Editing Mecca (section)

====Economy====
Camel caravans, said to have first been used by Muhammad's great-grandfather, were a major part of Mecca's bustling economy. Alliances were struck between the merchants in Mecca and the local nomadic tribes, who would bring goods – leather, livestock, and metals mined in the local mountains – to Mecca to be loaded on the caravans and carried to cities in [[Syria (region)|Shaam]] and [[Iraq]].<ref name="world">[[#iw|''Islamic World'']], pp. 17–18</ref> Historical accounts also provide some indication that goods from other continents may also have flowed through Mecca. Goods from Africa and the Far East passed through en route to Syria including spices, leather, medicine, cloth, and slaves; in return Mecca received money, weapons, cereals, and wine, which in turn were distributed throughout Arabia.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} The Meccans signed treaties with both the Byzantines and the [[Bedouin]]s, and negotiated safe passages for caravans, giving them water and pasture rights. Mecca became the center of a loose confederation of client tribes, which included those of the [[Banu Tamim]]. Other regional powers such as the [[Habesha people|Abyssinians]], Ghassanids, and Lakhmids were in decline leaving Meccan trade to be the primary binding force in Arabia in the late 6th century.<ref name="lapidus-16" />