Home Region:  Arabia (Southwest Asia)

Sabaean Commonwealth

800 BCE 451 BCE

D G SC WF HS EQ 2020  ye_sabaean_commonwealth / YeSabaC

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Preceding Entity: Add one more here.
[YeLBA***] [None]   Update here

Succeeding Entity: Add one more here.

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
Social Complexity Variables
Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Religion Tolerance Coding in Progress.
Human Sacrifice Coding in Progress.
Crisis Consequences Coding in Progress.
Power Transitions 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
Original Name:
Sabaean Commonwealth

Capital:
None (Absent Capital)

"Until the end of the third century AD, when the kingdom of Ḥimyar, which had just expelled an Ethiopian invasion, annexed the kingdom of Sabaʾ and conquered Ḥaḍramawt (Ch. 3), South Arabia was divided between numerous kingdoms". [1]
Language

[1]: (Robin 2015: 94) 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.


Temporal Bounds
Duration:
[800 BCE ➜ 451 BCE]
 

Political and Cultural Relations
Supracultural Entity:
Sabaean Culture

"Two rulers, Yathaʿʾamar and Karibʾīl, known in Assyrian sources under the names ‘Itaʾamra the Sabaean’ (c.716 BC) and ‘Karibilu king of Saba’ (between 689 and 681) extended their hegemony over a large section of South Arabia (2.5, 2.31). Subsequently, the Sabaean ‘cultural model’ spread over a wide area including the entirety of Yemen, Ethiopia, the areas neighbouring Yemen, such as Najrān, western Arabia between Najrān and the Levant, and as far as the shores of the Arab-Persian Gulf, as indicated by evidence for the use of the Sabaean alphabet. Sabaean culture was expressed in the lexicon and phraseology of inscriptions and in the use of writing for decorative purposes. It is also reflected in an iconographic repertoire which applies a range of geometric figures, such as denticles, striations, and hollowed-out rectangles; emblematic animals, such as ibexes, oryxes, bulls, bucrania, ostriches; symbols, such as the hand, the crescent, the circle; and stylized representations, such as ‘eye stelae’." [1]

[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.



Preceding Entity:
YeLBA*** [None]    Update here
 
Succeeding Entity:  

Degree of Centralization:
quasi-polity

"Until the end of the third century AD, when the kingdom of Ḥimyar, which had just expelled an Ethiopian invasion, annexed the kingdom of Sabaʾ and conquered Ḥaḍramawt (Ch. 3), South Arabia was divided between numerous kingdoms". [1]

[1]: (Robin 2015: 94) 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.


Language
Linguistic Family:
Semitic

Language Genus:
Afro-Asiatic

Language:
Qatabanic

"five major languages attested—Sabaʾic, Maʿīnic, Qatabānic, Ḥaḍramawtic, and Old Arabic" [1]

[1]: (Robin 2015: 94) 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.

Language:
Sabaic

"five major languages attested—Sabaʾic, Maʿīnic, Qatabānic, Ḥaḍramawtic, and Old Arabic" [1]

[1]: (Robin 2015: 94) 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.

Language:
Mainic

"five major languages attested—Sabaʾic, Maʿīnic, Qatabānic, Ḥaḍramawtic, and Old Arabic" [1]

[1]: (Robin 2015: 94) 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.

Language:
Hadramawtic

"five major languages attested—Sabaʾic, Maʿīnic, Qatabānic, Ḥaḍramawtic, and Old Arabic" [1]

[1]: (Robin 2015: 94) 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.

Language:
Old Arabic

"five major languages attested—Sabaʾic, Maʿīnic, Qatabānic, Ḥaḍramawtic, and Old Arabic" [1]

[1]: (Robin 2015: 94) 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.


Religion
Religious Tradition:
South Arabian Religions


Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale
Population of the Largest Settlement:
[30,000 to 40,000] people

Inhabitants. "Using population estimates derived from the modern village of Marib (van Beek, 1982), this largest of South Arabian towns might have held 30,000-40,000 people." [1]

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


Hierarchical Complexity
Settlement Hierarchy:
[3 to 4]

levels. "Marib, whose walls enclosed over 100 ha (Fig. 5e), was the largest by far of these towns and dwarfed the nearby fortified places of about 2-6 ha. [...] Walled centers of regional importance fell in the 15- to 30-ha range (e.g., Timna, Bayda, Sawda’, Shabwa), but were often smaller (Macin, Baraqish, and Inabba were only 4-8 ha), perhaps a reflection of more fragmented political scene away from the primate center at Marib. Towns such as Hajar bin Humeid (4 ha), Rayhani (3 ha), and ad-Durayb (2 ha) represent secondary centers in single wadi settlement systems." [1]

[1]: (Edens and Wilkinson 1998: 96-97) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HGK23ABQ.


Professions
Bureaucracy Characteristics
Specialized Government Building:
unknown

Not enough is known about the few buildings that have been excavated to interpret them them as having been used for administrative purposes. [1]

[1]: (A. Sedov: pers. comm. to E. Cioni: November 2019)


Law
Specialized Buildings: polity owned
Irrigation System:
present

"In the irrigated regions of the piedmont and in the cultivated lands of mountainous and highland areas, the numerous hydraulic and agricultural installations—dams, canals, sluice gates, wells, or terraced fields—testify to a high degree of technical skill associated with these settlements (2.19 and 2.27)." [1]

[1]: (Robin 2015: 93) 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.


Food Storage Site:
unknown

Earliest known (and likely state-managed) food storage facilities date to third century BCE at the very earliest. [1]

[1]: (A. Sedov: pers. comm. to E. Cioni: November 2019)


Transport Infrastructure
Special-purpose Sites
Information / Writing System
Written Record:
present

"One of the salient features of Yemen (and, to a lesser extent, Arabia) is the substantial quantity of epigraphic documents—texts written on non-perishable materials, such as stone and metal, or on durable media, such as wood—yielded by these regions. [...] The oldest local inscriptions, which originate from Yemen, were carefully carved texts and the work of professionals, and would date from the mid-eighth century BC." [1]

[1]: (Robin 2015: 90-91) 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.


Script:
present

"widespread use of a single script, Sabaean" [1]

[1]: (Robin 2015: 94) 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.


Phonetic Alphabetic Writing:
present

"South Arabian writing uses an alphabet of 29 consonants." [1]

[1]: (Robin 2015: 99) 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.


Non Phonetic Writing:
absent

"South Arabian writing uses an alphabet of 29 consonants." [1]

[1]: (Robin 2015: 99) 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.


Information / Kinds of Written Documents
Scientific Literature:
absent

"Notably, none of these documents is a poem, a hymn, a collection of sayings, a mythological narration, a chronicle, a manual, or indeed any other sort of literary or technical composition." [1]

[1]: (Robin 2015: 92) 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.


Sacred Text:
absent

"Notably, none of these documents is a poem, a hymn, a collection of sayings, a mythological narration, a chronicle, a manual, or indeed any other sort of literary or technical composition." [1]

[1]: (Robin 2015: 92) 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.


Religious Literature:
absent

"Notably, none of these documents is a poem, a hymn, a collection of sayings, a mythological narration, a chronicle, a manual, or indeed any other sort of literary or technical composition." [1]

[1]: (Robin 2015: 92) 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.


Practical Literature:
absent

"Notably, none of these documents is a poem, a hymn, a collection of sayings, a mythological narration, a chronicle, a manual, or indeed any other sort of literary or technical composition." [1]

[1]: (Robin 2015: 92) 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.


Philosophy:
absent

"Notably, none of these documents is a poem, a hymn, a collection of sayings, a mythological narration, a chronicle, a manual, or indeed any other sort of literary or technical composition." [1]

[1]: (Robin 2015: 92) 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.


History:
absent

"Notably, none of these documents is a poem, a hymn, a collection of sayings, a mythological narration, a chronicle, a manual, or indeed any other sort of literary or technical composition." [1]

[1]: (Robin 2015: 92) 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.


Fiction:
absent

"Notably, none of these documents is a poem, a hymn, a collection of sayings, a mythological narration, a chronicle, a manual, or indeed any other sort of literary or technical composition." [1]

[1]: (Robin 2015: 92) 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.


Calendar:
present

"Sabaʾ’s culture was represented through a language, Sabaʾic, a pantheon, a calendar, and a dating system, all specific to this kingdom." [1]

[1]: (Robin 2015: 94) 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.


Information / Money
Information / Postal System
Information / Measurement System

Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications
Wooden Palisade:
unknown

Stone Walls Non Mortared:
present

Lapili-breccia and limestone used in layer layers of wall building at Marib. [1] Photos of wall [2] suggest to me non-mortared but I might be wrong as they also used mud brick work which presumably had a mortar.

[1]: (Schnelle 2008, 113) Mike Schnelle. Origins of Sabaen Fortifications of the Early 1st Millennium BC - Some Suggestions to the Examples of the Cities Marib and Sirwah (Yemen). Rune Frederiksen. Mike Schnelle. Silke Muth. Peter Schneider. eds. 2016. Focus on Fortifications: New Research on Fortifications in the Ancient Mediterranean and the Near East. Oxbow Books. Oxford.

[2]: (Schnelle 2008, 115-117) Mike Schnelle. Origins of Sabaen Fortifications of the Early 1st Millennium BC - Some Suggestions to the Examples of the Cities Marib and Sirwah (Yemen). Rune Frederiksen. Mike Schnelle. Silke Muth. Peter Schneider. eds. 2016. Focus on Fortifications: New Research on Fortifications in the Ancient Mediterranean and the Near East. Oxbow Books. Oxford.


Stone Walls Mortared:
unknown

Lapili-breccia and limestone used in layer layers of wall building at Marib. [1] Photos of wall [2] suggest to me non-mortared but I might be wrong as they also used mud brick work which presumably had a mortar.

[1]: (Schnelle 2008, 113) Mike Schnelle. Origins of Sabaen Fortifications of the Early 1st Millennium BC - Some Suggestions to the Examples of the Cities Marib and Sirwah (Yemen). Rune Frederiksen. Mike Schnelle. Silke Muth. Peter Schneider. eds. 2016. Focus on Fortifications: New Research on Fortifications in the Ancient Mediterranean and the Near East. Oxbow Books. Oxford.

[2]: (Schnelle 2008, 115-117) Mike Schnelle. Origins of Sabaen Fortifications of the Early 1st Millennium BC - Some Suggestions to the Examples of the Cities Marib and Sirwah (Yemen). Rune Frederiksen. Mike Schnelle. Silke Muth. Peter Schneider. eds. 2016. Focus on Fortifications: New Research on Fortifications in the Ancient Mediterranean and the Near East. Oxbow Books. Oxford.


Settlements in a Defensive Position:
present

Sabaens fortified Sana’a and Marib to protect two trade routes. [1]

[1]: (McLaughlin 2008, 5) Daniel McLaughlin. 2008. Yemen. Bradt Travel Guides.


Modern Fortification:
absent

Moat:
unknown

Fortified Camp:
unknown

Urban fortification in Yemen at time is relatively well studies and sources do not mention the existence of long walls. [1]

[1]: (De Maigret 2002: 267-273) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/X3MRZCH5.


Earth Rampart:
present

Sabaens fortified Sana’a and Marib to protect two trade routes. [1] The cities of Marib and Sirwah "were probably walled right from the beginning of their history" [2] which probably began at the end of the second millennium BCE. [3] Mud and bricks are detectable in the earliest layers of the walls of Marib with limestone in some later layers. [4] "It seems that these massive walls were constructed up to a width of 14 meters." [4]

[1]: (McLaughlin 2008, 5) Daniel McLaughlin. 2008. Yemen. Bradt Travel Guides.

[2]: (Schnelle 2008, 109) Mike Schnelle. Origins of Sabaen Fortifications of the Early 1st Millennium BC - Some Suggestions to the Examples of the Cities Marib and Sirwah (Yemen). Rune Frederiksen. Mike Schnelle. Silke Muth. Peter Schneider. eds. 2016. Focus on Fortifications: New Research on Fortifications in the Ancient Mediterranean and the Near East. Oxbow Books. Oxford.

[3]: (Schnelle 2008, 110) Mike Schnelle. Origins of Sabaen Fortifications of the Early 1st Millennium BC - Some Suggestions to the Examples of the Cities Marib and Sirwah (Yemen). Rune Frederiksen. Mike Schnelle. Silke Muth. Peter Schneider. eds. 2016. Focus on Fortifications: New Research on Fortifications in the Ancient Mediterranean and the Near East. Oxbow Books. Oxford.

[4]: (Schnelle 2008, 113) Mike Schnelle. Origins of Sabaen Fortifications of the Early 1st Millennium BC - Some Suggestions to the Examples of the Cities Marib and Sirwah (Yemen). Rune Frederiksen. Mike Schnelle. Silke Muth. Peter Schneider. eds. 2016. Focus on Fortifications: New Research on Fortifications in the Ancient Mediterranean and the Near East. Oxbow Books. Oxford.


Ditch:
unknown

Complex Fortification:
absent

Urban fortification in Yemen at time is relatively well studies and sources do not mention the existence of concentric fortifications. [1]

[1]: (De Maigret 2002: 267-273) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/X3MRZCH5.


Long Wall:
absent

Military use of Metals
Projectiles
Sling:
unknown

[1]

[1]: (A. Sedov: pers. comm. to E. Cioni: September 2019)


Self Bow:
present

"Battle-scenes". found in"Assurbanipal’s palace at Nineveh". depict"The battle between Assurbanipal and the Arabian queen Adiya in 650 BC". in which Adiya’s"Camel-riders [...] are armed with bow and arrows". [1]

[1]: (Jung 1994: 242-243) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/UR2Z7N3W.


Javelin:
unknown

[1]

[1]: (A. Sedov: pers. comm. to E. Cioni: September 2019)


Composite Bow:
unknown

[1]

[1]: (A. Sedov: pers. comm. to E. Cioni: September 2019)


Atlatl:
absent

Handheld weapons
War Club:
unknown

[1]

[1]: (A. Sedov: pers. comm. to E. Cioni: September 2019)


Sword:
unknown

[1]

[1]: (A. Sedov: pers. comm. to E. Cioni: September 2019)


Spear:
present

[1]

[1]: (A. Sedov: pers. comm. to E. Cioni: September 2019)


Polearm:
unknown

[1]

[1]: (A. Sedov: pers. comm. to E. Cioni: September 2019)


Dagger:
present

[1]

[1]: (A. Sedov: pers. comm. to E. Cioni: September 2019)


Battle Axe:
unknown

[1]

[1]: (A. Sedov: pers. comm. to E. Cioni: September 2019)


Animals used in warfare
Camel:
present

"Battle-scenes". found in"Assurbanipal’s palace at Nineveh". depict"The battle between Assurbanipal and the Arabian queen Adiya in 650 BC". in which Adiya’s"Camel-riders [...] are armed with bow and arrows". [1]

[1]: (Jung 1994: 242-243) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/UR2Z7N3W.


Armor
Shield:
unknown

[1]

[1]: (A. Sedov: pers. comm. to E. Cioni: September 2019)


Limb Protection:
unknown

[1]

[1]: (A. Sedov: pers. comm. to E. Cioni: September 2019)


Helmet:
unknown

[1]

[1]: (A. Sedov: pers. comm. to E. Cioni: September 2019)


Breastplate:
unknown

[1]

[1]: (A. Sedov: pers. comm. to E. Cioni: September 2019)


Naval technology

Human Sacrifice Data
Human Sacrifice is the deliberate and ritualized killing of a person to please or placate supernatural entities (including gods, spirits, and ancestors) or gain other supernatural benefits.
Coding in Progress.
Coding in Progress.
Power Transitions
Coding in Progress.