Page 3 - Himayar_Neat

Mapl. Map ofAksum and South
230 AD~ °&/wikipedia/c.ommons/c/c2/Map of Aksum and South Arabia ca.
c a □ n ^30 AD at- the end of the reign of GDRF (or Gadarat). Creative Commons License, CC BY-
J ■ ^hilPS.//Q fevtivpcommons. ora/Hcens^/by-sa/3.0/>.

rhe kingdom had its beginnings in no BCE, when the tribe of Himyar separated itself
from the kingdom of Qataban and adopted the Sabaean language, which differed from
the Himyaritic tongue, although it was from the same group of Old South Arabian
languages. The first capital city of the kingdom of Himyar was Zafar, whose ruins are
found in Jabal Mudawwar, in a town by that name situated only a few kilometers from
the city of Yarim, wherein is the citadel of Raydan, by which appellation the kings of
Himyar were also named.
Less than one hundred years after its founding, the kingdom of Himyar began to spread
beyond its borders into the territories of the adjoining kingdoms that, preceded it
chronologically. In about 25 BCE, the Himyarites conquered the ancient kingdom of
Saba’, which was thought to represent the South Arabian bed of civilization, and which
had previously controlled the area during the entire first millennium BCE (based on
archaeological records, at least from the 10th century), with its capital city of Maryab
(today, Ma’rib = ^jL).1 This was after the kingdom of Saba’ had become very weak as a
result of the Roman invasion (under Aellius Gallus) in South Arabia in 25 BCE. This
military operation completed the political and commercial process of diverting spice
trafficking (primarily in frankincense and myrrh2)from the transcontinental trade
routes, which had been under the control of Saba’, to the maritime routes, the principal
port of which was in Qani’ (modern Bi’r 'All _w), situated along the shores of the
Indian Ocean, in the country of Hadramawt, far from the hegemony of the kingdom of

Saba.’3 Nevertheless, such a foothold was not stable, and the struggle between the two
kingdoms continued for many years. The first kingdom of Himyar fell apart c. 100 CE,
when the kingdom of Saba’ succeeded in throwing off the yoke of the government of the
Himyarites. From that time, until c. 275 CE, both kingdoms existed alongside each other
in perpetual hostility, manifested in the fact that the kings of Saba’ bore the prestigious
title of “the kings of Saba’ and Dhu-Raydan” (the word Raydan representing the
original Himyarite kingdom), and the kings of Himyar adopted the same title, at least
from the time of King Yasir Yuhasdiq 4
Around 175 CE, the kingdom of Himyar conquered the kingdom of Qataban, and by c.
290 had taken over the kingdom of Hadramawt. However, even before this, c. 275, the
Himyarites reconquered the kingdom of Saba.’ Thus, for the first time in the history of
South Arabia, the entire country was under one central government. As a result, the
kings of Himyar expanded their honorary title—“the kings of Saba’ and Dhu-Raydan
and Hadramawt and Yamnat.” With the expansion of the kingdom in the 5th and 6th
centuries, towards central Arabia and westward, the honorary title was again expanded
to include “the kings of Saba’ and Dhu-Raydan and Hadramawt and Yamnat and their
Arab tribes in the mountains and in the plain” (wa-a'rdbi-him tawdum wa-tihamat). In
the time of Yusuf Dhu Nuwas’, the honorary title was reduced to “the king of all the
tribes” (ash'ban) or in its more simplistic form, “the king of Himyar,” which refers to
all the districts of the kingdom. The political unification also had far-reaching
implications culturally: the Sabaean language, which had already been adopted by the
Himyarites, was introduced from that time on throughout the entire unified kingdom.
Likewise, a standard calendar system was introduced. Overall, the signs of unification
were felt throughout all aspects of life. For example, architecture and iconography
began to show the influence of Hellenistic culture.
In the period following political unification in the 3rd century CE, the kingdom of
Himyar, which was a way station between India, the Arabian Peninsula, East Africa, and
the Mediterranean countries, endeavored to maintain good relations with the Roman
Empire, which ruled the Mediterranean. Himyarite shipping vessels brought ivory, the
most important commodity in Rome, from East Africa, while caravans travelled over
land across the wide expanses of the Arabian Peninsula, carrying frankincense and
other wares from Hadramawt and India to the coastal cities in the eastern
Mediterranean, and from there to Rome. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, dated to
between 40 and 70 CE, offers testimony to the effect that there were good relations
between the Roman Empire and the kingdom of Himyar in the time of “Charibael,
lawful king of two tribes” (Himyar and Saba’), whose seat of government was in Zafar
and who showed fidelity with the emperors of Rome by maintaining permanent
ambassadors and by offering presents.