. Numerous Thamudic rock writings and pictures have been found on Mount Athlab and throughout central Arabia. History The oldest known reference to Thamud is a 715 BC inscription of the Assyrian king Sargon II which mentions them as being among the people of eastern and central Arabia subjugated by the Assyrians.M. Th. Houtsma et al., eds., E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936 They are referred to as "Tamudaei" in the writings of Aristo of Chios, Ptolemy, and Pliny. The Qur'an… (More on Thamud)