Samir Nasri and Marouane Chamakh had put the Gunners in complete control as they looked set to leapfrog Chelsea, who play Birmingham later this afternoon.
However, Spurs - who had just one Premier League away victory over their old rivals, in May 1993 - regrouped for the second half following the introduction of fit-again England striker Jermain Defoe.
Gareth Bale pulled a goal back on 50 minutes, before an inexplicable handball from captain Cesc Fabregas from a free-kick gave away a penalty, which Rafael van der Vaart converted.
Arsenal were then condemned to successive home league defeats for the first time in 13 years when Younes Kaboul headed in a dramatic late winner.
There had been plenty of pre-match hype, and Arsenal midfielder Nasri kept his pre-match vow not to shake hands with William Gallas, his former team-mate for both club and country, handed the captain's armband this afternoon.
The pair then clashed within the opening few moments when Nasri raced clear, only to be halted by a fine saving tackle from the former Gunners defender, roundly jeered by the home support.
It was a positive start for Arsenal, with Fabregas getting into the right side of the Spurs penalty area, but opted to shoot across goal rather than pull the ball back for Nasri.
Gomes flapped at a cross, before the Brazilian then hit the self-destruct button on nine minutes.
Fabregas' chip split the Tottenham defence, but Nasri's touch into the penalty area was just too heavy, which should have allowed Gomes to come off his line to collect.
However, the Spurs keeper hesitated and failed to gather the ball on the penalty spot, which then bobbled wide.
Nasri was alert to tuck his shot back from the tightest of angles between Benoit Assou-Ekotto and the far post.
Spurs were visibly stunned and for a while were in danger of being over-run.
Gallas, though, charged forwards right up to the edge of the Arsenal box, but his progress was halted by Alex Song.
At the other end, Fabregas played his way into the right side of the Spurs penalty area, only to then drag a low shot wide.
Arsenal finally went 2-0 ahead on 27 minutes.
A swift counter-attack saw Fabregas feed Andrey Arshavin on the left, and his low centre was turned in by Chamakh, his ninth of the season.
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp made a change at the start of the second half when he introduced Defoe for a first start since he played for England against Switzerland during early September.
It proved an inspired tactic as Spurs pulled a goal back five minutes after the restart.
Assou-Ekotto launched a long pass up field, which Defoe nodded down to van der Vaart and the Dutchman then tapped to the on-rushing Bale, who coolly slotted the ball into the bottom left corner.
From a position of such dominance, Arsenal were now the ones in danger of losing shape, as Modric fired just over from 20 yards.
As the hour mark passed, there was a break when Gallas bundled over Chamakh to concede a free-kick 30-yards out, which Nasri fired into the wall.
Song then barged Modric to give away a dangerous piece in a similar position for Spurs.
As van der Vaart struck the free-kick, Fabregas and Chamakh, on the end of the wall, both lifted their arms, leaving referee Phil Dowd with little option but to point to the spot.
Van der Vaart sent Fabianski the wrong way to equalise - sparking wild celebrations from the travelling support behind the goal and earning the Spurs man a caution.
Wenger immediately responded by sending on Robin van Persie, for Chamakh, on 68 minutes.
Arsenal had the ball in the net after a free-kick, but both Fabregas and Sebastien Squillaci were offside.
Spurs sent on Peter Crouch, replacing Roman Pavlyuchenko, before with 15 minutes left, Theo Walcott and Tomas Rosicky came on for Arshavin and Nasri.
Gomes redeemed himself with a fine one-handed save to deny Fabregas, with Laurent Koscielny heading over after the corner was not cleared.
Spurs, though, turned the game on its head with five minutes to go when Koscielny fouled Bale on the near touchline.
Van der Vaart floated the free-kick into the penalty area, where Kaboul got between his markers to guide the ball into the far corner.
There were five minutes of stoppage time, during which Arsenal pressed, but Spurs were not to be denied a famous win.
Harry Redknapp revealed how Tottenham delivered a first victory at Arsenal for 17 years after he told his players they could be Premier League champions this season.
''It's wide open this league this year, it's wide open,'' he said. ''Chelsea are not as good as they were; Man United are not as good as they were three or four years ago.
''They're still excellent teams but they're not the force they were. They were almost invincible, the pair of them. I think Tottenham are now getting closer and the championship is wide open. I said that to the players yesterday morning. Why can't you win the championship? Who says you can't?''
He added: ''It's wide open for somebody who can put a run together. It's there for someone to have real go at it this year. Why should we all be fearful and keep saying, 'We can't win it'?' I wouldn't be saying it if we had a bad group of players.
''I'm a realist; I'm not dreaming. It's difficult to do but it's not impossible. This is the best chance anyone's going to get this year. There's very little to choose between the top five or six teams at the moment.''
Talk of Tottenham winning the title looked a mere pipe dream at half-time today as Arsenal completely dominated. But Redknapp ''went for broke'' by throwing on fit-again striker Jermain Defoe and it paid off.
''It was either a case of getting beaten four or five or trying to get a goal back and seeing if we could make a game of it - and that's what we did,'' said the Spurs boss, who admitted giving his players a half-time blast. ''We were open still but we needed a goal and luckily, we got it at the right time.''
Arsene Wenger was left speechless and mystified after watching Arsenal contrive to throw away their 2-0 lead.
''If you look at the stats and the numbers, it is very difficult to understand how we lost this game - a drop in concentration, some basic errors, some back luck as well,'' lamented Wenger. ''You are a bit speechless to re-analyse the game. It is a mystery how you can lose a game like that.
''If you look at the clear-cut chances that Tottenham had today, it is difficult to understand how we can concede three goals, but we lost it and we can only look at ourselves.
''We could not maintain the focus nor the urgency for 90 minutes because some players dropped. I believe that overall we delivered a performance expected in a game like that quality-wise. However, it was a mixture of fatigue in the second half, and also a lack of cautiousness.''
Despite the disappointment of the defeat to their fiercest rivals, Wenger insisted the title race was still wide open.
''There are 10 teams who can win the championship mathematically. Tottenham is one of them,'' the Arsenal manager said. ''I am convinced we are in it, but there are chances in the championship you want to take.''
Source: ESPN Soccernet on 20 Nov 10
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