 = Qedarite = 
 
 The Qedarites ( also <unk> / <unk> , Cedar / Kedar / Qedar , and Kingdom of Qedar ) were a largely nomadic , ancient Arab tribal confederation . Described as " the most organized of the Northern Arabian tribes " , at the peak of its power in the 6th century BCE it controlled a large region between the Persian Gulf and the Sinai Peninsula . 
 Biblical tradition holds that the Qedarites are named for Qedar , the second son of Ishmael , mentioned in the Bible 's books of Genesis ( 25 : 13 ) and 1 Chronicles ( 1 : 29 ) , where there are also frequent references to Qedar as a tribe . The earliest <unk> inscriptions discovered by archaeologists that mention the Qedarites are from the Neo @-@ Assyrian Empire . <unk> the 8th and 7th centuries BCE , they list the names of Qedarite kings who <unk> and were defeated in battle , as well as those who paid Assyrian monarchs tribute , including Zabibe , queen of the Arabs ( <unk> @-@ rat <unk> @-@ ri @-@ bi ) . There are also Aramaic and Old South Arabian inscriptions recalling the Qedarites , who further appear briefly in the writings of Classical Greek , such as Herodotus , and Roman historians , such as Pliny the Elder , and <unk> . 
 It is unclear when the Qedarites ceased to exist as a separately defined confederation or people . Allies with the Nabataeans , it is likely that they were absorbed into the <unk> state around the 2nd century CE . In Islam , <unk> 'il is considered to be the ancestral <unk> of the Arab people , and in traditional Islamic historiography , Muslim historians have assigned great importance in their accounts to his first two sons ( Nebaioth and Qedar ) , with the genealogy of Muhammad , a <unk> of God in Islam , alternately assigned to one or the other son , depending on the scholar . 
 
 = = Etymology = = 
 
 It has been suggested that the name of the Qedarites is derived from the name for <unk> 's second son Qedar . Though the tribal name is Arabic , it was first transcribed in Assyrian ( 8th century BCE ) and Aramaic ( 6th century BCE ) , as the Arabic alphabet had not yet been developed . In the <unk> <unk> , the Qedarites are listed as an ethnic group whose name in Aramaic transliteration is <unk> . 
 The Arabic <unk> root q @-@ d @-@ r means " to measure , <unk> , estimate " ; " to decree , appoint , <unk> " ; and " to have power , or ability . " <unk> , a <unk> derived from the same root , means " cauldron , <unk> " , and also gives the verbal derivation , " to cook " . Ernst Axel <unk> , a biblical scholar who undertook a historical study of the Ishmaelites and determined that they were known in Assyrian inscriptions as the <unk> 'il , <unk> that the name of the Qedarites was derived from the verb <unk> , with its meaning of " to <unk> , to have power " . As this etymology is a deduction based solely on the prominence of the Qedar among the <unk> 'il tribes , it is viewed as inconclusive by other scholars . 
 
 = = Geographical scope = = 
 
 The Qedarites were an " Arab tribal confederation , " or " alliance of nomadic Arab tribes . " According to Philip J. King , theologian and historian , they lived in the northwest Arabian desert and were " an influential force from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE . " Geoffrey <unk> , historical <unk> and translator , transcribes their name as Kedar and states they lived in an area southeast of Damascus and east of the Transjordan . 
 8th century BCE Assyrian inscriptions place the Qedarites as living in the area to the east of the western border of Babylon . Moving further east into areas of the Transjordan and southern Syria in the 7th century BCE , by the 5th century BCE they had spread into the Sinai and as far as the Nile Delta . Qedarite domination of northwest Arabia involved <unk> between the kings of Qedar and the kings of Dedan ( <unk> ) . Historian Israel <unk> <unk> writes that the " breadth of Qedarite distribution suggests a federation of tribes with various sub @-@ divisions . " 
 <unk> in the largely desert region lived in by the Qedarites - such as Dedan , <unk> , and Dumah - played an important role as sites of settlement , trade , and <unk> @-@ places . Dumah , a remote desert city to the west , known later as <unk> Al @-@ <unk> and today as al @-@ <unk> , was the most important of these , sitting as it did between the empires of Babylonia and Assyria . Serving as the base for Qedarite religious ceremonies , Dumah 's strategic position on the north @-@ south trade route in the area meant that relations with its inhabitants were sought after by both empires , though Dumah and the Qedarites were closer in both geographical and political terms to Babylonia . Those coming from the south and wishing to access Mesopotamia were obliged to pass through Dumah , which also lay on an alternate route to the northwest , leading to the city of Damascus , and from there , on to Assyria and Anatolia . 
 During the period of Persian imperial rule in the region ( c . 550 – 330 BCE ) , the Qedarites exercised control over the desert areas bordering Egypt and Israel and the traffic related to Arabian incense trade upon which Gaza depended . Herodotus ( c . <unk> – 425 BCE ) writes of their presence in the northern Sinai near the Egyptian border where they may have been engaged by the <unk> , the Persian imperial authorities , to keep that border secure as well as their control of the city of Gaza . 
 
 = = Historical references = = 
 
 
 = = = <unk> = = = 
 
 
 = = = = Assyrian inscriptions = = = = 
 
 The first documented mention of Qedar is from a stele ( c . 737 BCE ) of <unk> @-@ <unk> III , a king of the Neo @-@ Assyrian Empire , that lists leaders from the western part of Mesopotamia that pay him tribute . To the Assyrians , the Qedarites were known as Qidri or <unk> @-@ <unk> @-@ ri with other <unk> inscriptions also using Qadri , <unk> , <unk> and <unk> ( Neo Babylonian ) . Zabibe ( c . 738 BCE ) is listed among those paying tribute under the title " queen of the Qidri and the Aribi " ( Aribi meaning " Arabs " ) . 
 Also mentioned in Assyrian royal inscriptions is Zabibe 's successor Yatie ( c . 730 BCE ) , who sent forces headed by her brother <unk> to aid <unk> @-@ <unk> in his bid to hold onto power in Babylon . Together with an army from <unk> , this alliance faced the forces of Sennacherib , on the Assyrian king 's first campaign in 703 BCE . The events of the battle are recorded in the annals of Sennacherib which describe Yatie as " queen of the Arabs , " and tell of the capture of her brother <unk> in battle . Israel <unk> <unk> writes that this is the first mention in Assyrian documents of Arabs as an ethnic element in Babylonia . 
 Statements about the Qedarites in the annals of the Assyrian kings of Ashurbanipal and his son Esarhaddon indicate that the term Kedar was almost synonymous with Arabia . Hazael , who ruled c . 690 – 676 BCE , is described as a Qedarite king by Ashurbanipal and " king of the Arabs " by Esarhaddon . After Sennacherib 's invasion of Babylonia in 691 – <unk> BCE , Hazael fled to Dumah . Dumah is referred to as Adummatu by the Assyrians , and the city is described by them as the seat of the Qedar confederation and the base of their cult . 
 Te 'elkhunu and <unk> , both referred to as both " queens of Qidri " and " queens of Aribi , " have Adummatu explicitly denoted as their seat and capital city in the inscriptions . While the capital city for the three other queens referred to as " queens of Aribi " ( <unk> , Zabibe and Yatie ) is not explicitly mentioned , it is thought to have been Adummatu as well . Numerous inscriptions discovered in Dumah itself are further indications for a strong Qedarite presence , one of which asks of three deities known to the Assyrians as gods of Qedar ( <unk> , <unk> and <unk> ) for " help in the matter of my love . " 
 The conquest of Adummatu by Sennacherib in 690 BCE and the capture of a Qedarite queen , Te 'elkhunu , who was brought back to Assyria with other <unk> , including divine images , is also mentioned in the annals of the Assyrian monarchs . Esarhaddon eventually returned the " renewed " images of the Arab gods to Adummatu with <unk> , " who grew up in the palace of Sennacherib , " and was appointed Qedarite queen by Esarhaddon to replace Te 'elkhunu . However , strained relations between the Assyrians and the Qedarites meant that she ruled for only a brief period , with Esarhaddon recognizing Hazael as the king of Qedar after he increased his tribute to the Assyrian monarch by 65 camels . Esarhaddon then appointed Yauta , son of Hazael , as a Qedarite king , following Hazael 's death . That Yauta paid a tribute in the form of 10 <unk> of gold , 1 @,@ 000 precious stones , 50 camels , and 1 @,@ 000 leather pouches of <unk> is also recorded . 
 The defeat of <unk> and Yauta after they mounted Qedarite forces to march against the kings of the <unk> is recorded by Ashurbanipal . Yauta is said to have " <unk> the people of Arabia to revolt with him . " His wife , <unk> , is the only woman mentioned in Assyrian inscriptions as both a Qedarite queen and the wife of a Qedarite king , and is thought to be the only woman who was not a ruler in her own right . The inscriptions record how <unk> was sent by Yauta to accompany <unk> and the Qedarite forces , and their subsequent defeat and capture in <unk> BCE by the forces of <unk> , king of <unk> and a loyal vassal of the Assyrian empire . Yauta is said to have " fled to the Nabataeans . " His subsequent capture and sentencing in <unk> are recorded by Ashurbanipal who relates that , " I put a dog chain upon him and made him guard a <unk> . " <unk> was appointed as Yauta 's successor , and soon joined with the Nabataeans to revolt against Assyria again , prompting Ashurbanipal to launch a three @-@ month campaign to end it , beginning in Palmyra , continuing on to Damascus and ending in the southern part of al @-@ <unk> . 
 
 = = = = Old South Arabic and Aramaic inscriptions = = = = 
 
 Old South Arabic inscriptions mention <unk> ( " <unk> " or " <unk> " ) as a person or people . <unk> found in al @-@ <unk> , known as the <unk> of <unk> at Dedan , mentions Gashmu I , son of <unk> I , as King of Qedar . 
 A " king of Qedar " is also mentioned in a late 5th century BCE Aramaic inscription on a silver vessel found at Tell <unk> in the eastern Nile Delta in lower Egypt . The inscription names him as " <unk> son of Gashmu , " with the vessel described as an , " offering to <unk> ' <unk> " . 
 While it does not specifically mention the Qedar and is therefore a subject of debate , an Aramaic inscription dating to 5th century BCE discovered on an incense altar at <unk> and dedicated to , " <unk> , son of <unk> , the king , " is interpreted by André <unk> as a possible reference to kings of Qedar . 
 
 = = = = Classical Antiquity = = = = 
 
 Herodotus has documented that the Qedarites were called upon to assist <unk> II of the Persian empire in his invasion of Egypt in 525 BCE . The Qedarites and <unk> were known to enjoy close relations , even engaging as wartime allies against the Assyrians . It is possible that the Qedarites were eventually incorporated into the <unk> state which emerged as the strongest <unk> presence in northwestern Arabia c. the 2nd century CE . In The Cambridge Ancient History , some of the ( Arab ) <unk> mentioned by <unk> in his retelling of events that took place in 312 BCE are said to be Qedarites . 
 Pliny the Elder ( 23 – 79 CE ) , who refers to the <unk> and <unk> ( " <unk> " ) in the context of other Arabian tribes , placing their domain to the south of the <unk> and adjacent to that of the <unk> , is thought to be referring to the Qedar . Jerome ( c . 357 – 420 CE ) , also writing in Latin , transcribes Qedar as Cedar , and refers to it as a region . In one entry , he describes it as , " a region of the Saracens , who are called Ishmaelites in scripture " ; in another , he writes that it was a " once <unk> region across <unk> Arabia " ; and in a third , he writes that it is a " deserted region of the Ishmaelites , whom they now call Saracens . " According to the Catholic Encyclopedia , <unk> ( c . 393 – c . 457 ) mentions that in his time , the Qedar lived near Babylon . 
 
 = = = = 19th century = = = = 
 
 There are brief references to the Qedar in the writings of Western travellers to the Levant in the 19th century . Drawing on biblical <unk> , comparisons are made between the Bedouins and the Qedar . For example , Albert Augustus <unk> describes the imposing spectacle of a <unk> encampment on a plain upon which , " the black tents of Kedar were spread far and wide . " An earlier account by Charles <unk> Elliot describes the Arabs as falling into two main groups , <unk> and Bedouins , and identifies the latter with Ishmael and the Qedar as follows : 
 [ ... ] the Bedouins still retain the wandering habits of their father Ishmael ; their ' hand is against every man , and every man 's hand is against ' them ; the wild desert is their home ; the ground their <unk> and their canopy the sky ; or , if luxurious their <unk> place of <unk> is a little tent ' black as the tents of Kedar ' their progenitor [ ... ] 
 Charles Forster identifies the Arab tribe of the Beni <unk> as the modern descendants of the Kedar . He proposes that Beni <unk> ( " sons of war " ) is a patronym and <unk> de guerre that was adopted by the tribe at least 2 @,@ 000 years ago , replacing Kedar as the national moniker . 
 
 = = = Biblical = = = 
 
 The descendants of Abraham and <unk> are called Ishmaelites , after Ishmael , their firstborn , and the Qedarites are named for his second son , Qedar . The Bible refers to both the Qedarites and Qedar frequently . Old Testament references include Genesis ( 25 : 13 ) , Isaiah ( 21 : 16 @-@ 17 , 42 : 11 , 60 : 7 ) , Jeremiah ( 2 : 10 , 49 : 28 @-@ 33 ) , Ezekiel ( 27 : 21 ) , and Chronicles ( 1 : 29 ) . Twice , Qedar is used to refer to the actual son of Ishmael , as in the books of Genesis and Chronicles , while remaining references are to his descendants , referring either to his most prominent North Arabian sons , or to the Arabs and Bedouins as a more general collective . The " tents of Kedar " equated with " the peace @-@ <unk> <unk> " mentioned in the Book of <unk> ( 120 : 5 ) were likely a Qedarite sub @-@ group . 
 In <unk> ( 1 : 5 ) , the tents of the Qedarites are described as black : " Black I am , but beautiful , ye daughters of Jerusalem / As tents of Qedar , as <unk> of Salam black . " Their tents are said to be made of black goat hair . A tribe of Salam was located just south of the <unk> in <unk> <unk> , and <unk> proposed that the Qedarites mentioned in this <unk> text were in fact Nabataeans and played a crucial role in the <unk> trade in the 3rd century BCE . 
 Biblical descriptions indicate there were two major types of Qedarites : nomads ( Arabic : <unk> ) living in tents and sedentary people ( Arabic : <unk> ) living in villages . Jeremiah describes them as " a nation at ease , that <unk> securely " ( 49 : 31 ) and notes that they engage in the pagan practice of <unk> their temples . Isaiah recalls their warrior activities and skill with the bow . ( 21 : <unk> ) Ezekiel associates , " Arabia and all the princes of Kedar , " and indicates that they engaged in sheep / goat trading with the <unk> . The three books list the flocks of the Qedarites as including lambs , rams , goats and camels . 
 Jeremiah also tells of a campaign by <unk> ( 630 – 562 BCE ) against the Qedarites during the Babylonian period . Gashmu , the king of the Qedarites mentioned in the 5th century BCE Aramaic inscription described above , is also referred to as " <unk> the Arab " or " <unk> the Arabian " by <unk> who lists him as one of his adversaries , since Gashmu stands opposed to <unk> 's governorship over Judea in <unk> BCE . 
 
 = = Culture and society = = 
 
 Biblical and <unk> evidence suggests that of the Arabian tribes , the Qedarites were most prominent in their contacts with the world outside of Arabia . Like other nomadic groups , they lived primarily in <unk> <unk> . <unk> and traders in livestock , such as male lambs , rams and goats , they also played a key role in the prosperity of Gaza 's incense trade , controlling traffic in the desert regions between Egypt and Palestine . As a result of their trading activities , there were clans from among the Qedarites that became wealthy . 
 Though they were vassals under Assyrian rule and were often engaged in rebellion against that empire , the rise to dominance of the Persian empire proved beneficial to the Qedarites . Qedarite control of the trade routes and the access they afforded the Persians translated into what Herodotus described as a friendly relationship . 
 
 = = = Language = = = 
 
 The Qedarites are among a number of North Arabian tribes whose interactions with <unk> tribes beginning in the 8th century BCE resulted in cultural exchanges between these two large Semitic groups . Early Arab tribal groups like the Qedarites spoke early Arab dialects , but as the Arabic alphabet had not yet been developed , they used the Aramaic alphabet to write . " The tongue of Kedar " is used in <unk> sources as a name for the Arabic language . 
 <unk> , the practice of naming boys after their <unk> , was common among the Qedar . Some Qedarites had Aramaic personal names ( e.g. Hazael or <unk> @-@ el ) , while others had Arabic personal names ( e.g. Gashmu and Zabibe ) . Aramaic civilization and its peoples were gradually absorbed by the Arabs with Arabic dialects in Lebanon , Palestine , Syria , and Iraq in particular exhibiting the influence of Aramaic . 
 
 = = = Religion = = = 
 
 Religious worship among the Qedar , as was the case for most of the inhabitants of Arabia until the 7th century CE , was centered around a polytheistic system in which women rose to prominence . Divine images of the gods and goddesses worshipped by Qedarite Arabs , as noted in Assyrian inscriptions , included representations of <unk> , <unk> , <unk> , <unk> , <unk> , and <unk> . The female guardian of these idols , usually the reigning queen , served as a <unk> ( <unk> , in Assyrian texts ) who <unk> with the other world . As mentioned above , there is also evidence that the Qedar worshipped Al @-@ <unk> , to whom the inscription on a silver bowl from a king of Qedar is dedicated . In the Babylonian Talmud , which was passed down orally for centuries before being transcribed c . 500 CE , in <unk> <unk> ( <unk> <unk> ) , it is said that most Qedarites <unk> pagan gods . 
 
 = = = Tomb = = = 
 
 There is a mausoleum assigned to him in <unk> city <unk> Province , Iran 
 
 = = <unk> = = 
 
 The biblical view of the late Iron Age political and cultural map describes it as a set of branching <unk> . Biblical figures three generations forward from <unk> are invariably described as the eponymous founders of different tribes and polities that interacted with the Kingdom of Judah between the 8th and 6th centuries BCE . Such is the case of the Qedarite Arabs , who according to biblical tradition , are the offspring of the Abraham @-@ Ishmael @-@ Kedar genealogical line . 
 The majority of <unk> believe they are one of the modern day descendants of Muhammad , and that they are therefore the descendants of Ishmael and his second son Qedar . Abu <unk> <unk> al @-@ <unk> ( 676 – 743 CE ) wrote that his father Ali ibn <unk> informed him that Mohammed had said : " The first whose tongue spoke in clear Arabic was Ishmael , when he was fourteen years old . " <unk> Ibn Muhammad al @-@ <unk> ( 737 – 819 CE ) established a genealogical link between Ishmael and Mohammed using writings that drew on biblical and <unk> sources , and the ancient oral traditions of the Arabs . His book , <unk> al @-@ <unk> ( " The <unk> of <unk> " ) , seems to <unk> that the people known as " Arabs " are all descendants of Ishmael . Ibn <unk> ( <unk> – <unk> ) writes , " All the Arabs of the <unk> are descendants of Nebaioth and Qedar . " Medieval Jewish sources also usually identified Qedar with Arabs and / or Muslims . According to author and scholar <unk> <unk> , Western scholars viewed this kind of " genealogical <unk> " with suspicion , seeing it as , 
 [ ... ] a late Islamic fabrication because of the confusion in Islamic times which made it such a <unk> term as to include the inhabitants of the south as well as the north of the Arabian Peninsula . But <unk> of this extravagance , the concept is much more modest in its <unk> , and in the <unk> sources it applies only to certain groups among the Arabs of pre @-@ Islamic times . Some important statements to this effect were made by Muhammed when he identified some Arabs as Ishmaelites and others as not . 
 <unk> in this more limited definition holds that Ishmael was both an important religious figure and eponymous ancestor for some of the Arabs of western Arabia . <unk> is given in Arab genealogical accounts to the first two of Ishmael 's twelve sons , Nebaioth ( Arabic : <unk> , <unk> ) and Qedar ( Arabic : <unk> , <unk> ) , who are also prominently featured in the Genesis account . It is likely that they and their tribes lived in northwestern Arabia and were historically the most important of the twelve <unk> tribes . 
 In accounts tracing the ancestry of Mohammed back to Ma 'ad ( and from there to Adam ) , Arab scholars alternate , with some citing the line as through Nebaioth , others Qedar . 
 
 