البعد الثقافي لمجتمع مدينة يثرب قبل الإسلام

Abstract EN

The current research aims at highlighting some of the distinct aspects of the cultural product of the city of Yathrib before Islam, from which to infer the presence of a cultural dimension before Islam, though limited until the advent of Islam.

The research consists of two axes: the cultural components of the city of Yathrib, which was based on three foundations: (1) the environment and the characteristics of the place (2) the population groups and (3) the creed.

The second axis dealt with the features of cultural life in Yathrib in terms of: the emergence of religious-educational buildings, the emergence of a distinctive poetry movement, and the appearance of certain architectural features.

The study concluded that the community of Yathrib, during the pre-lslamic era, had witnessed a civilizing and cultural dimension that led indirectly to prepare it for a great cultural revival after Islam for the following reasons: First: Yathrib was being considered one of the most important cities in the northwest of the civilized Arabian Peninsula and a commercial and cultural center in the Pre-lslamic period, since the 6th century BC.

Second: The melting of various local cultures of the city of Yathrib before Islam in the Arab culture pot after Islam.

Third: The labels that were known to the city before Islam, is a civilized reference to it.

Fourth: The cultural dimension of the Yathribian society is represented primarily in the intellectual culture (literary and religious), which is a cultural aspect of it: As for literary intellectual culture, it is represented by the emergence of a distinctive poetry movement in the city of Yathrib and the emergence of a class of intellectuals, poets and preachers of this society.

That led to the emergence of competitive markets to those of Mecca, Taif and other cities.

On the other hand, the religious intellectual culture was the result of the existence of the Jews as the people of the book.

Such culture was manifested in the presence of "madrashat" or "school houses", which had an impact on the religious and educational orientation, and an indication of the beginning of an educational movement that emerged afterward, resulting in the appearance of "Ketab" system.

- The city of Yathrib was unique in building a special type of fortifications known as the "ATAAM" that probably came from outside due to its geographical nature.

Despite the presence of these "ATAAM" or similar fortifications in other areas within the Hijaz, the "ATAAM" of Yathrib were different from the others even in numbers.