Tihāma
The hot coastal lowland along the Red Sea, running from Yemen up to the Hijaz — the counterpart to highland Najd.
- Type
- Region
- Name means
- Stifling heat (root t-h-m)
- Counterpart to
- Najd, the highland
- Extends
- Yemen to the Hijaz
The name
The lexicographers connect Tihāma to the root t-h-m (ت-ه-م) and the sense of stifling, stagnant heat — *tahima* is said of air that is heavy and still. The name describes the climate of the coastal strip.
Extent
The lowland between the Red Sea and the mountain wall, from the Yemeni coast north through Jāzān toward the Ḥijāz.
The old division
Tihāma is one half of the oldest geographic division of western Arabia: everything low and coastal is Tihāma, everything raised behind it is Najd, and the mountains between them are the Ḥijāz that bars one from the other. Almost every classical description of an Arabian place locates it by this scheme.
Frequently asked questions
What is Tihāma?
The hot coastal lowland along the Red Sea, from Yemen to the Hijaz — the counterpart to highland Najd in the classical division of Arabia.
Sources
- ياقوت الحموي، معجم البلدان، 626هـ — مادة: تهامة
- الحسن الهمداني، صفة جزيرة العرب، 334هـ — في ذكر تهامة
- ابن منظور، لسان العرب، 711هـ — مادة: تهم
Last reviewed: 2026-07-27