1%DD%20005.html }}</ref> which may also be mentioned in the sixth-century [[Harran inscription]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.islamic-awareness.org/history/islam/inscriptions/harran|title=Harran Inscription: A Pre-Islamic Arabic Inscription From 568 CE|website=islamic-awareness.org|date = 29 January 2008|access-date=8 February 2026}}</ref><ref>[[Irfan Shahid|Shahid, Irfan]]: ''Byzantium and the Arabs in the sixth century'', p. 322</ref> ''Khaybar Oasis'' was completely surrounded by a massive wall in pre-Islamic times, similar to other large walled oases in northwestern Arabia and dates back to the Bronze Age, between ''2250 and 1950 BCE'' it would have been needed for protection against surrounding nomadic groups of populations from the desert, potentially carrying out raids on oasis settlements.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Charloux |first=Guillaume |last2=Shabo |first2=Shadi |last3=Chung-To |first3=Guillaume |last4=Depreux |first4=Bruno |last5=Guermont |first5=François |last6=Guadagnini |first6=Kévin |last7=Terrasse |first7=Thomas |last8=Bussy |first8=Mylène |last9=Alshilali |first9=Saifi |last10=Albukaai |first10=Diaa |last11=Crassard |first11=Rémy |last12=AlMushawh |first12=Munirah |date=2024-02-01 |title=The ramparts of Khaybar. Multiproxy investigation for reconstructing a Bronze Age walled oasis in Northwest Arabia |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X23005308 |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports |volume=53 |article-number=104355 |doi=10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.104355 |issn=2352-409X}}</ref>

===7th century===
{{Main|Jewish community of Khaybar}}
As late as the 7th century, Khaybar was still inhabited by Jews, who pioneered the cultivation of the oasis.<ref>Yāqut, ''Šihāb al-Dīn ibn 'Abd Allah al-Ḥamawī al-Rūmī al-Baġdādī'' (ed. Ferdinand Wüstenfeld), Mu'jam al-Buldān, vol. IV, Leipzig 1866, p. 542 (reprint: Ṭaharān 1965, ''Maktabat al-Asadi''); Hayyim Zeev Hirschberg, ''Israel Ba-'Arav'', Tel Aviv 1946, p. 343 (Hebrew).</ref>

=== Military campaigns of Muhammad ===
{{Campaignbox Campaigns of Muhammad}}
{{Main|List of expeditions of Muhammad|Battle of Khaybar}}

==== Expedition of Fadak ====
In 627, Muhammad ordered the [[Expedition of Fadak]] to confront the [[Banu Sa'd|Bani Sa'd]] bin Bakr tribe because Muhammad received intelligence they were planning to help the Jews of Khaybar.<ref>Mubarakpuri, The Sealed Nectar, p. 211. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20110623155725/http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/Books/SM_tsn/ch4s13.html online])</ref> In this expedition one person was captured by Muslims, and the rest of the tribe fled.<ref name="Sa'd 1967 110">{{cite book|last=Sa'd|first=Ibn|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_vnXAAAAMAAJ|title=Kitab al-tabaqat al-kabir, By Ibn Sa'd, Volume 2|year=1967|publisher=Pakistan Historical Society|asin=B0007JAWMK|page=110|quote=SARIYYAH OF 'ALI IBN ABl TALIB AGAINST BANU SA'D IBN BAKR AT FADAK}}</ref>

==== Battle of Khaybar ====
The [[Battle of Khaybar]] took place in May/June 628.<ref name="Oxford University Press">{{cite book|author=Watt, W. Montgomery|author-link=Montgomery Watt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GfAGAQAAIAAJ |title=Muhammad at Medina|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1956|isbn=978-0-19-577307-1|page=2|quote=Muhammad had thus a straightforward reason for attacking Khaybar. The moment he chose for the attack May /June 628 (i/y) shortly after his return from the expedition of al-Hudaybiyah was one when it was also convenient for him to have booty to distribute to his followers whose expectations had recently been disappointed.}} ([https://archive.org/details/muhammadatmedina029655mbp free online])</ref> The Jewish [[Banu Nadir|Banū Naḍīr of Medina]], who claimed to be descendants of [[Aaron]] the priest, owned lands in Khaybar and had castles, fortresses and weapons there. After Muhammad expelled them from Medina in 625, their leaders moved to their estates in Khaybar to prepare for war against Muhammad and to recruit the aid of other non-Muslim Arab tribes. Muhammad first sent disguised guests to the homes of the leaders of Banū Naḍīr, who killed their hosts. Muhammad's victory over the Jews of Khaybar in the subsequent battle was also aided by the distance of the settlements and their castles from one another, the absence of co-ordination between the fighting forces, the death of the leader [[Sallam ibn Mishkam|Sallām ibn Mishkam]] and a Jew who showed the Muslims the secret entrances to one of the fortresses. The castles of Khaybar had tunnels and passages, which in wartime enabled the besieged to reach water sources outside the castles.<ref name="I. Ben-Ze'ev, 1946">I. Ben-Ze'ev, ''Ha-Yehudim ba-Arav'' (19572), index; H.Z. Hirschberg, ''Yisrael ba-Arav'' (1946), index; I. Ben Zvi, in: ''Keneset'', 5 (1940), 281–302; J. Braslavsky, ''Le-Ḥeker Arẓenu'' (1954), 3–52 (English summaries: 3–4, English section); S.D. Goitein, in: KS, 9 (1932/33), 507–21; Caetani, in: ''Annali dell' Islam'', 2 (1905), 8–41; R. Leszynsky, ''Juden in Arabien zur Zeit Mohammeds'' (1910)</ref> Between 16 and 18 Muslims and 93 Jews were killed in the battle.<ref name="Mubarakpuri, The Sealed Nectar p. 238">Mubarakpuri, The Sealed Nectar, p. 238. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20110829110530/http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/Books/SM_tsn/ch6s2.html online])</ref>

==== Aftermath ====
Captives of war and slaves from other countries were brought to Khaybar, and the people of Hejaz became more accustomed to agriculture. Jews continued to live in the oasis for several years until they were finally expelled by Caliph [[Umar]], who decided to expel the Jews of Khaybar in 642.<ref name="I. Ben-Ze'ev, 1946" />

===Expulsion of Jews===
During the reign of Caliph [[Umar]] (634–644), the Jewish community of Khaybar was transported alongside the Christian community of [[Najran]] to the newly conquered regions of Syria and [[Iraq]]. Umar also forbade [[Kafir|non-Muslims]] to reside in the [[Hejaz]] for longer than three days.<ref>[[Giorgio Levi Della Vida]] and [[Michael Bonner]], ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'', and Madelung, ''The Succession to Prophet Muhammad'', p. 74</ref> Since then, the Jews of Khaybar travelled around many areas throughout the [[early Muslim conquests|Islamic Empire]] as artisans and merchants and they are still referred to in documents from the Middle Ages.<ref name="LS20102">{{Citation |last=Lowin |first=Shari |title=Khaybar |date=2010-10-01 |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world/*-COM_0012910 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World |pages=148–150 |access-date=2023-06-22 |publisher=Brill |language=en |doi=10.1163/1878-9781_ejiw_com_0012910|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== Benjamin of Tudela ===
{{Main|Benjamin of Tudela}}
[[Benjamin of Tudela]] was a Jew from [[Tudela, Navarre|Tudela]], in the [[Kingdom of Navarre]], who travelled to Persia and Arabia in the 12th century. He visited and described Khaybar and neighboring [[Tayma]] sometime around 1170 and mentioned those places as Jewish habitations.<ref>{{cite book |author=Benjamin of Tudela |author-link=Benjamin of Tudela |title=The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela |editor-first=Marcus Nathan |editor-last=Adler |publisher=Oxford University Press |publication-place=London |year=1907 |pages=47–49 |url=https://sammlungen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/freimann/urn/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:1-173334}}</ref>

== Khaybar in culture and politics ==
=== Folklore ===
Khaybar is referred to in various traditions outside the Hejaz. The [[Makhamra family]], a [[Palestinians|Palestinian]] extended family who lives in the city of [[Yatta, Hebron|Yatta]], in the southern [[Hebron Hills]], claims ancestry from the Jews of Khaybar. Over the years, there have been reports of locals in Yatta and its vicinity continuing to observe various Jewish rituals. In the late 19th century, peasants from [[Meithalun]], present-day northern [[West Bank]], associated a nearby ruin locally known as [[Khirbet Kheibar]] with an unnamed Jewish king and his daughter who, according to their tradition, resided in the area. Some scholars have suggested tying those two traditions to the expulsion of Jews from Khaybar and their settlement in the region.<ref name="LS20102"/>

=== Contemporary anti-Israel use ===
{{see also|Kheibar Shekan|Khaybar Khaybar ya yahud|Battle of Khaybar#Modern usage in the Arab–Israeli conflict}}

The tale of the Jews of Khaybar being vanquished and driven out has been revived in recent decades by the Palestinian Islamic [[Palestinian political violence|militant]] group [[Hamas]], who have used it as a political slogan against [[Israel]].<ref name="LS20102" /> The slogan has also been used by some at pro-Palestine protests and other anti-Israel events, as well as online.<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 April 2022 |title=Death threat to Jews sung openly at rallies across the UK |url=https://www.thejc.com/news/news/death-threat-to-jews-sung-openly-at-rallies-across-the-uk-6OsCLjtY9Pwd1D7byF0Kpl |access-date=2023-11-19 |website=The Jewish Chronicle}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=20 November 2023 |title=Antisemitism online directly increases real-world violence, study finds |url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-773895 |access-date=4 February 2026 |work=[[The Jerusalem Post]]|author= Boden, Brooke Sarah}}</ref>

==Economy==
Historically, Khaybar is known for growing [[dates (fruit)|dates]]. The dates raised in the region were generally exported to [[Medina]].<ref name=Prothero83>{{cite book|last=Prothero|first=G. W.|title=Arabia|year=1920|publisher=H.M. Stationery Office |location=London |page=83 |url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11767/view/1/83/}}</ref>

==Climate==
{{Weather box|location = Khaybar
|metric first = Y
|single line = Y

|Jan high C = 21.6
|Feb high C = 24.6
|Mar high C = 27.8
|Apr high C = 32.6
|May high C = 36.2
|Jun high C = 38.9
|Jul high C = 39.3
|Aug high C = 39.3
|Sep high C = 38.3
|Oct high C = 34.2
|Nov high C = 27.6
|Dec high C = 22.8
|Feb low C = 7.6
|Jan low C = 9.1
|Mar low C = 12.2
|Apr low C = 16.0
|May low C = 20.7
|Jun low C = 24.0
|Jul low C = 24.7
|Aug low C = 24.8
|Sep low C = 22.6
|Oct low C = 18.4
|Nov low C = 13.0
|Dec low C = 9.0

|Jan precipitation mm = 9
|Feb precipitation mm = 3
|Mar precipitation mm = 14
|Apr precipitation mm = 12
|May precipitation mm = 5
|Jun precipitation mm = 0
|Jul precipitation mm = 0
|Aug precipitation mm = 1
|Sep precipitation mm = 0
|Oct precipitation mm = 4
|Nov precipitation mm = 17
|Dec precipitation mm = 8
|year precipitation mm= 73

|source = [https://en.climate-data.org/location/47208/ Climate-data.org]
|date=06 March 2018}}

==See also==
* [[Harrat Khaybar]]
* [[Safiyya bint Huyayy]]
* [[List of expeditions of Muhammad]]
* [[David Reubeni]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links |wikt=no |c= |n=no |q=no |s=no |b=no |v=no |voy=yes}}
* Joseph Braslavi (Braslavski) and Leah Bornstein-Makovetsky (1972, 2006), [https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0012_0_11088.html Khaybar], in ''[[Encyclopedia Judaica]]'', via [[Jewish Virtual Library]]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Historic Jewish communities]]
[[Category:Jewish Saudi Arabian history]]
[[Category:Oases of Saudi Arabia]]
[[Category:Populated places in Medina Province, Saudi Arabia]]
[[Category:Date palm orchards]]

Khaybar - Revision history

Tumita7029 at 03:31, 29 March 2026