The Fate of the Ishmaelite Tribes

Only six of Ishmael’s 12 sons are explicitly mentioned in cuneiform inscriptions: Nebayot, Kedar, Adbeel, Dumah, ͅMassa, and Tema (Gen 25:12–18; see Winnett, “The Arabian Genealogies in the Book of Genesis,” 194). The following section overviews the historical details pertaining to individual Ishmaelite tribes (see Maalouf, Arabs in the Shadow of Israel, 151–56).