Abu Karib ibn Jabalah

A major Samaritan revolt broke out in 529–531 under the leadership of a charismatic, messianic claimant named Julianus ben Sabar (or ben Sahir), sometimes referred to as the final Samaritan revolt, to create an independent state.^[4] According to Procopius,^{[citation needed]} the violence erupted due to restrictions imposed on Samaritans by the Byzantine authorities via Justinian's edicts, while Cyril of Scythopolis indicates sectarian tensions between Christians and Samaritans as the primary cause for the revolt.^[5]

Following massive riots in Scythopolis and the countryside, the rebels quickly conquered Neapolis, and ben Sabar emerged as their king.^[6] Ben Sabar followed a strict anti-Christian policy: Neapolis' bishop and many priests were murdered, and he persecuted the Christians, destroyed churches and organized guerrilla warfare in the countryside, driving the Christians away.^[6] As a response, forces of the dux Palaestinae, combined with units of local governors and Abu Karib were dispatched to deal with the uprising.^[6] Ben Sabar was surrounded and defeated after withdrawing with his forces from Neapolis.^[6] After his capture, he was beheaded, and his head, crowned with a diadem, was sent to Emperor Justinian.^[6]

By 531 the rebellion had been put down.^[7] The forces of Emperor Justinian I quelled the revolt with the help of the Ghassanid Arabs under the leadership of Abu Karib; Abu Karib killed or enslaved tens of thousands of Samaritans, with their death-toll possibly being between 20,000 and 100,000.^[4] The Byzantine Empire thereafter virtually outlawed the Samaritan faith. According to Procopius of Caesarea, the majority of Samaritan peasants chose to be defiant in this revolt and "were cut to pieces".^[4] Further, Samaria, the "world's most fertile land, was left with no one to till it".^[4]

Abu Karib is most famous for his role in the formal transfer of a region known as the "Palm Grove" (Greek: Phoinikōn) to the Roman Empire. According to Procopius in his works Wars and Buildings, Abu Karib presented this territory to the emperor Justinian as a gift. In return, Justinian officially bestowed upon him the title of phylarch over the Arabs in Palestine.^[8]

Procopius describes the Palm Grove as a vast interior region where only palm trees grew, settled by Saracens since ancient times. However, some historian note that Roman "possession" of the land was largely symbolic; the territory was separated from Roman Palestine by a ten-day journey through a completely dry, uninhabited desert, making it (according to Procopius) impossible for the Emperor to exercise real control over the area.^[9]

The exact location of Abu Karib's Palm Grove remains a subject of scholarly debate, as the commentary by Procopius is somewhat vague. While early writers like Cosmas Indicopleustes placed it in the Sinai Peninsula, and others suggested locations as far south as Mecca, modern scholars generally look to the northestern Hejaz. The three main candidates are Tabuk (accepted by Irfan Shahîd, an important oasis on the route from the Arabian Peninsula to Syria), Hegra (Mada'in Salih, a former Nabataean stronghold with extensive evidence of date palm cultivation and a confirmed Roman military presence up to the fourth century), and Tayma (an ancient oasis with significant water management systems and agricultural activity).^[10]

• Shahid, Irfan (2010). Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century, Volume 2, Part 2: Economic, Social, and Cultural History. Dumbarton Oaks.
• Fisher, Greg (2011). Between Empires: Arabs, Romans, and Sasanians in Late Antiquity. Oxford University Press.
• Whately, Conor (2024). "Procopius on the Palm Grove". Classica Cracoviensia. 27: 357–374.