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87-495: By the 2nd century BC Saba' was declining gradually and its southern neighbor Himyar was able to settle many nomadic tribes that were allied to Himyar and create a stronger Himyarite nation in the lowlands. Eventually Saba' was incorporated into Himyar and resistance was reduced to the Kahlan tribes who were overpowered by Himyar and forced out of Highlands in Yemen. Most of Kahlan remained in

174-450: A Qahtani Yemeni tribe in alliance with the Kahlan tribes. The Sakasic were a Himyarite tribe that settled Northern Egypt around 3rd century AD. They settled the ancient town of Bubastis in Egypt giving it its modern name Zaqaziq after the name of their Yemeni Tribe Sakasic. Also its one of Egypt provinces. The Banu Quda'a were a Himyarite tribe that was exiled from Yemen following

261-561: A Jewish-inflected monotheism, references to pagan gods disappeared from royal inscriptions and texts on public buildings, and were replaced by references to a single deity in official texts. Inscriptions in the Sabean language, and sometimes Hebrew, called this deity Rahmanan ( The Merciful ), “Lord of the Heavens and Earth,” the “God of Israel” and “Lord of the Jews”. Prayers invoking Rahman's blessings on

348-648: 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 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

435-445: A local language (Sabaic) as opposed to Hebrew, and the priestly emphasis of DJE 23, Himyarite Judaism may have been more "Priestly" than "Rabbinic". However, Iwona Gajda interprets DJE 23 as evidence for the presence of rabbinic Judaism, and further points to evidence that the loanwords present in Ḥasī 1 indicate that its author was strongly familiar with Jewish law . Unfortunately, Jewish literary texts outside of Yemen do not discuss

522-620: A major rule in the Kendite kingdom. they had long lasting battles with the native tribes of hadramout. Alongside Banu Al-Sukun, they fairly ruled Hadramout . Banu Al-Harith converted to Judaism and ruled the city of Najran . The Banu Amela were the first South Arabian tribe to settle The Southern part of Mt Lebanon later known as Jabal Amil , possibly as early as the 1st millennium BC. The Banu Judham dwelt with Lakhmids , Azdis in Syria and later settled Northern Egypt with Lakhmids. They were

609-769: A new role as a prominent Muslim scholar. Kurayb's cousin Ayyub ibn Shurahbil ibn Sabbah served as the governor of Egypt under Caliph Umar II ( r.  717–720 ), while a Dhu'l-Kala member, Imran ibn al-Nu'man, served as the Caliph's governor of Sind . 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. A possible member of

696-525: A nomadic lifestyle in northern Nejd for centuries. Because of their strength and blood relations with the Yemenite dynasties that came to rule Syria ( Ghassan ) and Iraq (the Lakhmids ), they expanded north into Iraq all the way to the capital at the time al-Hirah . Tayy later changed their name to Shammar , renaming the mountains of Ajaa and Salma to Jabal Shammar (Shammar's Mountain). The Kindah dwelt in

783-650: 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

870-738: A summit of the Muslim armies at Jabiya in 637 or 638. In the Muslim military administration of Syria , the Judham became the largest tribe in Jund Filastin (the military district of Palestine). In the First Muslim Civil War , the Judham fought in the army of Syria's governor, Mu'awiya I , against the Iraq-based forces of Caliph Ali ( r.  656–661 ). At the Battle of Siffin in 657, they formed

957-515: 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

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1044-514: 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 (conquered in its turn by Ḥimyar in

1131-445: 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

1218-545: The Byzantine Empire which had tried to convert them to Christianity. This also took place 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,

1305-567: The Dead Sea , including the Balqa region around modern Amman. The origins of the Judham are obscure. They were a brother tribe of the Lakhm and Amila , with whom they dwelt and were closely allied. According to the historian Werner Caskel , the three tribes were not actually related. Rather, their genealogical relationship was forged to seal their political alliance, either after they entered Palestine in

1392-679: The Ghassanids . The Lakhmids produced The Abadi , Ubadi and Banu Bahr dynasties in Spain. Other notable Lakhmid is the late Arab leader Gamal Abdul Nasser from the Bani Mur of Banu Lakhm. Led by Usma bin Luai in their massive exodus out of Yemen (115 BC), the Tayy invaded the mountains of Ajaa and Salma from Banu Assad and Banu Tamim in northern Arabia. The Tayy became camel herders and horse breeders and lived

1479-644: The Quda'a tribal confederation, of which the Banu Kalb were the leading component, obtained high ranks and privileges in the caliphs' courts. The other tribes in Syria sought to join or oust the Quda'a from its position of power. From the pre-Islamic period until the end of the Sufyanid period in 684, the Quda'a claimed genealogical descent from the Ma'add , a northern Arabian tribe mentioned in

1566-584: 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. 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

1653-693: The Sabaean Kingdom around 280. With successive invasion and Arabization, the kingdom collapsed in the early sixth century, as the Kingdom of Aksum conquered it in 530 CE. 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

1740-664: 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. There is evidence prior to the fourth century that the solar goddess Shams was especially favoured in Himyar, being the national goddess and possibly an ancestral deity. During the fourth century onwards after the Himyarite kingdom (or at least its ruling class) converted to Judaism, or

1827-566: 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 survive of this period which shows evidence of

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1914-856: The 3rd century AD. The Azd branched into four branches each led by one of the sons of the Arabian king Muzayqiya . Imran bin Amr and the bulk of the tribe went to Oman where they established the Azdi presence in Eastern Arabia and later invaded Karman and Shiraz in Southern Persia. Another branch headed west back to Yemen and a group went further West all the way to Tihama on the Red Sea . This branch will become known as Azd Uman after Islam . Jafnah ibn Amr and his family, headed for Syria where he settled and initiated

2001-530: The 4th century), whereas Saba' was finally conquered by Ḥimyar in the late 3rd century. Ẓafār's ruins cover scattered over 120 hectare 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 a Himyar General by the name of 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

2088-570: 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. By 300, the Himyarite Kingdom had vanquished other political units (including the Saba , Qataban , and Hadrawat kingdoms) and became the ruling power of southern Arabia, uniting

2175-675: The 4th-century Namara inscription . During the Sufyanid period, the Judham (along with the Lakhm and Amila tribes) were held by most sources to be of Yemeni (south Arabian) descent, though there were also sources which claimed they were descendants of the Qanas branch of the Ma'add tribe or the Banu Asad , another branch of the Ma'add. As Rawh sought to forge stronger ties to the Banu Kalb, he petitioned Yazid to recognize

2262-639: 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 Sana'a, capital of Aksumite Yemen. Following

2349-767: The Bahrain but were expelled to East Yemen a group of them moved to Nejd where they instituted a powerful government that was a vassal kingdom for Himyar . They gradually declined After the fall of Himyar in 525 AD. The Kindites towns fell under constant bedouins raids from Nejd that eventually destroyed the Kindites and they were absorbed into the Najdi tribal federations. Ruled much of northern Arabia and Bahrain . They were mostly affiliated with Himyar and declined after its fall. Largely settled in Wadi Do'an east of Hadramout and did not play

2436-606: The Byzantines and through their contact with the latter became Christians, albeit superficially. However, their Christianity was disputed by the 9th-century historian Hisham ibn al-Kalbi who asserted that during the Byzantine era, the Judham worshiped the pagan idol al-Uqaysir. Some sections were also inclined towards Judaism, however, few actually converted to the faith. The Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir in Yathrib (Medina) descended from

2523-449: The Dhu'l-Kala. 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. Samayfa was another dominant figure of the city and was referred to in the early Muslim sources as the "king of Himyar". During

2610-572: 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

2697-602: 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

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2784-661: The Jewish community there. However, epigraphs from Palestine and Jordan do reflect communication and knowledge from the Yemenite Jewish community: These communication routes may have also transferred rabbinic and other Jewish teachings. During the Ethiopian Christian period, Christianity appears to have become the official religion. Many churches began to be built. For example, the inscription RIÉ 191, discovered in Axum , describes

2871-788: The Jewish population, and their formulae resemble descriptions of Jesus in the Quran . (The Jabal Dabub inscription is another South Arabian Christian graffito dating to the sixth century and containing a pre-Islamic variant of the Basmala . ) Whereas Abraha's predecessor more explicitly denoted Jesus as the Son of Rahmanan and as "Victor" (corresponding to Aksumite description under Kaleb of Axum ), and made use of Trinitarian formulae, Abraha began to only describe Jesus as God's "Messiah" (but not Son) and, in aligning himself more closely with Syriac Christianity , replaced Aksumite Christian with Syriac loanwords. The use of

2958-553: The Judham as descendants of Ma'add and thus kinsmen of the Quda'a; Natil opposed Rawh's initiative and insisted on affiliation with Qahtan, the progenitor of the Yemenite tribes. Following the death of Yazid's son and successor Mu'awiya II in 684, the Judham under Natil allied with Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr , a rival, Mecca -based claimant to the caliphate, while Rawh supported the Umayyad Marwan I . Following Marwan's victory over

3045-410: The Judham, though in the Banu Sakhr's modern-day oral traditions, they claim descent from an 18th-century tribe of the Hejaz which entered modern Jordan in the 19th century. Their presence in Egypt is also reported by David E. Millis, Reuven Aharonia and others in the form of the al-Ayed/Aydeh clan the head of which married the Circassian maternal founder of Egypt's Abaza family during the reign of

3132-435: The Judham. During the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muhammad , the Judham rejected Islam and remained loyal to the Byzantine Empire. They blocked Muhammad's northward expansion into Syria by fighting alongside the Byzantines at the Battle of Mu'ta in 629. One of their clans, the Dhubayb, afterward converted to Islam, but the tribe as a whole still opposed the Muslims, who launched punitive expeditions against them under

3219-457: 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 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

3306-504: The Muslim armies between 629 and 636, until the Byzantines and their Arab allies were defeated at the Battle of Yarmouk . Afterward, the Judham converted to Islam and became the largest tribal faction of Jund Filastin (district of Palestine ). The origins of the Judham are not clear. They may have been descendants of the northern Arabs , though the tribe itself claimed Yamanite (southern Arab) origins, perhaps in order to associate themselves with their Yamanite allies in Syria . Before

3393-419: The Muslims' ranks at Yarmouk, suggesting political divisions within the tribe played a role determining a clan's allegiance with the Byzantines or the Muslims. Though the Judham and Lakhm converted to Islam as the Muslim conquest of Syria proceeded, their earlier service with Byzantines was likely the reason Caliph Umar ( r.  634–644 ) excluded the two tribes from the distribution of war spoils during

3480-516: The North of Bakil in Najran (today in Saudi Arabia) it also branched into the tribes: the Al Murrah and the 'Ujman of eastern Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf coast. Banu Kathir moved to Hadramut in the East of Yemen where they established their own sultanate. Banu Al-Mashrouki settled in Lebanon producing well known Maronite influential families such as the Awwad , Massa'ad , Al-Sema'ani , Hasroun . Banu Al Harith remained in Jabal Amil and were mainly Shia. A smaller group joined

3567-433: The Qays . Natil fled Palestine or was killed and by the reign of Caliph Abd al-Malik ( r.  685–705 ), Rawh became the undisputed leader of the Judham. The tribe remained closely allied with the Umayyads until their demise in 750. A branch of the Judham called the Banu Bayadh or al-Bayyadhiyin were recorded as inhabiting the northern Sinai Peninsula by the 10th-century geographer al-Hamdani and later inhabiting

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3654-408: The South Arabian contingents of the Muslim army during the conquest of Homs in 638 and contributed to making Homs a center for 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

3741-426: The Syrian Desert oasis of Qatya in the 13th-century. At least part of the Judham eventually fused with the Amila in the Galilee area, and in the early 11th century, they moved into southern, present-day Lebanon. In the Mamluk era in the 13th–15th centuries, the historians Ibn Fadlallah al-Umari and al-Qalqashandi mention that the Banu Sakhr tribe inhabiting the province of al-Karak in modern Jordan belonged to

3828-419: The Wa'il ibn Malik. The Sa'd traditionally provided the chiefs of at least a large part of the Judham and there are no indications in the sources of a rivalry between the Sa'd and Wa'il clans during the pre-Islamic period . Rivalries for leadership of the tribe between Natil and Rawh developed during the caliphate of Mu'awiya I (661–680). During the reigns of Mu'awiya I and Yazid I ( r.  680–683 ),

3915-429: The Yemeni Druze and were eventually pushed by Kaysi Druze to Jabal Al Druze in Syria. Under the leadership of Malik bin Uday bin Al-Harith bin Murr bin Add bin Zayed bin Yashjub bin Uraieb bin Zayed. They spread to the North mainly in Southern and Western Mesopotamia, Rafah, Golan, Hauran and they were the first Southern Arabs to settle Northern Egypt where they were later joined with the Sicasik, Banu Judham and

4002-518: The Yemeni desert region around Marib until the destruction of the Dam in the 3rd century AD. this forced the Kahlani tribes to emigrate northwards through Arabia. They reaching as far as Mesopotamia and Syria prior to the 7th century Arab conquests under Islam. After the Arab conquests, the Kahlani Arabs, among other Qahtani and Adnani tribes, reached all the way to the far edges of the Umayyad Empire . The Kahlan branched into 5 main branches; Azd , Hamdan , Lakhm , Tayy , Kinda . Madhhij In

4089-409: The advent of Islam in the early 7th century, the Judham nomads roamed the desert frontier areas of Byzantine Palestine and Syria , controlling places such as the Madyan , Amman , Ma'an , Adhruh , Tabuk as far south as Wadi al-Qura . On the eve of the Muslim conquests , they dominated the territory extending from the environs of Tabuk northward to the areas east of the Wadi Araba valley and

4176-427: The capture of Sanaʽa 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 again, after Ma'adi Yakrib was killed by Aksumite servants. Wahrez led another army of 8000, ending Axumite overlordship on Yemen. Subsequently, Yemen was annexed by the Sasanian Empire as a province , and Wahrez was installed as its direct governor by

4263-434: The center of these tribes in Islamic Syria , which served as the center of the Caliphate during Umayyad rule (661–750). The two principal Himyarite families that established themselves in Homs were the Dhu Asbah and Dhu'l-Kala. The latter had been the most influential family in South Arabia before the advent of Islam there. Among the leaders of the conquering Muslim troops was the Himyarite prince Samayfa ibn Nakur of

4350-416: The command of Zayd ibn Haritha and Amr ibn al-As . The Islamic prophet's expedition to Tabuk in 630 was partly a response to reports that the Judham and Lakhm were mobilizing with the Byzantine army in the Balqa. A certain leader of the Judham in the area of Amman or Ma'an, Farwa ibn Amr , embraced Islam and was consequently crucified by the Byzantine authorities, though the historian Fred Donner holds

4437-545: 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: 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

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4524-448: The construction of a church at Marib , besides invoking/mentioning the Messiah, Spirit, and celebrations hosted by a priest at another church. Abraha celebrated the construction of the dam by holding mass in the city church and inviting ambassadors from Rome and Persia. Later Islamic historiography also ascribes to Abraha the construction of a church at Sanaa . Abraha's inscriptions bear a relatively low Christology, perhaps meant to assuage

4611-535: The construction of a church off the coast of Yemen. The Marib Dam inscription from 548 mentions a priest, a monastery , and an abbot of that monastery. As in the Himyarite period, Christian inscriptions continue to refer to the monotheistic deity using the name Rahmanan , but now these inscriptions are accompanied with crosses and references to Christ as the Messiah and the Holy Spirit. For example, one (damaged) inscription, as for example in Ist 7608 bis. Another extensive inscription, CIH 541, documents Abraha sponsoring

4698-399: 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 ones 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

4785-410: The earlier term shaʿb/community: one inscription from the fifth century mentions the "God of Israel". Three inscriptions mention the "God of the Jews". MAFRAY-Ḥaṣī 1, describes the construction of a graveyard specifically for the Jewish community. There is a Hebrew inscription known as DJE 23 from the village of Bayt Hadir , 15 km east of Sanaa . It lists the mishmarot ("guards"), enumerating

4872-402: 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

4959-412: 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. 400–502) 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 in his place

5046-474: The family in Syria, Nadr ibn Yarim, led a summertime military expedition against the Byzantines under the Abbasid caliph al-Saffah ( r.  750–754 ). 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,

5133-401: The family name of Al-Hamarneh (pop 12,000, est. 2010) Banu Judham The Judham ( Arabic : بنو جذام , romanized :  Banū Jud͟hām ) was a large Arab tribe that inhabited the southern Levant and northwestern Arabia during the late antique and early Islamic eras (5th–8th centuries). Under the Byzantine Empire , the tribe was nominally Christian and fought against

5220-432: The following contingents: the Judham of Palestine led by Rawh ibn Zinba , the Judham and Lakhm under Natil ibn Qays , and the Judham infantry led by Maslama ibn Mukhallad al-Ansari . Natil belonged to the Judham's preeminent clan, the Sa'd ibn Malik, and was referred to in the sources as sayyid Judhām bi-l-Shām (leader of the Judham of Syria). Rawh was younger than Natil and hailed from the Sa'd ibn Malik's brother clan,

5307-416: The god al-Maqah 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,

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5394-415: 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 . 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. According to the historian Werner Caskel ,

5481-406: The kingdom of the Ghassanids who was so named after a spring of water where they stopped on their way to Syria. Thalabah bin Amr left his tribe Al-Azd for Hijaz and lived between Thalabiyah and Dhi Qar . When he gained strength, he headed for Yathrib where he stayed. Of his seed are the great Aws and Khazraj , sons of Haritha bin Thalabah. Those will be the Muslim Ansar and will produce

5568-431: The last Arab Dynasty in Spain (the Nasrids ). Haritha bin Amr. Lead a branch of the Azd Qahtani tribes wandered with his tribe in Hijaz until they came to Tihama . He has two sons Uday and Lahi, Uday father of Bariq and lahi father of Khuza'a . Today still in the same ancient tribal form in Yemen Hashid and Bakil of Hamdan remained in the highlands North of Sana'a between Marib and Hajja'a. Banu Yam settled to

5655-434: The mid-7th century or before, when their abodes were concentrated east of the Dead Sea and Arabah Valley . The Lakhm emerge in the historical record no later than the 3rd century CE and little is known of the Amila other than they were an ancient tribe. The Judham emerged as a tribe later than its two counterparts but was considerably larger than both. Nonetheless, it probably incorporated elements of much older populations in

5742-447: The native Christian king, Ma'dikarib Ya'fur . 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

5829-420: 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, who had sought to expand their influence in

5916-488: The peninsula. He reached and seized Yathrib (Medina) and there installed his son as governor. Later, he would learn that his son was 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

6003-400: The phrase "Rahmanan and his son Christ the conqueror" in inscriptions from this time owes to the use of the Syriac loanword Masīḥ. More broadly, the separation of Abraha's Himyar from the Akumsite kingdom corresponded to its greater alignment with the Christianity espoused in Antioch and Syria. Inscriptions from this region disappear after 560. Abraha's influence would end up extending across

6090-440: 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 ,

6177-407: The port of Qāniʾ which uses the phrase eis Theos to refer to God and mentions a hagios topos , a phrase typically connoting a synagogue . Additional evidence is also known. Christian Julien Robin argues that the epigraphic evidence argues against viewing the Judaism of Himyar as rabbinic. This is based on the absence of belief in the afterlife (shared by the Sadducees ), the predominant use of

6264-502: 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 a polytheistic practice. 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 as a wish on the part of the Himyarite rulers to distance themselves from

6351-469: The regions he conquered, including regions of eastern Arabia, central Arabia, Medina in the Hejaz , and an unidentified site called Gzm. 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. It is a matter of debate whether

6438-487: 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 . As a consequence, the Himyar in Homs "sank to military insignificance", according to the historian Wilferd Madelung . Khalid ibn Ma'dan maintained his position of prestige with the Umayyad dynasty and Syrian Muslim society in general, having shifted to

6525-434: 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 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. In 470, the Himyarite king Sharhabil Yakkuf ordered

6612-528: The southern Syrian region, according to Caskel. Although supporting evidence is lacking, a saying attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad declares the Judham to be the people of Shu'ayb ( Jethro ) and the 8th-century genealogist Muhammad ibn Sa'ib al-Kalbi declared the tribe to be autochthonous descendants of the Biblical Midianites . The Judham served as foederati (tribal confederate troops) of

6699-565: The story of Farwa "may be merely a pious legend". After the death of Muhammad in 632, the Dhubayb defected from the nascent, Medina -based Muslim state and was the target of an assault by the Muslim general Usama ibn Zayd at the beginning of Caliph Abu Bakr 's reign (632–634). The Judham formed part of the Arab contingents of Byzantine emperor Heraclius 's army at the Battle of Yarmouk in 636, but were defeated. A number of Judham clans also fought in

6786-547: The supporters of Ibn al-Zubayr at the Battle of Marj Rahit in 684, the Quda'a and the Kalb changed genealogical affiliation to the Qahtan and formed the Yaman (Yemenite) confederation in opposition to the pro-Zubayrid Qays tribes of northern Syria. The Judham remained allies of the Kalb and together the two tribes formed the linchpin of the Yaman confederation in Syria during the struggle with

6873-408: 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 ). 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

6960-619: The trials of the Lakhmids and they settled The Southern part of the Lakhmid Kingdom in the Samawa region. Himyar Himyar was a polity in the southern highlands of Yemen , as well as the name of the region which it claimed. Until 110 BCE, it was integrated into the Qatabanian kingdom , afterwards being recognized as an independent kingdom. According to classical sources, their capital

7047-694: The twenty-four Priestly families (and their place of residence in Galilee ) appointed to protect the Solomon's Temple after the return of the Jews following the Babylonian exile . It is also written in biblical as opposed to Aramaic orthography. Mentions of synagogues, indicating the formal organization of Jews in Southern Arabia, are present in a fourth-century Sabaic inscription and a late sixth century Greek inscription from

7134-459: The Ṣayhadic Himyarite language was spoken in the south-western Arabian peninsula until the 10th century. 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. 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. The city became

7221-474: The “people of Israel” in monumental inscriptions often ended with the Hebrew words shalom and amen . There is scanter material regarding the religious affiliations of the locals. All inscriptions are monotheistic, but the religious identity of their authors is not always explicit. However, there is evidence for the practice of Judaism among locals as well. The name "Israel" appears in four inscriptions and replaces

7308-456: Was based in Mecca , while the Quda'a supported the candidacy of the Umayyad Marwan I . Kurayb ibn Abraha also backed Ibn al-Zubayr in Egypt. 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 ,

7395-431: Was embraced initially by the upper classes, and possibly a large proportion of the general population over time. Native Christian kings ruled Himyar in 500 CE until 521–522 CE as well, 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

7482-513: Was the ancient city of Zafar , relatively near the modern-day city of Sana'a . Himyarite power eventually shifted to Sana'a as the population increased in the fifth century. After the establishment of their kingdom, it was ruled by kings from dhū-Raydān tribe. The kingdom was named Raydān. The kingdom conquered neighbouring Saba' in c. 25 BCE (for the first time), Qataban in c. 200 CE, and Haḍramaut c. 300 CE. Its political fortunes relative to Saba' changed frequently until it finally conquered

7569-475: 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. 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. The resulting Qays–Yaman rivalry for political power and privilege persisted through

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