Table Of ContentTHE RISE AND FALL OF THE
HASHIMITE KINGDOM OF ARABIA
For my Parents
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JOSHUA TEITELBAUM
The Rise and Fall
o f the Hashimite
Kingdom o f Arabia
H U R ST & COM PANY, L O N D O N
First published in the United Kingdom by
C. Hurst & Co. (Publishers) Ltd
38 King Street, London WC2E 8JZ
©Joshua Teitelbaum, 2001
All rights reserved
Typeset in Bembo by Bookcraft Ltd, Stroud, Gloucestershire
Printed in Malaysia
ISBN 1-85065-460-3
A sharifyou may be, but you’re hardly a king;
Though you kill barmt camels, theirf at you don’tfling;
Though you carry long spears, you don’t enter the ring;
Though you’d battle, afox’s howl makes you take wing;
Though you’re quick on the trigger, no bullets ping.
The above is a poem by a bedouin opponent of Sharif Husayn. It is quoted, with
permission, from Clinton Bailey, Bedouin Poetry from Sinai and the Negev: Minor of a Culture
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991), p. 356.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
One who undertakes an enterprise such as this incurs many debts
(intellectual and otherwise) along the way, and it is a pleasure to
acknowledge them. My first thanks go to the Moshe Dayan
Center for Middle East and African Studies at Tel Aviv Univer
sity, which is an unequalled concentration of scholars on the
Middle East. My friends and colleagues have been generous with
their guidance and advice. The Dayan Center has been my profes
sional home for many years; one can ask for no better.
Martin Kramer, Director of the Dayan Center, kept me going
when my spirit flagged. I owe him a great deal for his patient,
intellectual guidance while he steered me toward my goal and
warned me away from tempting but dangerous avenues.
Itamar Rabinovich, former head of the Center and now Presi
dent of Tel Aviv University, was instrumental in bringing me to
the Center and has been a source of counsel throughout my aca
demic career. Asher Susser, former head of the Center, was of
great help during this project. He was always interested, and never
lacked for an encouraging word.
Joseph Kostiner has been a mentor and friend for many years.
Yosi was always cheerfully available to share with me his unique
approach to the study of tribes and state formation, as well as his
encyclopedic knowledge of the Arabian Peninsula. I am in his debt
Ami Ayalon, Gad Gilbar, Ofra Bengio, Meir Litvak, Bruce
Maddy-Weitzman, Yigal Sheffy, and Aryeh Shmuelevitz gave
unstintingly of their time and expertise.
I would also like thank the following scholars at other institu
tions: Michael Barnett, Michael Bates, Ross Brann, David Dewitt,
Werner Ende, Adam Garfinkle, Joel Migdal, David Owen, Barry
Rubin, Jeffery Rudd, Adi Schnytzer, and Eliezer Tauber. William
Ochsenwald, dean of scholars of the Hijaz, deserves special men
tion for his sharing of his knowledge on Arabian affairs. They have
all given kindly of their considered opinion, but 1 absolve them of
responsibility for the contents of this work; it remains mine alone.
vu
Vlll Acknowledgments
Much of the research for this book was carried out during a
two-year fellowship at the Jackson School of International
Studies, University of Washington. Charlotte Albright, Jere
Bacharach, Dorothy Becker, Martin JafFee, Hillel Kieval, and Joel
Migdal assisted gready during my stay there.
My aunt and uncle in Seatde, Frances and Fred Rogers, made
us feel welcome in the Great Pacific Northwest, and were a source
of practical and financial assistance.
Without the generosity of Samuel and Althea Stroum, our stay
in Seattle would not have been possible. I have benefited from the
support of the Stroums at several stages in my academic life, and
to them I offer my profound thanks.
I am indebted for additional financial support to the Moshe
Dayan Center through its Moshe Dayan and Uriel and Lora Dann
Scholarships (I regret that Uri, of blessed memory, did not live to
read this work — his counsel has been sorely missed); the Avi
Foundation; London B’nai B’rith; the Anglo-Jewish Association;
and the Harry and Jenny Lewis Studentship.
During my work in the archives, I was greatly aided by the staffs
of the Sudan Archives, Durham University (Lesley Forbes, Jane
Hogan); the Public Record Office; the India Office; the archives
of the French Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense; the
Middle East Center, St Antony’s College, Oxford; the Archives
Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge; and the Liddell Hart
Centre for Military Archives, King’s College.
Marion Gliksberg, Marwan Hanania, Anat Lapidot, Edna Lift
man, Amira Margalith, Marie Miran, Shira Ohayon, Dorit Paret,
Soly Shahvar, Judy Shulevitz, and my uncle Morton Wagenfeld
assisted in countless ways.
Aaron Roland has been generous of spirit and of pocket. I con
sider his enduring friendship a blessing in my life.
My thanks go to my very special editor and friend, Penny
Beebe, for her devoted and expert work on the manuscript.
I am grateful to my parents-in-law, Hal (of blessed memory)
and Marilyn Simkowitz, who cared about my work and helped
whenever needed. I deeply wish Hal were still with us to see the
completion of this project.
To Jacqueline, my inspiration, I owe more than anyone can
imagine. She has been a profound source of advice and constant
support, although at times she may have wondered if she was mar
Acknowledgments ix
ried to me or widowed by the Arab Revolt. I would not have been
able to finish this without her. My three wonderful daughters,
Dena, Rivital, and Ayalah, have grown up during the gestation of
this work, and now they finally see what Abba was doing all the
time.
I take special pleasure in thanking my parents and teachers,
Rabbi David and Robin Teitelbaum, whose unwavering confi
dence in me made it all possible. Along with my dear brother
Adam, they have been a source of tremendous support through
out this effort. I dedicate this book to them.
Tel Aviv JOSHUA TEITELBAUM
February 2001
