The Tribes of Arabia () or Arab tribes () denote ethnic Arab tribes originating in the Arabian Peninsula. These tribes trace their ancestry to one of the two Arab forefathers, Adnan or Qahtan.
Historically, Arab tribes have inhabited the Arabian Peninsula. However, with the spread of Islam, they started migrating and settling in various regions, including the Levant, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Sudan, the Maghreb, and Khuzestan.
These areas collectively form what is known as the "Arab world," excluding Khuzestan. Arab tribes have significantly influenced demographic shifts in this region, leading to the growth of the Arab population. Additionally, they have played a vital role in the ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and genetic Arabization of the Levant and North Africa.
Arab genealogical tradition
The general consensus among 14th-century Arab genealogists is that Arabs are of three kinds:
Al-Arab al-Ba'ida (), "The Extinct Arabs", were an ancient group of tribes in pre-Islamic Arabia that included the ‘Ād, the Thamud, the Tasm, the Jadis, thelaq (who included branches of Banu al-Samayda), and others. The Jadis and the Tasm are said to have been exterminated by genocide. The Quran says that the disappearance of the 'Ad and Thamud came about due to their decadence. Recent archaeological excavations have uncovered inscriptions that reference 'Iram, once a major city of the 'Aad. Al-Arab al-Ariba (), "The Pure Arabs", came from Qahtanite Arabs. Al-Arab al-Mustarabah (), “The Arabized Arabs”, also known as the Adnanite Arabs, were the progeny of Ismail, the firstborn son of the patriarch Abraham.
The Hawazin tribe and the Quraysh tribe are considered ‘Adnani Arabs. Much of the lineage provided before Ma'ad relies on biblical genealogy, so questions persist concerning the accuracy of this segment of Adnanite Arab genealogy. Adnanites are believed to be the descendants of Ishmael through Adnan but the traditional Adnanite lineage does not match the biblical line exactly. According to Arab tradition, the Adnanites are called Arabised because it is believed that Ishmael spoke Aramaic and Egyptian then learnt Arabic from a Qahtanite Yemeni woman that he married. Therefore, the Adnanites are descendants of Abraham. Modern historiography "unveiled the lack of inner coherence of this genealogical system and demonstrated that it finds insufficient matching evidence".
History
Early history
The tribes of Arabia engaged in nomadic herding and agriculture since 6,000 BCE. By about 1,200 BCE, a complex network of settlements and camps was established. Kingdoms in the southern region of Arabia began to form and flourish. The earliest Arab tribes emerged from Bedouins. A major source of income for these people was the taxation of caravans, and tributes collected from non-Bedouin settlements. They also earned income by transporting goods and people in caravans pulled by domesticated camels across the desert. Scarcity of water and of permanent pastoral land required them to move constantly.
The Nabataeans were nomadic Arabs who moved into territory vacated by the Edomites – Semites who settled the region centuries before them. Their early inscriptions were in Aramaic, but gradually switched to Arabic, and since they had writing, it was they who made the first inscriptions in Arabic. The Nabataean alphabet was adopted by Arabs to the south, and evolved into modern Arabic script around the 4th century. This is attested by Safaitic inscriptions (beginning in the 1st century BCE) and the many Arabic personal names in Nabataean inscriptions. From about the 2nd century BCE, a few inscriptions from Qaryat al-Faw reveal a dialect no longer considered proto-Arabic, but pre-classical Arabic. Five Syriac inscriptions mentioning Arabs have been found at Sumatar Harabesi, one of which dates to the 2nd century CE.
The Ghassanids, Lakhmids and Kindites were the last major migration of pre-Islamic Arabs out of Yemen to the north. The Ghassanids increased the Semitic presence in the then Hellenized Syria, the majority of Semites were Aramaic peoples. They mainly settled in the Hauran region and spread to modern Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan.