Himyar

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Himyar ,in Arabic (حِمير) was a state in ancient South Arabia dating from 110 BCE. It conquered neighbouring Saba in 25 BCE, Qataban in c.200 CE and Hadramaut c.300 CE. Its political fortunes relative to Saba changed frequently until it finally conquered the Sabaean Kingdom around 280 CE (see, e.g., Bafaqih 1990).

It was the dominant state in Arabia until 525 CE. The economy was based on agriculture. Foreign trade was based on the export of frankincense and myrrh. For many years it was also the major intermediary linking East Africa and the Mediterranean world. This trade largely consisted of exporting ivory from Africa to be sold in the Roman Empire. Ships from Himyar regularly traveled the East African coast, and the state also exerted a considerable amount of political control of the trading cities of East Africa. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea describes the trading empire of Himyar.

The last sovereign Tubba Himyarite king, (Arabic: ذو النؤاس Dhu Nuwas) is often considered to have converted to Judaism. His war against the Ethiopian Aksumite Christians in his kingdom, resulted in a famous massacre in Najran. Other Ethiopian and Himyarite Christians at Zafar were massacred. Emperor Justinian informed King Kaleb of the Ethiopian Kingdom of Aksum about Dhu Nuwas's actions, encouraging him to intervene. Around 525, Kaleb invaded Himyar and defeated the Jewish King, but his first viceroy was later removed by Abraha, an Aksumite General. Abraha later recognized Aksum's dominion over him and continued to rule Himyar until 570 CE. A coalition of Yemenis and Persians later replaced Aksumite governance with a Persian one. In 632 CE Himyar was absorbed into the Islamic empire.

The Himyarite language was spoken in the south-western Arabian peninsula until the 10th century.

[edit] List of Himyarite kings

See Rulers of Sheba and Himyar.

[edit] References

Bafaqīh, M. ‛A., L'unification du Yémen antique. La lutte entre Saba’, Himyar et le Hadramawt de Ier au IIIème siècle de l'ère chrétienne. Paris, 1990 (Bibliothèque de Raydan, 1).