Ḵaybar

Khaybar is an oasis north of Medina, set among the volcanic country of the northern Hejaz. Its inhabited landscape depended on springs, irrigation and cultivated ground. Fortified settlements and palm-growing areas formed a cluster across the valley, rather than a single compact town. The oasis occupied a position on the north-south routes of western Arabia and carried a much older reputation as a centre of agriculture and commerce.

Archaeological research suggests that its later medieval settlement distribution contracted, with economic life becoming more localised than during the earlier Islamic centuries. In the subsequent Late Islamic period, the landscape was shared by settled and nomadic populations. Water management and the underlying organisation of oasis settlement nevertheless show substantial continuity through these changes. Khaybar's early modern setting can therefore be understood through the relationship between cultivation, access to water and neighbouring mobile communities. Its famous early Islamic conquest explains part of its historical memory, but does not alone describe the later inhabitants' use of the oasis.