Home Region:  Arabia (Southwest Asia)

Sabaean Commonwealth

800 BCE 451 BCE
D G SC WF R
EQ 2020  ye_sabaean_commonwealth / YeSabaC
Preceding Entity: Add one more here.
[YeLBA***] [None]   Update here

Succeeding Entity: Add one more here.

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  General Description  
The Yemeni Coastal Plain or Plateau is the northwestern region of modern Yemen that lies between the Red Sea and the Yemeni Mountains. Beginning in the ninth and eighth centuries BCE, this region became part of a wider "Sabaean" culture region (from the name of the dominant kingdom, Saba), in which many relatively small kingdoms across south and western Arabia, as well as Ethiopia, shared the same alphabet, the same iconographic repertoire (e.g. widespread depiction of animals such as ibexes and oryxes, and use of symbols such as hands, crescents, and circles), and the same vocabulary and turns of phrases in inscriptions. [1]
At this time, the largest town in the Yemeni Coastal Plain was Marib, which covered an area of 100 hectares, for a population of about 30,000-40,000. [2] It is unclear, however, what the average population of a single kingdom would have been.

[1]: (Robin 2015: 94-96) Robin, Christian Julien. 2015. “Before Himyar: Epigraphic Evidence for the Kingdoms of South Arabia.” In Arabs and Empires before Islam, edited by Greg Fisher, 91-126. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/ZMFH42PE.

[2]: (Edens and Wilkinson 1998: 96) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HGK23ABQ.

General Variables
Identity and Location
Temporal Bounds
Political and Cultural Relations
Language
Religion
Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale
Hierarchical Complexity
Professions
Bureaucracy Characteristics
Law
Specialized Buildings: polity owned
Transport Infrastructure
Special-purpose Sites
Information / Writing System
Information / Kinds of Written Documents
Information / Money
Information / Postal System
Information / Measurement System
Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications
Military use of Metals
Projectiles
Handheld weapons
Animals used in warfare
Armor
Naval technology
Economy Variables (Luxury Goods) Coding in Progress.
Religion Variables Coding in Progress.
Crisis Consequence Cases Coding in Progress.
Power Transitions Coding in Progress.
Instability Events Coding in Progress.

NGA Settlements:

Year Range Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth) was in:
 (800 BCE 451 BCE) Yemeni Coastal Plain
Home NGA: Yemeni Coastal Plain
General Variables
Identity and Location Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Original Name Sabaean Commonwealth Expert 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Capital 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Temporal Bounds Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Duration [800 BCE ➜ 451 BCE] Expert
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Political and Cultural Relations Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Supracultural Entity 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Succeeding Entity YeQatab Expert 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Preceding Entity
YeLBA*** [None]    Update here
Expert
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Succeeding Entity
450 BCE 111 BCE
Qatabanian Commonwealth (ye_qatabanian_commonwealth)   [None] 
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Degree of Centralization 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Language Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Linguistic Family Semitic Expert 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Language Genus Afro-Asiatic Expert 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Language 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Language 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Language 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Language 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Language 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Religion Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Religious Tradition South Arabian Religions Expert 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Population of the Largest Settlement 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Hierarchical Complexity Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Settlement Hierarchy 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Professions Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Bureaucracy Characteristics Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Specialized Government Building 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Law Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Specialized Buildings: polity owned Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Irrigation System 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Food Storage Site 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Transport Infrastructure Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Special-purpose Sites Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Information / Writing System Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Written Record 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Script 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Phonetic Alphabetic Writing 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Non Phonetic Writing 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Information / Kinds of Written Documents Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Scientific Literature 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Sacred Text 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Religious Literature 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Practical Literature 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Philosophy 800 BCE  451 BCE
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History 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Fiction 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Calendar 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Information / Money Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Information / Postal System Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Information / Measurement System Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Wooden Palisade Unknown Suspected 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Stone Walls Non Mortared 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Stone Walls Mortared 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Settlements in a Defensive Position 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Modern Fortification Absent 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Moat Unknown Suspected 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Fortified Camp 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Earth Rampart 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Ditch Unknown Suspected 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Complex Fortification 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Long Wall absent 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Military use of Metals Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Projectiles Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Sling 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Self Bow 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Javelin 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Composite Bow 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Atlatl Absent 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Handheld weapons Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
War Club 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Sword 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Spear 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Polearm 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Dagger 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Battle Axe 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Animals used in warfare Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Camel 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Armor Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Shield 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Limb Protection 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Helmet 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Breastplate 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Naval technology Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Economy Variables (Luxury Goods)
Religion Variables
Moralizing Supernatural Punishment and Reward Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Moralizing Enforcement is Broad 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Moralizing Supernatural Concern is Primary 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Moralizing Enforcement is Agentic 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Moralizing Enforcement in This Life 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Moralizing Supernatural Punishment And Reward 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Moralizing Religion Adopted by Commoners 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Moralizing Enforcement is Targeted Absent Inferred 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Moralizing Enforcement in Afterlife 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Moralizing Religion Adopted by Elites 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Moralizing Enforcement of Rulers 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Moralizing Enforcement is Certain 800 BCE  451 BCE
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Human Sacrifice Sabaean Commonwealth (ye_sabaean_commonwealth)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Crisis Cases
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Instability Data
Power Transitions
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