Himyarite Kingdom

The Himyarite Kingdom was a confederation of tribes, several inscriptions and monumental buildings survive of this period which shows evidence of a wealthy, sophisticated, relatively literate society that had a rich variety of local gods and religions. Trade was already well established by the 3rd century AD, with Yemen supplying the Roman Empire with frankincense and myrrh. Further, the late 1st century AD writer Pliny the Elder mentioned that the kingdom was one of "the richest nations in the world". It was a hub of international trade, linking the Mediterranean, the Middle East and India.[7]

The trade linking East Africa with the Mediterranean world largely consisted of exporting ivory from Africa to be sold in the Roman Empire. Ships from Ḥimyar regularly travelled the East African coast, and the state also exerted a large amount of influence both cultural, religious and political over the trading cities of East Africa whilst the cities of East Africa remained independent. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea describes the trading empire of Himyar and its ruler "Charibael" (probably Karab'il Watar Yuhan'em II), who is said to have been on friendly terms with Rome:

"23. And after nine days more there is Saphar, the metropolis, in which lives Charibael, lawful king of two tribes, the Homerites and those living next to them, called the Sabaites; through continual embassies and gifts, he is a friend of the Emperors."

— Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, Paragraph 23.[8]

Early period

The "Homerite Kingdom" is described in the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula in the 1st century Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.

During this period, the Kingdom of Ḥimyar conquered the kingdoms of Saba' and Qataban and took Raydan/Zafar for its capital instead of Ma'rib; therefore, they have been called Dhu Raydan (ذو ريدان). In the early 2nd century AD Saba' and Qataban split from the Kingdom of Ḥimyar; yet in a few decades Qataban was conquered by Hadhramaut (conquered in its turn by Ḥimyar in the 4th century), whereas Saba' was finally conquered by Ḥimyar in the late 3rd century.[9]

Ẓafār's ruins cover scattered over 120 hectare on Mudawwar Mountain 10 km north-north-west of the town of Yarim.[10] Early, Empire and Late/Post art periods have been identified.[11] Around the same time in the north a Himyar General by the name of Nuh Ifriqis led an expedition to Barbaria and took control of eastern ports in modern-day Djibouti.[12] Other Himyarite generals went as far as invading Rhapta in modern-day Mozambique.[13]

By the 4th century, the rich Himyarite export of incense, which had once supplied pagan Rome in its religious offerings, now began to wane with the Christianization of Rome, contributing to a collapse in the local economy.[7]

Bronze statue of Dhamarʿalīy Yuhbabirr "King of Saba, Dhu Raydan, Hadhramawt and Yamnat" (Himyarite Kingdom) 170–180 AD.

During this period, references to pagan gods disappeared from royal inscriptions and texts on public buildings, and were replaced by references to a single deity. Inscriptions in the Sabean language, and sometimes Hebrew, called this deity Rahman (the Merciful), “Lord of the Heavens and Earth,” the “God of Israel” and “Lord of the Jews”. Prayers invoking Rahman's blessings on the “people of Israel” often ended with the Hebrew words shalom and amen. [28]

The form of Judaism practiced appears to have differed somewhat from rabbinic Judaism; for example, inscriptions found make no mention of the afterlife, suggesting that Himyarite Jews did not believe in the afterlife. It is possible that Himyarite Judaism descended from a non-rabbinic movement such as the Sadducees.[29]

There is evidence that the solar goddess Shams was especially favoured in Himyar, being the national goddess and possibly an ancestral deity.[30][31][32][33]

As the Byzantines were usually equipped with armored horses, Indian fenestrated battle axe, round shield, spear, and scale or mail armor, Paul Yule argued that the Himyarite soldiers were armed in comparable fashion, if not as consistently.[34]

It is a matter of debate whether the Ṣayhadic Himyarite language was spoken in the south-western Arabian peninsula until the 10th century.[35] The few 'Himyarite' texts seem to be rhymed.

After the spread of Islam in Yemen, Himyarite noble families were able to re-establish control over parts of Yemen.

• Yufirid Dynasty over most of Yemen (847–997)
• Mahdid Dynasty over Southern Tihama (1159–1174)
• Manakhis over Taiz (ninth century)

Many Himyarites participated in the Muslim conquest of Syria in the 630s and, along with other South Arabian tribes, settled in city of Homs after its capture in 637.[36] The city became the center of these tribes in Islamic Syria, which served as the center of the Caliphate during Umayyad rule (661–750).[37] The two principal Himyarite families that established themselves in Homs were the Dhu Asbah and Dhu'l-Kala.[38] The latter had been the most influential family in South Arabia before the advent of Islam there.[39]

Among the leaders of the conquering Muslim troops was the Himyarite prince Samayfa ibn Nakur of the Dhu'l-Kala.[39] The Asbah chief Kurayb ibn Abraha Abu Rishdin led the Himyar of Homs, but he later moved to Egypt with most of the Dhu Asbah. Members of that family, Abraha ibn Sabbah and his son Abu Shamir, had participated in the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 640–641.[38] Samayfa was another dominant figure of the city and was referred to in the early Muslim sources as the "king of Himyar".[39] During the governorship of Syria by Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan (640s–661), the Himyarites supported him against Caliph Ali (r. 656–661) during the First Muslim Civil War.[36] At the Battle of Siffin with Ali in 657, Samayfa led the Homs contingent in Mu'awiya's army and was slain. He was succeeded by his son Shurahbil as the power-broker of the Homs tribesmen.[40]

According to the historian Werner Caskel, the Himyar and the other South Arabian tribes of Homs, including the Hamdan, formed a confederation called after their supposed ancestor Qahtan in opposition to the Quda'a confederation, whose constituent tribes had long resided in Syria before the advent of Islam. To the chagrin of the South Arabians in Homs and the Qays tribes of northern Syria, the Quda'a, led by the Banu Kalb tribe, held the supreme position among the tribal groups in the courts of the first Umayyad caliphs Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan (r. 661–680) and Yazid I (r. 680–683).[41] With the strong presence of the Himyarite elite and South Arabian tribesmen in Homs, their scholars there developed and propagated an ideology of Qahtanite preeminence that sought to compete with the elite groups of Islam, including the Quraysh, whose members held the office of the caliph. To that end, they composed and transmitted narratives of the pre-Islamic South Arabian kingdoms, including war stories of these kings' far-flung conquests and heroics and tales of their wealth.[42]

After the deaths of Yazid I and his son and successor Mu'awiya II in 683 and 684, respectively, the Qahtan and the Qays backed the rival caliphate of Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, who was based in Mecca, while the Quda'a supported the candidacy of the Umayyad Marwan I.[43] Kurayb ibn Abraha also backed Ibn al-Zubayr in Egypt.[38] The Qahtan joined Ibn al-Zubayr's representative in Syria, Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri, in the Battle of Marj Rahit against Marwan and the Quda'a in 684. The latter decisively won that battle. Afterward, Dahhak's commander in Homs, Nu'man ibn Bashir al-Ansari, was tracked down and killed by the Dhu'l-Kala. A member of the family who had served as the head of Yazid I's shurta (select troops), Khalid ibn Ma'dan ibn Abi Karib, decapitated Nu'man and sent his head to Marwan I.[36] Not long after Marj Rahit, Qahtan and Quda'a reconciled under unclear circumstances and formed the super-tribal group of the Yaman in alliance against the Qays.[44][lower-alpha 2] The resulting Qays–Yaman rivalry for political power and privilege persisted through the remainder of Umayyad rule.

In 686 Shurahbil ibn Dhi'l-Kala, the leader of the Himyar in Syria, was slain commanding his troops in the Umayyad army at the Battle of Khazir.[45] As a consequence, the Himyar in Homs "sank to military insignificance", according to the historian Wilferd Madelung.[46] Khalid ibn Ma'dan maintained his position of prestige with the Umayyad dynasty and Syrian Muslim society in general, having shifted to a new role as a prominent Muslim scholar.[36] Kurayb's cousin Ayyub ibn Shurahbil ibn Sabbah served as the governor of Egypt under Caliph Umar II (r. 717–720),[38] while a Dhu'l-Kala member, Imran ibn al-Nu'man, served as the Caliph's governor of Sind.[47]

During the Third Muslim Civil War, the Dhu Asbah tribesmen who had remained in South Arabia are recorded among the supporters of the Kharijite leader Abu Hamza.[48] A possible member of the family in Syria, Nadr ibn Yarim, led a summertime military expedition against the Byzantines under the Abbasid caliph al-Saffah (r. 750–754).[47]

Coin of the Himyarite Kingdom, southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, in which ships passing between Egypt and India would stop. This is an imitation of a coin of Augustus. 1st Century CE.

• Himyar: The most famous of whose septs were Zaid Al-Jamhur, Banu Quda'a and Sakasik.
• Kahlan: The most famous of whose septs were Hamdan, Azd, Anmar, Ṭayy (today their descendants are known as Shammar), Midhhij, Kinda, Lakhm, Judham

Kahlan septs emigrated from Yemen to dwell in the different parts of the Arabian Peninsula prior to the Great Flood (Sail Al-‘Arim of Marib Dam), due to the failure of trade under the Roman pressure and domain on both sea and land trade routes following Roman occupation of Egypt and Syria.

Naturally enough, the competition between Kahlan and Ḥimyar led to the evacuation of the first and the settlement of the second in Yemen.

The emigrating septs of Kahlan can be divided into four groups:

• Azd: Who, under the leadership of ‘Imrān bin ‘Amr Muzaiqbā’, wandered in Yemen, sent pioneers and finally headed northwards. Details of their emigration can be summed up as follows:
  • Tha‘labah bin ‘Amr left his tribe Al-Azd for Ḥijāz and dwelt between Tha‘labiyah and Dhī Qār. When he gained strength, he headed for Madīnah where he stayed. Of his seed are Aws and Khazraj, sons of Haritha bin Tha‘labah.
  • Haritha bin ‘Amr, known as Khuzā‘ah, wandered with his people in Hijaz until they came to Mar Az-Zahran. They conquered the Ḥaram, and settled in Makkah after having driven away its people, the tribe of Jurhum.
  • ‘Imrān bin ‘Amr and his folks went to ‘Oman where they established the tribe of Azd whose children inhabited Tihama and were known as Azd-of-Shanu’a.
  • Jafna bin ‘Amr and his family, headed for Syria where he settled and initiated the kingdom of Ghassan who was so named after a spring of water, in Ḥijāz, where they stopped on their way to Syria.
• Lakhm and Judham: Of whom was Nasr bin Rabi‘a, father of Manadhira, Kings of al-Hirah.
• Banū Ṭayy: Who also emigrated northwards to settle by the so- called Aja and Salma Mountains which were consequently named as Tai’ Mountains. The tribe later became the tribe of Shammar.
• Kinda: Who dwelt in Bahrain but were expelled to Hadramout and Najd where they instituted a powerful government but not for long, for the whole tribe soon faded away.

Another tribe of Himyar, known as Banū Quḑā'ah, also left Yemen and dwelt in Samāwah on the borders of Iraq.

However, it is estimated that the majority of the Ḥimyar Christian royalty migrated into Jordan, Al-Karak, where initially they were known as Banū Ḥimyar (Sons of Ḥimyar). Many later on moved to central Jordan to settle in Madaba under the family name of Al-Hamarneh (pop 12,000, est. 2010)

• Ancient history of Yemen
• Rulers of Sheba and Himyar
• Tub'a Abu Kariba As'ad
• Yemenite Jews
• Zafar, Yemen
• Ethiopian–Persian wars
• List of Jewish states and dynasties
• Dhu'l-Kala Samayfa

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• archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de
• heidicon.ub.uni-heidelberg.de