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Fall of Himyarite kingdom
former country
- 525 CE
- Zafar
- Middle East
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Himyar was a South Arabian kingdom whose original heartland lay in the southern highlands of present-day Yemen. From this core, Himyar expanded at the expense of the other South Arabian kingdoms and, by the late third century CE, had established its supremacy over most of South Arabia, its rulers subsequently extended their authority into parts of the Arabian interior. Until around 110 BCE, Himyar formed part of the Qatabanian kingdom, after which it emerged as an independent kingdom. Its capital was the ancient city of Ẓafār, in the Yemeni highlands. Political power later shifted toward Sanaa, which became the principal center of the kingdom by late antiquity. Himyarite rulers were associated with dhū-Raydān, and their royal titulature initially styled them as kings of Sabaʾ and dhū-Raydān.
The kingdom conquered neighbouring Sabaʾ in c. 25 BCE for the first time, Qataban in c. 200 CE, and Ḥaḍramawt around 300 CE. Its political fortunes relative to Sabaʾ changed repeatedly until Himyar finally established control over the Sabaean Kingdom in the late third century. Following a period of political decline and conflict, the kingdom fell to an Aksumite invasion in the early sixth century. Thereafter, Himyar was ruled by an Aksumite-backed regime until Sasanian intervention brought Yemen under the influence of the Sasanian Empire in 575 or 578.
The Himyarites originally worshiped most of the South-Arabian pantheon, including Wadd, ʿAthtar, 'Amm, and Almaqah. Since at least the reign of Malkikarib Yuhamin (c. 375–400 CE), Judaism was adopted as the de facto state religion. The religion may have been adopted to some extent as much as two centuries earlier, but inscriptions to polytheistic deities ceased after this date. It was initially embraced by the upper classes and, over time, possibly by a large proportion of the general population. Native Christian kings ruled Himyar from 500 CE to 521–522 CE. Christianity itself became the main religion after the Aksumite conquest in 530 CE.
Descendants of the Himyarites, namely the aristocratic families of Dhu'l-Kala and Dhu Asbah, played a prominent role in early Islamic Syria. They led the South Arabian contingents of the Muslim army during the conquest of Homs in 638 and contributed to making Homs a center of South Arabian settlement, culture, and political power. Their chiefs supported Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan against Caliph Ali in the First Muslim Civil War (656–661). Their influence waned with their defeat at the Battle of Marj Rahit against the Quda'a confederation and the Umayyad caliph Marwan I in 684 and practically diminished with the death of their leader at the Battle of Khazir in 686. Nonetheless, members of the Dhu'l-Kala and Dhu Asbah played important roles at different times through the remainder of Umayyad rule (661–750) as governors, commanders, scholars, and pietists.
The Himyarite Kingdom was a confederation of tribes; several inscriptions and monumental buildings from this period survive and show evidence of a wealthy, sophisticated, relatively literate society with 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. Furthermore, 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.
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 along the East African coast, and the state also exerted significant cultural, religious, and political influence 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."
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 (which in turn was conquered by Ḥimyar in the 4th century), whereas Saba' was finally conquered by Ḥimyar in the late 3rd century.
Ẓafār's ruins cover an area of over 120 hectares on Mudawwar Mountain, 10 km north-north-west of the town of Yarim. Early, Empire, and Late/Post art periods have been identified. Around the same time in the north, Himyar General named Nuh Ifriqis led an expedition to Barbaria and took control of eastern ports in modern-day Djibouti. Other Himyarite generals went as far as invading Rhapta in modern-day Mozambique.
By the 4th century, the rich Himyarite export of incense, which had once supplied pagan Rome with its religious offerings, began to wane with the Christianization of Rome, contributing to a collapse in the local economy.
Himyarite expansion into Central Arabia is attested from the mid-fourth century. Inscriptions record repeated expeditions into the Arabian interior between c. 340 and 360, including campaigns reaching Al-Kharj in Najd, within territory associated with the Maʿadd confederation. By around 440, Himyar had annexed Maʿadd and established garrisons in the region, with Kindite forces participating in the conquest. Himyar subsequently maintained extensive control over much of the Arabian interior for nearly two centuries, although Maʿadd temporarily passed under the authority of the kings of al-Hira in the early 530s.
Himyarite armies drew on forces from the sedentary communities of South Arabia as well as tribal auxiliaries, particularly from Kindah, Madhhij and Murad. In the campaigns that brought Central Arabia under Himyarite control, the Yazʾanid princes of Hadhramaut and Kindite forces played a prominent role.
By 300, the Himyarite Kingdom had vanquished other political units (including the Saba, Qataban, and Hadrawat kingdoms) and had become the ruling power in southern Arabia, uniting the region for the first time. In the mid- to late-fourth century, Himyar, or at least its ruling class, had adopted Judaism, having transitioned from polytheistic practices. These events are chronicled by the Book of the Himyarites and the fifth-century Ecclessiastical History of the Anomean Philostorgius. Such sources implicate the motive for conversion was a wish among the Himyarite rulers to distance themselves from the Roman Empire, which had tried to convert them to Christianity. This also occurred several decades after the Kingdom of Aksum converted to Christianity in 328. No changes occurred in the people's script, calendar, or language (unlike at Aksum after its conversion). The conversion from polytheism and the institutionalization of Judaism as the official religion is credited in these sources to Malkīkarib Yuha’min (r. c. 375–400). According to traditional Islamic sources, the conversion took place under his son, Abu Karib (r. c. 400–445). It is in the mid-fourth century that inscriptions suddenly transition from polytheistic invocations to those mentioning the high god Rahmanan, "the Lord of Heaven" or "Lord of Heaven and Earth". A Sabaic inscription dating to this time, titled Ja 856 (or Fa 60), describes the replacement of a polytheistic temple dedicated to the god Almaqah with a mikrāb (which might be the equivalent of a synagogue or an original form of organization local to Himyarite Judaism). The evidence suggests a sharp break with polytheism, coinciding with the sudden appearance of Jewish and Aramaic words (‘ālam/world, baraka/bless, haymanōt/guarantee, kanīsat/meeting hall) and personal names (Yṣḥq/Isaac, Yhwd’/Juda), Yws’f/Joseph). Nevertheless, the nature of the Judaism practiced by the rulers is not clear and the Jewish nature of the kings rule was not frequently made explicit.
According to Arabian legends and folklore, king Abu Karib (r. 390–420) was the first Jewish convert. His conversion is thought to have followed a military expedition into northern Arabia in an effort to eliminate Byzantine influence, which sought to expand its influence in the peninsula. He reached and seized Yathrib (Medina), and there installed his son as governor. Later, he would learn that his son had been killed, and so he returned to besiege the city, during which the Jewish population fought against him. Abu Karib fell ill during the siege, but two Jewish scholars named Ka'b and As'ad were able to restore him to health. They also convinced him to lift the siege and make peace; afterwards, he and his army converted. When he returned home, he brought the scholars back with him into the capital, where he was able to convince the population to also convert. After his eventual death, it was reported that a pagan, Dhū-Shanatir, seized the throne as his children, whom he left to rule, were all still minors.
Historically, however, Judaism itself was introduced during the reign of Malkikarib Yuhamin, the father of Abu Karib.
According to the Martyrdom of Azqir, around 470-475, the Himyarite king Sharhabil Yakkuf ordered the execution of a Christian priest named Azqir for erecting a chapel with a cross in the city of Najran.
By the year 500, during the rule of the Jewish monarch Marthad'ilan Yu'nim (c. 480–502), the kingdom of Himyar exercised control over much of the Arabian peninsula. It was around this time that the Kingdom of Aksum invaded the peninsula, overthrowing the Himyarite king and installing the native Christian king, Ma'dikarib Ya'fur, in his place. A Himyarite prince and hardline follower of Judaism, Dhu Nuwas (who had attempted to overthrow the dynasty several years earlier), took power after Ma'dikarib Ya'fur had died via a coup d'état, assuming authority after killing the Aksumite garrison in Zafār. He proceeded to engage the Ethiopian guards and their Christian allies in the Tihāma coastal lowlands facing Abyssinia. After taking the port of Mukhawān, where he burnt down the local church, he advanced south as far as the fortress of Maddabān overlooking the Bab-el-Mandeb, where he expected Kaleb Ella Aṣbeḥa to land his fleet. The campaign eventually killed between 11,500 and 14,000, and took a similar number of prisoners. Mukhawān became his base, while he dispatched one of his generals, a Jewish prince named Sharaḥ'īl Yaqbul dhu Yaz'an, against Najrān, a predominantly Christian oasis, with a good number of Jews, who had supported with troops his earlier rebellion, but refused to recognize his authority after the massacre of the Aksumite garrison. The general blocked the caravan route connecting Najrān with Eastern Arabia.
Dhu Nuwas went on to try combatting the Christianizing influence from the Kingdom of Aksum militarily and massacred the Christian community of Najran, which is in part documented by an inscription made by Sarah'il Yaqbul-Yaz'an, Ja 1028, which describes the burning of a church and slaughtering of Abyssinians (Ethiopian Christians), claiming thousands of deaths and prisoners. These events are also discussed in several contemporary Christian sources: in the writings of Procopius, Cosmas Indicopleustes, John Malalas, and Jacob of Serugh. Soon afterwards, John of Ephesus (d. 588) related a letter from another contemporary, Mar Simeon, directed to Abbot von Gabula about the events. In addition, an anonymous author produced the Book of the Himyarites, a sixth-century Syriac chronicle of the persecution and martyrdom of the Christians of Najran. This event led to a significant counterattack by the Ethiopian kingdom, leading to the conquest of Himyar in 525–530 and the ultimate defeat and deposition of Dhu Nuwas. This signified the end of the Jewish leadership of southern Arabia, and Kaleb appointed a Christian Himyarite, Sumyafa Ashwa, as his viceroy and vassal ruler of Himyar.
The Aksumite general Abraha eventually deposed Sumyafa Ashwa and took power, becoming the new ruler of Himyar. After Abraha's death, his son Masruq ibn Abraha continued the Aksumite vice-royalty in Yemen, resuming payment of tribute to the Aksumites. However, his maternal brother Ma'adi Yakrib revolted.
After being denied by Justinian, Ma'adi Yakrib sought help from Khosrow I, the Sassanid Persian Emperor, thus triggering the Aksumite–Persian wars. Khosrow I sent a small fleet and army under Persian military commander Wahrez to depose the king of Yemen. The war culminated with the Siege of Sanaa, capital of Aksumite Yemen. Following the capture of Sanaa by Sasanian forces, Wahrez placed Ma'adi Yakrib on the throne of Himyar as a vassal of the Sasanian Persian Empire.
In 575 or 578, the war resumed after Ma'adi Yakrib was killed by Aksumite servants. Wahrez led another army of 8000, ending Axumite overlordship in Yemen. Subsequently, Yemen was annexed by the Sasanian Empire as a province, and Wahrez was installed as its direct governor by the Sasanian emperor Khosrow I. Greater Yemen remained under firm Sasanian control until the rise of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the early 7th century.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Himyar”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.