128 ANCIENT KINGS OF ARABIA. 



{\. D. 310) a tribute being demanded by the Persians 

 from the SjTian Arabs of Gassan, the latter, trusting 

 1o the protection of their Roman aUies, not only 

 refused to comply with the exaction but even ravaged 

 the fertile valleys of Irak : and having waylaid Hor- 

 rauz in the desert, put hini and his whole attendants 

 to the sword. These indignities were dreadfully 

 retaUated by his son Shapoor, surnamed Zoolactaf 

 or I.ord of 'the Shoulders, from the punishment he 

 inflicted on the shoulders of his captives by causing 

 them to be pierced, and dislocated with a cord passed 

 through them. Pursuing his career of slaughter, he 

 crossed the desert yviih great rapidity to Medina, 

 massacring every Arab he met with, and filling up 

 all the wells on his march. From Hejaz he turned 

 northward, and appeared before Aleppo, extending in 

 every direction the dire effects of his vengeance; 

 The kingdom of Gassan, like that of Hita, was 

 extinguished by the swords of the first Mohammedan 

 conquerors. 



Besides the three principal dynasties, of which 

 we have given some account, there was a variety of 

 other smaller states which had princes of their 

 own, who acknoAvledged no dependence on any 

 superior. The tribes of Kenda, Maad, and Kelab 

 had several kings distinguished for the wisdom of 

 their government and "the lustre of their fame ; 

 though no other monuments of their reign have been 

 recorded than the civil feuds in which they were 

 almost incessantly engaged. Except in the two 

 instances already mentioned, no other female ap- 

 pears in the list of Arabian sovereigns. That such 

 occurrences, however, were not unfrequent, Ave 

 learn from different sources ; and it was a reproach 

 of their enemies, that a nation of Avarriors allowed 

 themselves to be governed by Avomen. The prov- 

 ince of Yemama is said to have been so called 

 from a queen of that name ; and jf Ave may believe 

 the Chaldean interpreter of Job, a royal virago, 



