In 115 BCE the Himyarites were a tribe from the southwestern highlands of Yemen. They formed, with Saba, the dual kingdom of Saba and Dhu-Raydan
[1]
[2]
after the Roman attacks in 25 BCE emboldened the Himyarites who "siezed the Sabaean homelands and made the population subject to a new Saba-Himyar regime."
[3]
They used the royal title ’king of Saba and dhu-Raydan’ with Raydan later becoming known as Qataban.
[4]
Dhu-Raydan (Zafar), the Himyarite capital, was located in the highlands near modern Yarim.
[5]
The Roman discovery of the Indian Ocean trade winds around 100 CE signaled the end of many great civilizations in South Arabia that used overland trade routes;
[6]
but the Himyarite state was initially an exception, and prospered. For a time the Himyarites were a subject tribe of the Romans
[7]
and they possessed colonies which seeded the Abyssinian Kingdom in Ethiopia.
[8]
The wealth of the Himyar state, similarly acquired as other local kingdoms from the trade of incense and spices, came from trading overseas routes. While during the second millennium CE Saba split from Himyar the Himyarites later benefited immensely at the expense of their rival kingdoms as the overland routes became increasingly less efficient and disrupted by warfare, especially in the third century CE, which involved Himyar, Saba, Hadramawt and Aksum.
The Himyarites had a much more centralized polity than Saba throughout the early first millennium
[9]
but could not hold back the Abyssinians who invaded and occupied the tihama (Red Sea littoral) from the 2nd century CE; the Ethiopians conquered the Himyarite capital in 240 CE, but agreeing an alliance with Himyar withdraw from the Arabian peninsular
[10]
in about 270 CE.
[11]
The Himyar-Abyssinain alliance or vassalage ended about 298 CE.
[12]
Himyar "reached the peak of its power in the third century as a result of a successful series of wars against the local heathen tribes and the African realm of Ethiopia."
[13]
Between 270-280 CE the Sabaean Kingdom was annexed by the Himyarites.
[10]
Hadramawt was conquered by 300 CE.
[14]
Throughout this period the profits from the incense trade were in a progressive decline as the rise of Christianity in the west had reduced demand for a product that was most commonly used in pagan rituals. When in 395 CE the Roman emperor Theodosius declared Christianity to be the official state religion of the Roman Empire the trade ceased entirely.
[15]
At this same time Himyarites also were undergoing their own seismic shift in religious belief system - rapidly converting from their pagan polytheistic belief system to monotheistic religious doctrines by the late 4th century CE.
[16]
"There is significant archaeological evidence of the abandonment of pagan temples toward the conclusion of the fourth century and of the almost complete disappearance of expressions of devotion to the old tribal gods shortly thereafter."
[17]
"From the 4th century on the Himyarite kings were either full members or sympathizers of Judaism" and the Jewish faith became "the dominant religion" in South Arabia.
[18]
In the later fourth century there was a Jewish dynasty of kings known as the Tabbai’a.
[19]
A list of Himyarite’s known Jewish kings include: Yassirum Yohre’am (from 270 CE); ’Amr-Shlomo ben David (325-330 CE); Malki Kariba Juha’min (378-385 CE); Abu Kariba As’as (385-420 or 445 CE); Shurihbi’il Yakkuf (468-480 CE); Martad Ilan (’Judaized’ 495-515 CE); Yusuf Ash’ar Dhu Nuwas (515-525 CE).
[20]
[19]
The Himyarite army adopted Judaism as its official religion at the start of the fifth century CE.
[20]
Christianity also was present in Himyar at least from the first half of the 4th century
[21]
when the Christian missionary Theophilus arrived and "complained that he found a great number of Jews".
[17]
By 350 CE Christian communities were becoming established and over the next 100 years, "missionaries systematically converted many Arabian tribes from their traditional polytheistic practices to monotheistic Christianity".
[15]
It is also suggested that the rulers were not Jewish but Monophysite Christians. According to Friedman (2006) Himyarite colonists, the Axumites, in the land of Cush (Ethiopia) "which they renamed Axum ... converted to Monophysite Christianity at the beginning of the fourth century. Between 340 to 378, the Axumites returned to Yemen and imposed their rule and religion over the Himyarites. Although the interregnum was short-lived, the impact of the Axumites was very profound. Yemen was a Christian land, with churches and a cathedral in San’a, and all but one of the restored Himyarite monarchs (378-525) were Monophysite Christians. The lone heretic was Dhu-Nuwas who, for unknown reasons, hated Christians and converted to Judaism."
[22]
However, Christians appear to have been repressed due to a perceived association with influence of the Byzantine Empire: "in the 470s ... a priest named Azqir was executed for active proselytisation in Najran".
[23]
Hitti also mentions the 340-378 CE period of Abyssinian rule.
[14]
An inscription dated to 378 CE claimed "the completion of buildings by a Himyar monarch had been accomplished ’through the power of their lord of sky and heaven,’ and phrases such as ’the owner of the sky and earth,’ and the expression ’the Merciful’ also were used.
[17]
It has been suggested that the Himyarite "profession of monotheism, and later full-fledged Judaism, distanced the Himyarites from the Christianity of the Byzantines and their Ethiopian allies and the Zoroastrianism of the Persians"
[17]
so that their strategically located state had an independent or neutral identity. Written sources mention the presence of synagogues in Zafar and Najran.
[19]
As trade revenues flatlined, the increasing persecution and then massacre of Christians by king Dhu Nuwas
[6]
lead to a foreign intervention. The Byzantine Empire in alliance with the Aksumite Kingdom invaded the Himyarite kingdom and Dhu Nuwas was removed. Himyar and the Red Sea Coast was thereafter ruled directly by the Christian Ethiopians until the Persian conquest in 570 CE, interrupted by the Christian Ethiopian governor-general Abraha’s declaration of independence between 550-553 CE.
[24]
[1]: (Burrows 2010, 140) Robert D Burrows. 2010. Historical Dictionary of Yemen. Second Edition. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham.
[2]: (Bryce 2009, 602) Trevor Bryce. 2009. The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia. The Near East from the Early Bronze Age to the fall of the Persian Empire. Routledge. Abingdon.
[3]: (McLaughlin 2014, 136) Raoul McLaughlin. 2014. The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean: The Ancient World Economy and the Kingdoms of Africa, Arabia and India. Pen and Sword Military. Barnsley.
[4]: (Hitti 2002, 55) Philip K Hitti. 2002 (1937). History of the Arabs. 10th Edition. Palgrave Macmillan. Basingstoke.
[5]: (Burrows 2010, 161) Robert D Burrows. 2010. Historical Dictionary of Yemen. Second Edition. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham.
[6]: (Burrows 2010, xxiii) Robert D Burrows. 2010. Historical Dictionary of Yemen. Second Edition. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham.
[7]: (Friedman 2006, 105) Saul S. Friedman. 2006. A History of the Middle East. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Jefferson.
[8]: (Hitti 2002, 56) Philip K Hitti. 2002 (1937). History of the Arabs. 10th Edition. Palgrave Macmillan. Basingstoke.
[9]: (Korotayev 1996, 47) Andrey Vitalyevhich Korotayev. 1996. Pre-Islamic Yemen. Socio-political Organization of the Sabaean Cultural Area in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries AD. Harrassowitz Verlag. Wiesbaden.
[10]: (Caton 2013, 45-46) Steven C Caton ed. 2013. Yemen. ABC-Clio. Santa Barbara
[11]: (Orlin et al. 424) Eric Orlin. Lisbeth S Fried. Jennifer Wright Knust. Muchael L Satlow. Michael E Pregill. eds. 2016. The Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Mediterranean Religions. Routledge. New York.
[12]: (Syvanne 2015, 133) Ilkka Syvanne. 2015. Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. Barnsley.
[13]: (285) Norman Roth ed. 2016. Routledge Revivals: Medieval Jewish Civilization (2003): An Encyclopedia. Routledge.
[14]: (Hitti 2002, 60) Philip K Hitti. 2002 (1937). History of the Arabs. 10th Edition. Palgrave Macmillan. Basingstoke.
[15]: (Romano 2004, 13) Amy Romano. 2004. A Historical Atlas of Yemen. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. New York.
[16]: (Kaye 2007, 168) L E Kogan. A V Korotayev. Epigraphic South Arabian Morphology. Alan S Kaye ed. 2007. Morphologies of Asia and Africa. Volume 1. Eisenbrauns. Winona Lake.
[17]: (Maroney 2010, 93) Eric Maroney. 2010. The Other Zions: The Lost Histories of Jewish Nations. Roman & Littlefield Publishes, Inc. Lanham.
[18]: (Tubach 2015, 363-365) Johann Jurgen Tubach. Aramaic Loanwords In Geez. Aaron Michael Butts. ed. 2015. Semitic Languages in Contact. BRILL. Leiden.
[19]: (Haas 2014, 38-39) Christopher Haas. Geopolitics and Georgian Identity in Late Antiquity: The Dangerous World of Vakhtang Gorgasali. Tamar Nutsubidze. Cornelia B Horn. Basil Lourie. eds. 2014. Georgian Christian Thought and Its Cultural Context. Memorial Volume for the 125th Anniversary of Shalva Nutsubidze (1888-1969). BRILL. Leiden.
[20]: (Brook 2006, 264-265) Kevin Alan Brook. 2006. The Jews of Khazaria. Second Edition. Rowman & Littlefield Publishes, Inc. Lanham.
[21]: (Tubach 2015, 363-363) Johann Jurgen Tubach. Aramaic Loanwords In Geez. Aaron Michael Butts. ed. 2015. Semitic Languages in Contact. BRILL. Leiden.
[22]: (Friedman 2006, 106) Saul S. Friedman. 2006. A History of the Middle East. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Jefferson.
[23]: (Hoyland 2001, 51) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
[24]: (Caton 2013, 47) Steven C Caton ed. 2013. Yemen. ABC-Clio. Santa Barbara
| vassalage to [---] | |
| alliance with [---] |
| Himyarite |
| YeHmyr2 |
| continuity |
| Preceding: Axum I (et_aksum_emp_1) [continuity] |
| unitary state |
| unknown |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| unknown |
| absent |
| inferred absent |
| unknown |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| unknown |
| absent |
| Year Range | Himyar I (ye_himyar_1) was in: |
|---|---|
| (270 CE 340 CE) | Yemeni Coastal Plain |
The Himyarite capital was Zarfar.
[1]
Also known as Dhu-Raydan.
[2]
"The last of the great pre-Islamic kingdoms, that of Himyar, was the only one ruled from the central highlands rather than the desert’s edge."
[3]
When Zarfar became the capital it displaced Marib of the Sabaeans and Qarnaw of the Minaeans.
[4]
Language
[1]: (Caton 2013, 45-46) Steven C Caton ed. 2013. Yemen. ABC-Clio. Santa Barbara
[2]: (Burrows 2010, 161) Robert D Burrows. 2010. Historical Dictionary of Yemen. Second Edition. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham.
[3]: (Burrows 2010, lxiii) Robert D Burrows. 2010. Historical Dictionary of Yemen. Second Edition. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham.
[4]: (Hitti 2002, 56) Philip K Hitti. 2002 (1937). History of the Arabs. 10th Edition. Palgrave Macmillan. Basingstoke.
The Himyarites were one of the "six kingdoms of pre-Islamic South Arabia". These were: Qataban; Saba; Hadhramaut; Ausin (Awsan); Himyar, and Ma’in. [1] The founders of the ’empire’ of the kings of Saba and Dhu-Raydan "were most likely the Himyarites (Hmyrm of the inscriptions). [2]
[1]: (Bryce 2009, 578) Trevor Bryce. 2009. The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia. The Near East from the Early Bronze Age to the fall of the Persian Empire. Routledge. Abingdon.
[2]: (Kaye 2007, 168) L E Kogan. A V Korotayev. Epigraphic South Arabian Morphology. Alan S Kaye ed. 2007. Morphologies of Asia and Africa. Volume 1. Eisenbrauns. Winona Lake.
The Himyarites were one of the "six kingdoms of pre-Islamic South Arabia". These were: Qataban; Saba; Hadhramaut; Ausin (Awsan); Himyar, and Ma’in. [1] The founders of the ’empire’ of the kings of Saba and Dhu-Raydan "were most likely the Himyarites (Hmyrm of the inscriptions). [2]
[1]: (Bryce 2009, 578) Trevor Bryce. 2009. The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia. The Near East from the Early Bronze Age to the fall of the Persian Empire. Routledge. Abingdon.
[2]: (Kaye 2007, 168) L E Kogan. A V Korotayev. Epigraphic South Arabian Morphology. Alan S Kaye ed. 2007. Morphologies of Asia and Africa. Volume 1. Eisenbrauns. Winona Lake.
First period as Kingdom of Saba and Dhu Raydan 115-240 or 270 BCE (depending on whether Abyssinian occupation is included)
Hitti suggests the first Himyarite kingdom which emerged as a tribe in the southwestern highlands of Yemen around 115 BCE lasted until 300 CE.
[1]
After the Roman attacks in 25 BCE the Himyarites "siezed the Sabaean homelands and made the population subject to a new Saba-Himyar regime."
[2]
During the dual kingdom period "Saba was obliged, through straitened circumstances, to seek a coalition with Himyar, forming the united monarchy of ’Saba and Dhu Raydan.’ In the second century AD, however, the fortunes of the Sabaean people revived somewhat and they began to campaign vigorously against the Himyarites."
[3]
Abyssinian occupation from 240-270 CE
Abyssinians, from Ethiopia, who had occupied the Tihama (Red Sea coast) region since the 2nd century CE, "marched on the Himyarite capital, Zafar, and conquered it around 240 CE, compelling the Himyarites to enter into an alliance with them."
[4]
agreeing an alliance with Himyar withdraw from the Arabian peninsular
[4]
the Abyssinians withdrew in about 270 CE.
[5]
"the Himyarites seem to have recognized the Aksumites as their overlords by at least about 296-298, which suggests a defeat, but the situation fluctuated."
[6]
First Himyarite Period 270-340 CE
"At least from about 270 onwards to about 328 the Aksumites were enemies of Rome. The Himyarites appear to have been clients of the Aksumites at least until about 298 and therefore enemies of Rome but they appear to have thrown off the Aksumite yoke at least temporarily after that, or at least their independent embassy to Persia, in about AD 300 would seem to suggest this, but ... the alliances were unstable".
[7]
Abyssinian occupation from 340-377 CE
End 340 CE: "After an invasion from Abyssinia resulting in a short Abysinian rule (ca. 340-78) the native Himyarite kings resumed their long title and held their position till about A.D. 525."
[8]
’
[1]: (Hitti 2002, 55) Philip K Hitti. 2002 (1937). History of the Arabs. 10th Edition. Palgrave Macmillan. Basingstoke.
[2]: (McLaughlin 2014, 136) Raoul McLaughlin. 2014. The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean: The Ancient World Economy and the Kingdoms of Africa, Arabia and India. Pen and Sword Military. Barnsley.
[3]: (Hoyland 2001, 47) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
[4]: (Caton 2013, 45-46) Steven C Caton ed. 2013. Yemen. ABC-Clio. Santa Barbara
[5]: (Orlin et al. 424) Eric Orlin. Lisbeth S Fried. Jennifer Wright Knust. Muchael L Satlow. Michael E Pregill. eds. 2016. The Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Mediterranean Religions. Routledge. New York.
[6]: (Syvanne 2015, 133) Ilkka Syvanne. 2015. Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. Barnsley.
[7]: (Syvanne 2015, 134) Ilkka Syvanne. 2015. Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. Barnsley.
[8]: (Hitti 2002, 60) Philip K Hitti. 2002 (1937). History of the Arabs. 10th Edition. Palgrave Macmillan. Basingstoke.
Abyssinians, from Ethiopia, who had occupied the Tihama (Red Sea coast) region since the 2nd century CE, "marched on the Himyarite capital, Zafar, and conquered it around 240 CE, compelling the Himyarites to enter into an alliance with them."
[1]
"At least from about 270 onwards to about 328 the Aksumites were enemies of Rome. The Himyarites appear to have been clients of the Aksumites at least until about 298 and therefore enemies of Rome but they appear to have thrown off the Aksumite yoke at least temporarily after that, or at least their independent embassy to Persia, in about AD 300 would seem to suggest this, but ... the alliances were unstable".
[2]
"the Himyarites seem to have recognized the Aksumites as their overlords by at least about 296-298, which suggests a defeat, but the situation fluctuated."
[3]
[1]: (Caton 2013, 45-46) Steven C Caton ed. 2013. Yemen. ABC-Clio. Santa Barbara
[2]: (Syvanne 2015, 134) Ilkka Syvanne. 2015. Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. Barnsley.
[3]: (Syvanne 2015, 133) Ilkka Syvanne. 2015. Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. Barnsley.
Abyssinians, from Ethiopia, who had occupied the Tihama (Red Sea coast) region since the 2nd century CE, "marched on the Himyarite capital, Zafar, and conquered it around 240 CE, compelling the Himyarites to enter into an alliance with them."
[1]
"At least from about 270 onwards to about 328 the Aksumites were enemies of Rome. The Himyarites appear to have been clients of the Aksumites at least until about 298 and therefore enemies of Rome but they appear to have thrown off the Aksumite yoke at least temporarily after that, or at least their independent embassy to Persia, in about AD 300 would seem to suggest this, but ... the alliances were unstable".
[2]
"the Himyarites seem to have recognized the Aksumites as their overlords by at least about 296-298, which suggests a defeat, but the situation fluctuated."
[3]
[1]: (Caton 2013, 45-46) Steven C Caton ed. 2013. Yemen. ABC-Clio. Santa Barbara
[2]: (Syvanne 2015, 134) Ilkka Syvanne. 2015. Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. Barnsley.
[3]: (Syvanne 2015, 133) Ilkka Syvanne. 2015. Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. Barnsley.
Himayrite is repeatedly referred to as a civilization. [1] "The South Arabia civilizations were literate during most of the first millennium BC and AD". [2]
[1]: Rhea Talley Stewart. March/April 1978. A Dam at Marib. Saudi Aramco World. Site: http://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/197802/a.dam.at.marib.htm
[2]: (Wilkinson 2009, 57) Tony J Wilkinson. Environment and Long-Term Population Trends in Southwest Arabia. Michael D Petraglia. Jeffrey I Rose. eds. 2009. The Evolution of Human Populations in Arabia. Paleoenvironments, Prehistory and Genetics. Springer. Dordrecht.
In the Middle Period 1-400 CE: "the state organization of the Himyarite South appears to be significantly stronger than that of the Sabaean North" and tribes were less important there. [1]
[1]: (Korotayev 1996, 10) Andrey Vitalyevhich Korotayev. 1996. Pre-Islamic Yemen. Socio-political Organization of the Sabaean Cultural Area in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries AD. Harrassowitz Verlag. Wiesbaden.
“Today, there is a consensus that ASA [Ancient South Arabian] constitutes a group of related Central Semitic languages, namely Sabaic, Qatabanic, Minaic, and Hadramitic, so called by modern scholars after the names of the ancient kingdoms in which they were spoken. Although a case has been made for the existence of a fifth language, spoken in the kingdom of Himyar and corresponding to the ‘Himyar’ language referred to by medieval Arabic authors like al-Hamdani, who in fact claims that Himyari was still spoken in parts of Yemen in his own day, it is more likely that the Himyarites spoke a southern dialect of Sabaic in pre-Islamic times, and that what was known during the early Islamic period as Himyari represents the final stages of Sabaic.” [1]
[1]: (Hatke 2019: 2) Hatke, G. 2019. The Other South Arabians: The Ancient South Arabian Kingdoms and Their MSA (Modern South Arabian) Neighbors, ca. 300 BCE-550 CE. In Hatke, G. and Ruzicka, R. (eds.) Ancient South Arabia through History: Kingdoms, Tribes, and Traders pp. 1-62. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XKMAIRCX/library
“Today, there is a consensus that ASA [Ancient South Arabian] constitutes a group of related Central Semitic languages, namely Sabaic, Qatabanic, Minaic, and Hadramitic, so called by modern scholars after the names of the ancient kingdoms in which they were spoken. Although a case has been made for the existence of a fifth language, spoken in the kingdom of Himyar and corresponding to the ‘Himyar’ language referred to by medieval Arabic authors like al-Hamdani, who in fact claims that Himyari was still spoken in parts of Yemen in his own day, it is more likely that the Himyarites spoke a southern dialect of Sabaic in pre-Islamic times, and that what was known during the early Islamic period as Himyari represents the final stages of Sabaic.” [1]
[1]: (Hatke 2019: 2) Hatke, G. 2019. The Other South Arabians: The Ancient South Arabian Kingdoms and Their MSA (Modern South Arabian) Neighbors, ca. 300 BCE-550 CE. In Hatke, G. and Ruzicka, R. (eds.) Ancient South Arabia through History: Kingdoms, Tribes, and Traders pp. 1-62. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XKMAIRCX/library
Inhabitants. Zafar was likely the most populous settlement of the Himyarites but in the absence of data we could use an (earlier period) estimate for the Sabaean capital, Marib.
"population estimates can be made by comparing the size of some of the cities with their surrounding fields, the latter being evident on the ground as rectilinear grids of gullies eroded out of the channels and field boundaries of the original Sabaean irrigated fields. Such population estimates fall in the range of 30,000-50,000 (Schippmann, 2001: 12, Brunner, 1983), figures that are significantly in excess of the possible population of the 110 ha Sabaen city of Marib which probably accommodated between 10,000 and 30,000 people."
[1]
[1]: (Wilkinson 2009, 57) Tony J Wilkinson. Environment and Long-Term Population Trends in Southwest Arabia. Michael D Petraglia. Jeffrey I Rose. eds. 2009. The Evolution of Human Populations in Arabia. Paleoenvironments, Prehistory and Genetics. Springer. Dordrecht.
in squared kilometers
"At their heights, the Sabean and Himyarite kingdoms embraced much of historic Yemen."
[1]
In the fourth century Himyar covered the lands of former Saba, Hadramawt, the mountains and the Tihamah (Red Sea coast) and Yamanat (probably the entire southern coast).
[2]
[1]: (Burrows 2010, lxiii) Robert D Burrows. 2010. Historical Dictionary of Yemen. Second Edition. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham.
[2]: (Hitti 2002, 60) Philip K Hitti. 2002 (1937). History of the Arabs. 10th Edition. Palgrave Macmillan. Basingstoke.
People.
A population estimate for the kingdom of Saba at its height could be used for the Himyarite kingdom which must have covered the same area, if not more. "At their heights, the Sabean and Himyarite kingdoms embraced much of historic Yemen."
[1]
"In turn Schippmann has used these already approximate estimates to arrive at figures of 310,000 to not greater than 500,000 people for the kingdom of Saba’ at its height. It must be emphasized, however, that the above figures of captives and corvee labour may well be exaggerated, and, the overall population estimates provided by Schippman, although useful, are little more than educated guesses. Moreover, they do not take into account the recent archaeological surveys conducted in the 1990s that demostrate a rather densely populated plateau... Overall, Schippmann contrasts his estimated population of 500,000 for the kingdom of Saba’ with a total estimated population of 1 million for the Indus civilization at its height..."
[2]
"Overall, it is sufficient to say that the Yemen plateau between Yarim and Sana’a and apparently to the north as well, was during the later first millennium BC and AD, very well populated with perhaps between 1 and 5 settlements per 100 km2.
[2]
[1]: (Burrows 2010, lxiii) Robert D Burrows. 2010. Historical Dictionary of Yemen. Second Edition. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham.
[2]: (Wilkinson 2009, 58) Tony J Wilkinson. Environment and Long-Term Population Trends in Southwest Arabia. Michael D Petraglia. Jeffrey I Rose. eds. 2009. The Evolution of Human Populations in Arabia. Paleoenvironments, Prehistory and Genetics. Springer. Dordrecht.
levels.
1. Himyarite capital
2. Capitals of subjected kingdoms3. Larger urban areas, like the port Al-Muza4. Hagar (town)"The basis of the Middle Period social structure was the bayt "a village or clan community" although this most assuredly is not meant to convey the meaning of a village community as a bayt could be both in the countryside and within the walls of a hagar, town."
[1]
Sabaean hagar consisted of bayts.
[2]
2. Coloniesc50 CE. "The Himyarite King Charibael had authority over distant sites in East Africa including the trading settlement at Rhapta in northern Tanzania. He leased this settlement to a merchant oligarchy from Muza who ran trade operations from the port and collected taxes on any incoming business. The Periplus explains: ’the region (Rhapta) is under the rule of the governor of Mapharitis, since by some ancient right it became subject to the Kingdom of Arabia when it was first established. The merchants of Muza hold it through a grant from the king and collect taxes from it."
[3]
[1]: (Korotayev 1996, 19-20) Andrey Vitalyevhich Korotayev. 1996. Pre-Islamic Yemen. Socio-political Organization of the Sabaean Cultural Area in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries AD. Harrassowitz Verlag. Wiesbaden.
[2]: (Korotayev 1996, 21) Andrey Vitalyevhich Korotayev. 1996. Pre-Islamic Yemen. Socio-political Organization of the Sabaean Cultural Area in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries AD. Harrassowitz Verlag. Wiesbaden.
[3]: (McLaughlin 2014, 136) Raoul McLaughlin. 2014. The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean: The Ancient World Economy and the Kingdoms of Africa, Arabia and India. Pen and Sword Military. Barnsley.
levels.
"Up until about the fourth century AD almost all the inhabitants of Arabia were polytheists."
[1]
The cult of Athtar was widespread throughout Arabia, where the pantheon of gods known from surviving inscriptions contains over one hundred names (altough "many of these probably represent different aspects or manifestations of the same god"
[2]
). "’Athtar almost always occupies first place in lists and his cult was spread throughout the region."
[2]
Different polities/people had their own god. "The patron deity (shym) of a people was of more immediate significance in south Arabia than the remoter figure of ’Athtar. The four principal peoples had as their patrons Almaqah (Sabaeans), Wadd (Minaeans), ’Amm (Qatabanians) and Sayin (Hadramites), and each people was collectively termed the ’chrildren of their respective patron deity."
[2]
The pagan religion of South Arabia "was in its essence a planetary astral system in which the cult of the moon-god prevailed. The moon, known in Hadramawt as Sin, to the Minaeans as Wadd (love or lover, father), to the Sabaeans as Almaqah (the health-giving god?) and to the Qatabanians as ’Amm (paternal uncle), stood at the head of the pantheon. He was conceived of as a masculine deity and took precedence over the sun, Shams, who was his consort. ’Athtar (Venus, corresponding to the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, Phoenician ’Ashtart), their son, was the third member of the triad. From this celestial pair sprang the many other heavenly bodies considered divine."
[3]
The pagan Himyarites likely worshipped Almaqah from the time the kingdom was combined with Saba. Hitti writes that the "Himyarites were close kinsmen of the Sabaeans and, as the youngest branch of the sock, became the inheritors of the Minaeo-Sabaean culture and trade."
[4]
The Himyarites worshipped Almaqah, ’Athtar and other deities.
[5]
Philostorgius said of the Himyarites: ’They sacrifice to the sun and moon and spirits of the land.’"
[5]
The pagan Himyarites practiced dedications to temples
[6]
which were likely sufficiently complex to archive papyrus legal statements concerning the usage of tombs.
[7]
Minaean carvings in the temple ruins of al-Hazm, from the first millennium BCE, suggest dancing girls may have been included among the temple servants.
[8]
Sabaean temples are known to have received tithes at the federal and local levels and its financing may been the "divine assistance" behind construction projects. "Some Middle ’Sabaean’ temples may have acted as ’insurance companies’ ... Hence the presence of some kind of insurance company which would provide assistance (to build, say, a house after it had been destroyed) was really very practical and useful for most clans. By paying their tithe (’s2r) to the local temples, the tribesmen paid a sort of ’premium’ to this insurance company’, whereby they could expect to get their ’compensation’ when they needed it."
[9]
The religion of the Himyarites was pagan and polytheistic in the period 270-375 CE and Jewish or Judaistic monotheism in the period 375-525 CE when they "fell under the influence of Jewish proselytizers"
[10]
and by the late 4th century CE were rapidly converting from their pagan polytheistic belief system to monotheistic religious doctrines.
[6]
"There is significant archaeological evidence of the abandonment of pagan temples toward the conclusion of the fourth century and of the almost complete disappearance of expressions of devotion to the old tribal gods shortly thereafter."
[11]
_Pagan_
1. King
"Southerners worshiped a triad of sun, star and moon gods, and their kings in early times also served as priests."
[12]
2. Priest3. Lower priests
3. Financial officialCollected, managed tithe revenue
3. Dancing girls
3. Sacred park managerMinaeans first millennium BCE: "Carvings in the temple ruins of al-Hazm, provincial capital of al-Jawf, represent suspended vessels, probably wine offerings, gazelles and other sacrificial animals, snakes which were divine symbols, dancing girls who were temple servants, and ostriches evidently kept in sacred parks."
[8]
[1]: (Hoyland 2001, 139) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Hoyland 2001, 140) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
[3]: (Hitti 2002, 60-61) Philip K Hitti. 2002 (1937). History of the Arabs. 10th Edition. Palgrave Macmillan. Basingstoke.
[4]: (Hitti 2002, 56) Philip K Hitti. 2002 (1937). History of the Arabs. 10th Edition. Palgrave Macmillan. Basingstoke.
[5]: (Finegan 1965, 478) Jack Finegan. 1965. The Archaeology of World Religions. Volume 3. Princeton University Press.
[6]: (Kaye 2007, 168) L E Kogan. A V Korotayev. Epigraphic South Arabian Morphology. Alan S Kaye ed. 2007. Morphologies of Asia and Africa. Volume 1. Eisenbrauns. Winona Lake.
[7]: (Hoyland 2001, 126) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
[8]: (Hitti 2002, 55) Philip K Hitti. 2002 (1937). History of the Arabs. 10th Edition. Palgrave Macmillan. Basingstoke.
[9]: (Korotayev 1996, 65-66) Andrey Vitalyevhich Korotayev. 1996. Pre-Islamic Yemen. Socio-political Organization of the Sabaean Cultural Area in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries AD. Harrassowitz Verlag. Wiesbaden.
[10]: (Brook 2006, 264-265) Kevin Alan Brook. 2006. The Jews of Khazaria. Second Edition. Rowman & Littlefield Publishes, Inc. Lanham.
[11]: (Maroney 2010, 93) Eric Maroney. 2010. The Other Zions: The Lost Histories of Jewish Nations. Roman & Littlefield Publishes, Inc. Lanham.
[12]: (16-17) Ted Byfield ed. 2004. The Christians. Their First Two Thousand Years. The Sword of Islam: A.D. 565 to 740 : the Muslim Onslaught All But Destroys Christendom. Christian History Project.
levels.
The force was divided into units for a campaign after it had assembled.
[1]
"The ancient Yemeni military structure consisted of four different elements: 1) the national troops called the Khamis under the king, or one of his generals; 2) levied troops from the highland communities; 3) cavalry (light and heavy); and 4) Bedouin allies/mercenaries."
[2]
"By Roman standards the sizes of the Sabaean and Himyarite armies were modest ... thousands of men at its disposal. Most of the evidence (mainly inscriptions with some scattered literary evidence) suggests that the typical size for the army in Yemen was less than one thousand men. The inscriptions mention raiding forces or armies of 40, 50, 203, 250, 270, 670 .... 1026, and 2500, but there is also evidence for the use of larger armies. ... From later evidence, including the military treatise, we know that the Muslim military organization (16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16284) was based on Hellenistic Greek practices and it is therefore quite possible that the 16,000 men in question consisted of the Himyar tribal levy/phalanx."
[2]
"the combined army consisting of the three Khamis (Saba, Himyar, Hadramawt) would have had about 9,000-12,000 men in addition to which came the feudal forces, levies and Bedouins. The full potential of the Himyarite forces in Yemen alone cannot have been much lower than 30,000-40,000 men in addition to which came the forces of the various client kingdoms (60,000?)."
[3]
A khamis was an organizational unit. Sabaean Khamis may have had about 3,000-4,000 men.
[3]
1. King
2. General3. Tribal or Khamis leader"the combined army consisting of the three Khamis (Saba, Himyar, Hadramawt) would have had about 9,000-12,000 men in addition to which came the feudal forces, levies and Bedouins."
[3]
4. Leader of 1000?"From later evidence, including the military treatise, we know that the Muslim military organization (16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16284) was based on Hellenistic Greek practices"
[2]
5. Leader of ?6. Individual soldier
[1]: (Syvanne 2015, 136) Ilkka Syvanne. 2015. Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. Barnsley.
[2]: (Syvanne 2015, 134) Ilkka Syvanne. 2015. Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. Barnsley.
[3]: (Syvanne 2015, 135) Ilkka Syvanne. 2015. Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. Barnsley.
levels. "An up-to-date study on the kingdom of Himyar does not exist. One may consult Hoyland [2001] 46-57."
[1]
Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
1. King
Karibil Watar Yuhanim I "combined dynastic titles from both the Sabaeans and the Himyarites."
[2]
2. Court officialSaba-Himyarite Kingdom: the king had a royal court.
[3]
3. Head of Mint4. Mint worker
2. Court official3. Foreign Diplomat
3. Spies and agents
2. Court official3. Head of a supply depot4. Worker at a supply depot
2. Court official3. Taxation official"Some of the myrrh offered at the port [Muza] was from an inland territory ruled by the Minaeans, so the Himyarite King must have permitted regional traders to sell their own product at Muza."
[4]
Presumably traders from other kingdoms were permitted to trade in exchange for paying tax which would have been collected by officials.
2. GovernorSaba-Himyarite Kingdom: the city of Saue "was under the authority of a Himyarite tyrannos (governor) named Cholaibos. The Periplus explains that Cholaibos administered the surrounding province called Mapharitis and kept a court residence at Saue."
[3]
3. Court official of governor
2. Merchant official of East African colonyc50 CE. "The Himyarite King Charibael had authority over distant sites in East Africa including the trading settlement at Rhapta in northern Tanzania. He leased this settlement to a merchant oligarchy from Muza who ran trade operations from the port and collected taxes on any incoming business. The Periplus explains: ’the region (Rhapta) is under the rule of the governor of Mapharitis, since by some ancient right it became subject to the Kingdom of Arabia when it was first established. The merchants of Muza hold it through a grant from the king and collect taxes from it."
[2]
[1]: (Retso 2005, 344) Jan Retso. in Johann P Arnason. S N Eisenstady. Bjorn Wittrock. 2005. Axial Civilizations And World History. BRILL. Leiden.
[2]: (McLaughlin 2014, 136) Raoul McLaughlin. 2014. The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean: The Ancient World Economy and the Kingdoms of Africa, Arabia and India. Pen and Sword Military. Barnsley.
[3]: (McLaughlin 2014, 135) Raoul McLaughlin. 2014. The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean: The Ancient World Economy and the Kingdoms of Africa, Arabia and India. Pen and Sword Military. Barnsley.
[4]: (McLaughlin 2014, 134) Raoul McLaughlin. 2014. The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean: The Ancient World Economy and the Kingdoms of Africa, Arabia and India. Pen and Sword Military. Barnsley.
The only professional soldiers were employed in the king’s personal bodyguard.
"The ancient Yemeni military structure consisted of four different elements: 1) the national troops called the Khamis under the king, or one of his generals; 2) levied troops from the highland communities; 3) cavalry (light and heavy); and 4) Bedouin allies/mercenaries. It is not known whether the Khamis consisted of professional soldiers or peasant conscripts, but the king’s bodyguards certainly did consist of professionals."
[1]
Sabaean Kingdom Middle Period (whilst not associated with Himyar but considered a less centralized polity): "There are certain grounds to suppose that there were certain lands, most probably in the areas of Marib, San’a, Nashq and Nashan, which were granted on lease by special royal officials; and the rent received from these lands is most likely to have been used for the maintenance of the regular army (hms). This appears very probably to be the way in which the royal power managed to cover effectively what was apparently the most significant item of its expenses."
[2]
[1]: (Syvanne 2015, 134) Ilkka Syvanne. 2015. Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. Barnsley.
[2]: (Korotayev 1996, 148-149) Andrey Vitalyevhich Korotayev. 1996. Pre-Islamic Yemen. Socio-political Organization of the Sabaean Cultural Area in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries AD. Harrassowitz Verlag. Wiesbaden.
Priests and other religious professionals, like diviners, existed.
There were "specialists in divination, who were likely to be self-made, that is their authority derived not from a hereditary office, but from their success in giving accurate information. This meant that they were as often women as men. Many of them were itinerant, offering their services at pilgrim fairs, perennial markets and tribal gatherings; a few were attached to such courts, as existed; others had fixed abodes to which their customers would come, often from far away."
[1]
[1]: (Hoyland 2001, 157) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
The only professional soldiers were employed in the king’s personal bodyguard.
[1]
"The ancient Yemeni military structure consisted of four different elements: 1) the national troops called the Khamis under the king, or one of his generals; 2) levied troops from the highland communities; 3) cavalry (light and heavy); and 4) Bedouin allies/mercenaries. It is not known whether the Khamis consisted of professional soldiers or peasant conscripts, but the king’s bodyguards certainly did consist of professionals."
[1]
[1]: (Syvanne 2015, 134) Ilkka Syvanne. 2015. Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. Barnsley.
Storage depots, mints.
The Himyarite king ruled from a court and had full-time court officials. Given that the state had mints, storage depots, foreign diplomats and could manage large-scale construction projects, such as renovation work on the Marib dam, it is likely that some of these officials were specialised (e.g. finance official) and full-time.
Scribes and personal assistants existed but at least up to the early first millennium BCE there was no centralized state bureaucracy, with the exception that the Ancient Sabaean state (c800-450 CE) appointed civil officials "to organize certain constructions or to be in charge of a certain city".
[1]
"In south Arabia a number of administrative offices are known, such as kabir, qayn and maqtawi, though their exact nature and function is unclear. The first, literally ’elder’, was a very senior figure. He might be the head of a tribe or professional group (e.g. ’chief of the cavalry’ ... ’chief of the stonemasons’ ... or the agent of the king in an outlying city or region" ... ... [or] else he might be the leader of a trading colony abroad ... Before the first century AD the title of qayn occurs very frequently, relating the holder to a deity ... ruler ... city ... or clan ... and usually concerning the supervision of construction projects. After this time the term only appears as the name of a clan (perhaps because such administrators were originally drawn exclusively from thsi clan), and we hear much more of maqtawis, personal assistants. They are most often encountered on military campaigns ... but also performed secretarial duties, supervised building works ... and the like. Though they are most commonly found in the service of kings and nobles, this is not always the case, which may mean the system of administration in south Arabia was relatively informal (in the first few centuries AD at least)."
[2]
[1]: (Korotayev 1996, 8) Andrey Vitalyevhich Korotayev. 1996. Pre-Islamic Yemen. Socio-political Organization of the Sabaean Cultural Area in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries AD. Harrassowitz Verlag. Wiesbaden.
[2]: (Hoyland 2001, 120-121) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
No specialized lawyers.
"Not only were rulings passed and policies determined in tribal councils, but also misdemeanours might be heard and their perpetrators examined: ’Excellent is the man upon whom you can call for defence when the plaintiff in the council brings his charge’ (’Amr ibn Qami’a 1)."
[1]
"Among the wealthier sedentary polities of Arabia there existed a more elaborate legal system with more of an institutional framework. A number of the cities of south Arabia had a council (mswd), and at each of the capital cities there was a supreme council where the king sat along with delegates from a certain number of tribal groups, representing the whole nation and issuing edicts on its behalf."
[2]
[1]: (Hoyland 2001, 122) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Hoyland 2001, 124) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
No specialized judges.
"Not only were rulings passed and policies determined in tribal councils, but also misdemeanours might be heard and their perpetrators examined: ’Excellent is the man upon whom you can call for defence when the plaintiff in the council brings his charge’ (’Amr ibn Qami’a 1)."
[1]
"Among the wealthier sedentary polities of Arabia there existed a more elaborate legal system with more of an institutional framework. A number of the cities of south Arabia had a council (mswd), and at each of the capital cities there was a supreme council where the king sat along with delegates from a certain number of tribal groups, representing the whole nation and issuing edicts on its behalf."
[2]
[1]: (Hoyland 2001, 122) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Hoyland 2001, 124) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
Some codified law may have existed for merchant activity.
Most law in south Arabia was tribal law, a customary law, determined by ancient practice. This could only be changed by "paragons of tribal virtue, who won the approval of all, or by the consensus of all full members of the community meeting together."
[1]
In south Arabia official edicts also were a source of law and could be made by ’the gods, via an oracle transcribed by their temple servants, and kings, in consultation with tribal councils".
[2]
Royal decrees were made by kings in the Ancient period of Saba (c800-450 CE) and by the Himyarites.
[3]
Some codified law may have existed for merchant activity. "The Mercantile Code of Qataban dates to about 110 BC and is a market proclamation designed to centralise trade in recognised markets, facilitate the collection of taxes and regulate prices. The code specifies that ’the King of Qataban has authority over all transactions and goods within his territory’. These powers allowed the king to set prices paid for cinnamon imports in Eudaimon [Aden] and Timna. The prices would be fixed so that royal agents could maximise the profits gained by selling state-owned stocks of the incoming aromatics."
[4]
[1]: (Hoyland 2001, 121-122) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Hoyland 2001, 127) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
[3]: (Korotayev 1996, 114) Andrey Vitalyevhich Korotayev. 1996. Pre-Islamic Yemen. Socio-political Organization of the Sabaean Cultural Area in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries AD. Harrassowitz Verlag. Wiesbaden.
[4]: (McLaughlin 2014, 138-139) Raoul McLaughlin. 2014. The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean: The Ancient World Economy and the Kingdoms of Africa, Arabia and India. Pen and Sword Military. Barnsley.
Some codified law may have existed for merchant activity.
Most law in south Arabia was tribal law, a customary law, determined by ancient practice. This could only be changed by "paragons of tribal virtue, who won the approval of all, or by the consensus of all full members of the community meeting together."
[1]
In south Arabia official edicts also were a source of law and could be made by ’the gods, via an oracle transcribed by their temple servants, and kings, in consultation with tribal councils".
[2]
Royal decrees were made by kings in the Ancient period of Saba (c800-450 CE) and by the Himyarites.
[3]
Some codified law may have existed for merchant activity. "The Mercantile Code of Qataban dates to about 110 BC and is a market proclamation designed to centralise trade in recognised markets, facilitate the collection of taxes and regulate prices. The code specifies that ’the King of Qataban has authority over all transactions and goods within his territory’. These powers allowed the king to set prices paid for cinnamon imports in Eudaimon [Aden] and Timna. The prices would be fixed so that royal agents could maximise the profits gained by selling state-owned stocks of the incoming aromatics."
[4]
[1]: (Hoyland 2001, 121-122) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Hoyland 2001, 127) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
[3]: (Korotayev 1996, 114) Andrey Vitalyevhich Korotayev. 1996. Pre-Islamic Yemen. Socio-political Organization of the Sabaean Cultural Area in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries AD. Harrassowitz Verlag. Wiesbaden.
[4]: (McLaughlin 2014, 138-139) Raoul McLaughlin. 2014. The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean: The Ancient World Economy and the Kingdoms of Africa, Arabia and India. Pen and Sword Military. Barnsley.
"Among the wealthier sedentary polities of Arabia there existed a more elaborate legal system with more of an institutional framework. A number of the cities of south Arabia had a council (mswd), and at each of the capital cities there was a supreme council where the king sat along with delegates from a certain number of tribal groups, representing the whole nation and issuing edicts on its behalf." [1]
[1]: (Hoyland 2001, 124) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
Qataban king controlled settlements in Somalia that produced incense and cinnamon and could fix the international price of cinnamon. "Pliny explains that ’only the king of the Gebbanitae (Qataban) has the authority to control the sale of cinnamon and he opens the market by public proclamation’. [1]
[1]: (McLaughlin 2014, 138) Raoul McLaughlin. 2014. The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean: The Ancient World Economy and the Kingdoms of Africa, Arabia and India. Pen and Sword Military. Barnsley.
"The Kingdom of Himyar rose to power in the highlands supported by some large dams, valleywide barrages and other impressive agricultural constructions, but most crops grown in the highlands were undoubtedly rainfed and roughly 75 percent of crops in Yemen today are grown without irrigation." [1]
[1]: (Harrower 2016, 151) Michael J Harrower. 2016. Water Histories and Spatial Archaeology. Ancient Yemen and the American West. Cambridge University Press. New York.
Cisterns. In Arabia "wells were dug and cisterns hollowed out in order to store water, chiefly for household consumption, but also to supplement irrigation sources in dry years." [1]
[1]: (Hoyland 2001, 85) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
"The South Arabia civilizations were literate during most of the first millennium BC and AD, and consequently they supply us with a record that complements that derived from archaeological excavations and surveys." [1]
[1]: (Wilkinson 2009, 57) Tony J Wilkinson. Environment and Long-Term Population Trends in Southwest Arabia. Michael D Petraglia. Jeffrey I Rose. eds. 2009. The Evolution of Human Populations in Arabia. Paleoenvironments, Prehistory and Genetics. Springer. Dordrecht.
"The South Arabia civilizations were literate during most of the first millennium BC and AD, and consequently they supply us with a record that complements that derived from archaeological excavations and surveys." [1] "In the second half of the 1st millennium B.C., beside the monumental script of the inscriptions, another, ’cursive’ (or ’miniscule,’ abbreviated below as minusc.), script of everyday documents such as private letters, contracts, and magic texts developed. Discovered in 1973, this script was difficult to decipher. Only thirty minuscule documents have been published, out of an estimated number of several thousand. Almost all published miniscule texts are Sab. and date from the 2nd-3rd centuries C.C., most of them coming from the city of Nashshan in the Wadi Madhab." [2] Aramaic was used in northwest and east Arabia in the mid-first millennium BCE "and later adopted by all the polities scattered around the edges of the Syrian desert. The success of the Nabataeans led to the spread of their version of the Aramaic script far and wide, and even after the Roman annexation of their realm in AD 106 it continued in use for a couple of centuries. Subsequently the Arab tribes affiliated to Rome and Iran employed it to write their language, namely Arabic. The process of conveying a language with different sounds and extra consonants caused the Nabataean script (which had only twenty-two letters) gradually to evolve until by the sixth century AD it had become what we would recognise as the Arabi script". [3]
[1]: (Wilkinson 2009, 57) Tony J Wilkinson. Environment and Long-Term Population Trends in Southwest Arabia. Michael D Petraglia. Jeffrey I Rose. eds. 2009. The Evolution of Human Populations in Arabia. Paleoenvironments, Prehistory and Genetics. Springer. Dordrecht.
[2]: (Kaye 2007, 168) L E Kogan. A V Korotayev. Epigraphic South Arabian Morphology. Alan S Kaye ed. 2007. Morphologies of Asia and Africa. Volume 1. Eisenbrauns. Winona Lake.
[3]: (Hoyland 2001, 198-200) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
"In the second half of the 1st millennium B.C., beside the monumental script of the inscriptions, another, ’cursive’ (or ’miniscule,’ abbreviated below as minusc.), script of everyday documents such as private letters, contracts, and magic texts developed. Discovered in 1973, this script was difficult to decipher. Only thirty minuscule documents have been published, out of an estimated number of several thousand. Almost all published miniscule texts are Sab. and date from the 2nd-3rd centuries C.C., most of them coming from the city of Nashshan in the Wadi Madhab." [1] [1]
[1]: (Kaye 2007, 168) L E Kogan. A V Korotayev. Epigraphic South Arabian Morphology. Alan S Kaye ed. 2007. Morphologies of Asia and Africa. Volume 1. Eisenbrauns. Winona Lake.
Legal statements were made in inscriptions on tombs, concerning the tomb, and it was probably standard practice for papyrus copies to be stored in an official archive at a temple. [1]
[1]: (Hoyland 2001, 126) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
"In the second half of the 1st millennium B.C., beside the monumental script of the inscriptions, another, ’cursive’ (or ’miniscule,’ abbreviated below as minusc.), script of everyday documents such as private letters, contracts, and magic texts developed. Discovered in 1973, this script was difficult to decipher. Only thirty minuscule documents have been published, out of an estimated number of several thousand. Almost all published miniscule texts are Sab. and date from the 2nd-3rd centuries C.C., most of them coming from the city of Nashshan in the Wadi Madhab." [1] [1]
[1]: (Kaye 2007, 168) L E Kogan. A V Korotayev. Epigraphic South Arabian Morphology. Alan S Kaye ed. 2007. Morphologies of Asia and Africa. Volume 1. Eisenbrauns. Winona Lake.
One of the first known Arab historians Hisham ibn al-Kalbi (737 AD-819 CE) relied on oral traditions of the Arabs, Biblical and Palmyran sources.
"By 229 CE, Himyar had enough control of southern Arabia that their calendar system began to be employed throughout the region (heralding the arrival of a unified state in Arabia), while the rest of the peninsula retained its tribal character." [1] In the late third century "The Himyarite era, an absolute system of dating, now became commonly used throughout south Arabia." [2]
[1]: (Maroney 2010, 91-92) Eric Maroney. 2010. The Other Zions: The Lost Histories of Jewish Nations. Roman & Littlefield Publishes, Inc. Lanham.
[2]: (Hoyland 2001, 47) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
"Himyarite kings minted coins bearing their images". [1] Silver coins. [2] Coins in South Arabia at least from 200 BCE. [3] "In south Arabia the earliest coins (fourth/third century BC) are imitations of Athenian tetradrachms". [4] Referring to Aksum’s period of rule in South Arabia, Kobishanov says "coins did not exist in vassal states such as Himyar or ’Alva. [5]
[1]: (Friedman 2006, 106) Saul S. Friedman. 2006. A History of the Middle East. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Jefferson.
[2]: (Hitti 2002, 56) Philip K Hitti. 2002 (1937). History of the Arabs. 10th Edition. Palgrave Macmillan. Basingstoke.
[3]: (Hitti 2002, 568 Philip K Hitti. 2002 (1937). History of the Arabs. 10th Edition. Palgrave Macmillan. Basingstoke.
[4]: (Hoyland 2001, 194) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
[5]: (Kobishanov 1981, 386) Y M. Kobishanov. Aksum: political system, economics and culture, first to fourth century. Muḥammad Jamal al-Din Mokhtar. ed. 1981. UNESCO General History of Africa. Volume II. Heinemann. UNESCO. California.
Messengers included diplomats. "The inscriptions also prove that the Himyarites employed a relatively efficient intelligence gathering organization, consisting of spies and agents that provided the commanders with timely information on enemy actions. The Himyarites were part of the international trade network and therefore it is not surprising that their diplomats could be found in Roman territory, Aksum, Ctesiphon, and in India." [1]
[1]: (Syvanne 2015, 136) Ilkka Syvanne. 2015. Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. Barnsley.
The Hadrami (non-Himyarite) city of Sumhuram (from late 1st BCE) on the far southern coast of Oman had a monumental building which, including foundations, covered 400m2, with walls 6.6 metres thick, double the thickness of the city wall. [1] The city of Sirwah (Sabaean) which covered about 3ha was "surrounded by an enormous wall, fortified by towers at several points, with the unusual feature of the monumental structures such as the Almaqah Temple and the ruler’s palace built into it." [2] Himyarites used stone to build dams, so it is likely they used stone for defensive works - question is whether the walls were mortared: "The masonry structures ... are built in a style that is regarded as Himyarite, being made of cut blocks of stone arranged in well-made horizontal courses. In addition, some dams are firmly dated to the Himyarite period by in situ inscriptoins." [3] Ed: I’ve seen some photos of walls that look constructed without mortar.
[1]: (Avanzini 2008, 610) Alessandra Avanzini. Notes for a history of Sumhuram and a new inscription of Yashhur’il. Alessandra Avanzini. ed. 2008. A Port In Arabia Between Rome And The Indian Ocean (3rd C. BC-5th C. AD) Khor Rori Report 2. L’ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER. Rome.
[2]: (Caton 2013, 41) Steven C Caton ed. 2013. Yemen. ABC-Clio. Santa Barbara
[3]: (Wilkinson 2003, 192) Tony J Wilkinson. 2003. Archaeological Landscapes of the Near East. The University of Arizona Press. Tucson.
The Hadrami (non-Himyarite) city of Sumhuram (from late 1st BCE) on the far southern coast of Oman had a monumental building which, including foundations, covered 400m2, with walls 6.6 metres thick, double the thickness of the city wall. [1] The city of Sirwah (Sabaean) which covered about 3ha was "surrounded by an enormous wall, fortified by towers at several points, with the unusual feature of the monumental structures such as the Almaqah Temple and the ruler’s palace built into it." [2] Stone and mortar abutments at the Marib dam. [3] Himyarites used stone to build dams, so it is likely they used stone for defensive works - question is whether the walls were mortared: "The masonry structures ... are built in a style that is regarded as Himyarite, being made of cut blocks of stone arranged in well-made horizontal courses. In addition, some dams are firmly dated to the Himyarite period by in situ inscriptoins." [4]
[1]: (Avanzini 2008, 610) Alessandra Avanzini. Notes for a history of Sumhuram and a new inscription of Yashhur’il. Alessandra Avanzini. ed. 2008. A Port In Arabia Between Rome And The Indian Ocean (3rd C. BC-5th C. AD) Khor Rori Report 2. L’ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER. Rome.
[2]: (Caton 2013, 41) Steven C Caton ed. 2013. Yemen. ABC-Clio. Santa Barbara
[3]: Rhea Talley Stewart. March/April 1978. A Dam at Marib. Saudi Aramco World. Site: http://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/197802/a.dam.at.marib.htm
[4]: (Wilkinson 2003, 192) Tony J Wilkinson. 2003. Archaeological Landscapes of the Near East. The University of Arizona Press. Tucson.
"When the invader had re-crossed the seas, the Himyar king reconquered his realm, and wreaked a savage vengance on the Christians of Najaran, who had probably collaborated with the Axumites. Their churches were demolished, and several hundred Najranis, who refused to apostatize, were burnt alive in a trench or moat outside their principal settlement. This occurred in the year 523..."."When the invader had re-crossed the seas, the Himyar king reconquered his realm, and wreaked a savage vengance on the Christians of Najaran, who had probably collaborated with the Axumites. Their churches were demolished, and several hundred Najranis, who refused to apostatize, were burnt alive in a trench or moat outside their principal settlement. This occurred in the year 523...". [1] Khandak: "ditch, moat ... it may be an Aramaic loanword in Arabic. ... Salman al-Farisi ... it is said, advised Muhammad to protect Madina in the year 6 A.H. against its beleaguerers by digging a moat, a means of defence hitherto unknown in Arabia but usual in Persia." [2]
[1]: (Saunders 2002,13)John Joseph Saunders. 2002. A History of Medieval Islam. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Beveridge 1993, 899) H Beveridge. Khandak. M Th. Houtsma. A J Wensinck. T W Arnold. W Heffening. E Levi-Provencal. eds. 1993. E. J. Brill’s First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936. Volume IV. E J BRILL. Leiden.
"When the invader had re-crossed the seas, the Himyar king reconquered his realm, and wreaked a savage vengance on the Christians of Najaran, who had probably collaborated with the Axumites. Their churches were demolished, and several hundred Najranis, who refused to apostatize, were burnt alive in a trench or moat outside their principal settlement. This occurred in the year 523...". [1] Khandak: "ditch, moat ... it may be an Aramaic loanword in Arabic. ... Salman al-Farisi ... it is said, advised Muhammad to protect Madina in the year 6 A.H. against its beleaguerers by digging a moat, a means of defence hitherto unknown in Arabia but usual in Persia." [2]
[1]: (Saunders 2002,13)John Joseph Saunders. 2002. A History of Medieval Islam. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Beveridge 1993, 899) H Beveridge. Khandak. M Th. Houtsma. A J Wensinck. T W Arnold. W Heffening. E Levi-Provencal. eds. 1993. E. J. Brill’s First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936. Volume IV. E J BRILL. Leiden.
Al-Kindi commented on the the high quality steel of the ancient Yemeni sword." [1] Likely iron/steel was imported from Sri Lanka and/or India. There is no evidence for an iron-smelting site in Yemen [2] The area, like East Africa, could have received iron imports from Sri Lanka toward the end of the first century BCE and was, in any case, conquered by iron-using Axum [3] by 200 CE. Historical records show "good quality Indian steel" was reaching Ethiopia in 200 BCE. [4]
[1]: (Syvanne 2015, 134) Ilkka Syvanne. 2015. Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. Barnsley.
[2]: (Killick 2015) Killick, David. Cairo to Cape: The Spread of Metallurgy through Eastern and Southern Africa. Roberts, Benjamin W. Thornton, Christopher P. 2015. eds. Archaeometallurgy in Global Perspective: Methods and Syntheses. Springer. New York.
[3]: (Carlson 2012, 119) Jon D Carlson. 2012. Myths, State Expansion, and the Birth of Globalization: A Comparative Perspective. Palgrave Macmillan. Basingstoke.
[4]: (Biggs et al. 2013 citing Tripathi and Upadhyay 2009, p. 123) Lynn Biggs. Berenice Bellina. Marcos Martinon-Torres. Thomas Oliver Pryce. January 2013. Prehistoric iron production technologies in the Upper Thai-Malay Peninsula: metallography and slag inclusion analyses of ironartefacts from Khao Sam Kaeo and Phu Khao Thong. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. Springer.
Al-Kindi commented on the the high quality steel of the ancient Yemeni sword." [1] Hoyland dates the iron age in South Arabia from 1300-330 BCE. [2] (but provides no evidence for iron at the earliest times). "From the Hellenistic period onwards iron arrowheads begin to turn up in large quantities, many of which are likely to have been manufactured locally". [3] Likely iron/steel was imported from Sri Lanka and/or India. There is no evidence for an iron-smelting site in Yemen [4] The area, like East Africa, could have received iron imports from Sri Lanka toward the end of the first century BCE and was, in any case, conquered by iron-using Axum [5] by 200 CE. Historical records show "good quality Indian steel" was reaching Ethiopia in 200 BCE. [6]
[1]: (Syvanne 2015, 134) Ilkka Syvanne. 2015. Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. Barnsley.
[2]: (Hoyland 2001, 36) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
[3]: (Hoyland 2001, 188) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
[4]: (Killick 2015) Killick, David. Cairo to Cape: The Spread of Metallurgy through Eastern and Southern Africa. Roberts, Benjamin W. Thornton, Christopher P. 2015. eds. Archaeometallurgy in Global Perspective: Methods and Syntheses. Springer. New York.
[5]: (Carlson 2012, 119) Jon D Carlson. 2012. Myths, State Expansion, and the Birth of Globalization: A Comparative Perspective. Palgrave Macmillan. Basingstoke.
[6]: (Biggs et al. 2013 citing Tripathi and Upadhyay 2009, p. 123) Lynn Biggs. Berenice Bellina. Marcos Martinon-Torres. Thomas Oliver Pryce. January 2013. Prehistoric iron production technologies in the Upper Thai-Malay Peninsula: metallography and slag inclusion analyses of ironartefacts from Khao Sam Kaeo and Phu Khao Thong. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. Springer.
Spear: "Depending on the length to weight ration [the spear] could serve either as a projectile, like a javelin, or as a thrusting implement. The latter function became more popular once the horse had been introduced into Arabia, during the fourth-second centuries BC, for the spear could be wielded more easily on horseback than the sword." [1]
[1]: (Hoyland 2001, 188) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
Bow mentioned but which type is not stated. [1] Rock art of pastoral tribes using the bow on camel back might imply it would have to be the shorter composite bow. [2]
[1]: (Syvanne 2015, 134) Ilkka Syvanne. 2015. Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. Barnsley.
[2]: (Hoyland 2001, 189) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
"The cavalry appears to have consisted at most about 10-25 per cent of the army ... of specialized heavy and light contingents, the former consisting mainly of the Yemenis ... and the latter of the Bedouins." [1] The horse was "introduced into Arabia, during the fourth-second centuries BC". [2]
[1]: (Syvanne 2015, 134) Ilkka Syvanne. 2015. Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. Barnsley.
[2]: (Hoyland 2001, 188) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
"Fragments of an iron coat of mail have been discovered in a first-second-century AD grave at Janussan on Bahrain and shields are illustrated on a bronze bowl of the third/second century BC from Mleiha in the Emirates. These meagre remains can be abundantly supplemented by the numerous references in pre-Islamic poetry. The full complement is given as follows: ’We wore helmets and Yemeni leather shields ... and glittering coats of mail having visible folds above the belt (Mu.:’Amr)." [1]
[1]: (Hoyland 2001, 189) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
Pliny (6.161-62) said probably referring to a civilian context "The Arabs wear turbans or else go with their hair unshorn" - however a thick Turban might potentially be used as head protection in warfare. [1] Leather shields. [2]
[1]: (Hoyland 2001, 46) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Hoyland 2001, 189) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
Pliny (6.161-62) said probably referring to a civilian context "The Arabs wear turbans or else go with their hair unshorn" - however a thick Turban might potentially be used as head protection in warfare. [1]
[1]: (Hoyland 2001, 46) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
"Fragments of an iron coat of mail have been discovered in a first-second-century AD grave at Janussan on Bahrain and shields are illustrated on a bronze bowl of the third/second century BC from Mleiha in the Emirates. These meagre remains can be abundantly supplemented by the numerous references in pre-Islamic poetry. The full complement is given as follows: ’We wore helmets and Yemeni leather shields ... and glittering coats of mail having visible folds above the belt (Mu.:’Amr)." [1]
[1]: (Hoyland 2001, 189) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.
"The Himyarite navy appears to have consisted of the dhow merchant ships meant either for trade in the Red Sea, Arabian Sea or Indian Ocean, and small numbers of pirate vessels." [1] "The bulk of the Himyarite naval assets lay in the ports of Mukhawan, Aden, Qana, and after its conquest also in Oman. These ports could house truly significant numbers of these ships. For example, on one occasion in the thrid century the Sabaeans destroyed forty-seven cargo vessels/sambuccas in one of the Hadramawt ports ..." [2]
[1]: (Syvanne 2015, 135) Ilkka Syvanne. 2015. Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. Barnsley.
[2]: (Syvanne 2015, 136) Ilkka Syvanne. 2015. Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. Barnsley.