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.See, e.g., Bafaqih 1990. 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.
History
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'emII), who is said to have been on friendly terms with Rome:
Early period
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 (). 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.Korotayev A. Pre-Islamic Yemen. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 1996 .
Ẓafār's ruins cover an area of over 120 hectares on Mudawwar Mountain, 10 km north-north-west of the town of Yarim.Paul Alan Yule, Late Antique Arabia Ẓafār, Capital of Ḥimyar, Rehabilitation of a ‘Decadent’ Society, Excavations of the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg 1998–2010 in the Highlands of the Yemen, Abhandlungen Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft, vol. 29, Wiesbaden 2013, , Early, Empire, and Late/Post art periods have been identified.Paul Yule, Himyar–Die Spätantike im Jemen/Late Antique Yemen, Aichwald 2007, pages 123–160; R. Stupperich and Paul Alan Yule, Ḥimyarite Period Bronze Sculptural Groups from the Yemenite Highlands, in: A. Sedov (ed.), Arabian and Islamic Studies A Collection of Papers in Honour of Mikhail Borishovic Piotrovskij on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday, Moscow, 2014, 338–67. 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.
Expansion into Central Arabia 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.
Jewish monarchy
Conversion 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).Christian Julien Robin, "Arabia and Ethiopia," in Scott Johnson (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity, Oxford University Press 2012 pp.247–333, p.279. 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".Norbert Nebes, 'The Martyrs of Najrān and End of the Ḥimyar: On the Political History of South Arabia in the Early Sixth Century,' the Angelika Neuwirth, Nicolai Sinai, Michael Marx (eds.), The Qur'ān in Context: Historical and Literary Investigations Into the Qur'ānic Milieu, BRILL 2010 pp.27–60, p.43. 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.
Conversion of king Abu Karib to Judaism 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."The Jewish Kingdom of Himyar (Yemen): Its Rise and Fall," by Jacob Adler, Midstream, May/June 2000, Volume XXXXVI No. 4 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.P. Yule, Himyar Spätantike im Jemen, Late Antique Yemen, Aichwald, 2007, p. 98-99 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.Robin, Christian Julien (2015). "Before Ḥimyar: Epigraphic Evidence for the Kingdoms of South Arabia". In Fisher, Greg (ed.). Arabs and Empires Before Islam. Oxford University Press. pp. 90–126.
The rise of Dhu Nuwas and the persecution of Christians in the Himyarite realms 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.