The Thamud were a people of ancient Arabia, either a tribe or group of tribes that Create large Kingdom and flourished from the 3000 BC to 200 BC. Although the Thamud probably originated in southern Arabia, a large group apparently moved northward at an early date, traditionally settling on the slopes of Mount Athlab. Recent archaeological work has revealed numerous Thamudic rock writings and pictures not only on Mount Athlab but also throughout central Arabia.
They are mentioned in sources such as the Quran, Assyrian annals (Tamudi), in a Greek temple inscription from the northwest Hijaz of 169 AD, in a 5th-century Byzantine source, in Old North Arabian graffiti around Tayma, as well as (arguably) an Eblaite tablet; from these sources, it seems that the Thamud were a tribe living somewhere between Mecca and Tayma. Others have suggested that their city, 'carved from rock', was Petra, Jordan. They are mentioned in the Qur'an as rejecting their Prophet Saleh and being destroyed by God as a result.
