Ancient States of Arabia: Map & History

The origin of the Sabaean Kingdom is uncertain and is a point of disagreement among scholars, with estimates placing it around 1200 BCE, by the 10th century BCE at the latest, or a period of flourishing that only begins from the 8th century BCE onwards. Once the polity had been established, Sabaean kings referred to themselves by the title Mukarrib.

From Wikipedia: Sheba · History: Emergence (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Ancient South Arabian kings built great public works, had special ties with the gods legitimated through rites only they could perform, and led their armies during battle. They are represented as brave warriors, pious worshippers, and active builders. The fathers of the king is rarely attested independently. The function of the king was distinct from the role of the sheikh. The Geographica by Strabo claims that in the region, the succession of kings was not familial, a claim that is partly confirmed by inscriptions. South Arabian kings did not appeal to their genealogy or the accomplishments of their fathers to legitimate their own rule. Only late in Sabaean history, from the second half of the 2nd century CE, did a real dynastic succession from father to son appear, and it only lasted for two generations.

From Wikipedia: Sheba · Society: The king (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Sabaeans had a long history of seafaring and commerce. A Sabaean presence in Africa was noted in antiquity with the founding of the kingdom of Dʿmt in Ethiopia in the 8th century BCE. The 1st-century CE historian Periplus of the Erythraean Sea described how the Arabs controlled the coast of "Ezana" (the East African coast north of Somalia). The Quran mentions trade with Sheba: "And We placed between them and the cities which We had blessed [many] visible cities. And We determined between them the [distances of] journey, [saying], "Travel between them by night or day in safety." The Old Testament Book of Ezekiel reads, "Dedan traded in saddle blankets with you. Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your customers; they did business with you in lambs, rams and goats.

From Wikipedia: Sheba · Economy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The role played by Sabaeans in the formation of Dʿmt (Di'amat), a polity located in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia and founded c. 800 BCE, continues to be debated by scholars. Evidence of strong Sabaean influence includes Sabaic inscriptions and Sabaean temples. Scholars of South Arabian archaeology and epigraphy tend to favour a migration and/or colonisation, while scholars of African archaeology tend to stress an indigenous origin. According to the former view, Sabaean populations migrated to the Horn of Africa to establish and/or maintain the new polity, including through managing trade between the two (ivory might have especially been a driver of the expansion).

From Wikipedia: Sheba · Conquests: Horn of Africa (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sabaic was the spoken language of the Kingdom of Saba. Geographically, Sabaic was spoken in Saba, just as Qatabanic was spoken in Qataban and Hadraumitic was spoken in Hadhramaut. The only exception to this is Minaic, which is attested well-beyond the geographical territory of its corresponding kingdom, Ma'in. These four languages share and are distinguished by a number of linguistic features. The documentation for Sabaic is the best of any language of Ancient South Arabian, attested in all phases of the history of Saba.

From Wikipedia: Sheba · Culture: Language (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The story of the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon is discussed in Quran 27:15–44.

From Wikipedia: Sheba · Legacy: Islamic tradition (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The earliest human activities in the region date from the Middle Palaeolithic, with the local population using a Levallois technique for flake preparation until the appearance of tools produced by a desert-dwelling pre-agricultural population. From this latter period, or perhaps the succeeding one, can be dated several megalithic structures, large stone circles, and four dolmen-like structures whose inner surfaces were decorated with repetitive rows of pecked meander or crenellated design.

From Wikipedia: Hadhramaut · History: Prehistory (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The people of the region are known as the Hadharem, generally belong to the Semitic south Arabians who claim descent from Yarub bin Qahtan. There is, however, a large number of Sada (Hadrami Arabic: سادة, romanized: Sadah; Singular: Sayyid), or descendant of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and of townsmen of northern origin, besides a considerable class of African or mixed descent. The Sada, descendants of Husain ibn Ali, grandson of the Islamic Prophet, form a numerous and highly respected aristocracy. They are divided into families, the chiefs of which are known as Munsibs, who are looked on as the religious leaders of the people and are even, in some cases are regarded with great respect as saints.

From Wikipedia: Hadhramaut · Demographics (CC BY-SA 4.0)

A Soviet discovery in the southern governorate of Shabwah has proven only marginally successful even when taken over by a different group. A Western consortium began exporting oil from Masila in the Hadhramaut in 1993, and production there reached 67,000 m3/d (420,000 bbl/d) in 1999. There are new finds in the Jannah (formerly known as the Joint Oil Exploration Area) and east Shabwah blocks. Yemen's oil exports in 1995 earned about US$1 billion. Yemen's offshore oil and gas deposits are estimated to contain billions of barrels of oil and gas. Marib oil contains associated natural gas. In September 1995, the Yemeni Government signed an agreement that designated TotalEnergies of France to be the lead company for a project for the export of liquefied natural gas (LNG). In 1997, Yemen Gas Company joined with various privately held companies to establish Yemen LNG (YLNG).

From Wikipedia: Hadhramaut · Economy: Oil and gas (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Hadhrami Music is one of the five main Yemeni musical genres or "colours" (alwan). It comprises vocal performances in the Hadhrami Arabic dialect and features melodic phrases and a characteristic humming-style known as the Dan. Hadhramaut's strategic location along the ancient incense road has shaped a unique musical tradition. Indian and African musical elements have intermingled with indigenous forms over time. Besides, It has been deeply influenced by Sufism.

From Wikipedia: Hadhramaut · Culture: Music and dance (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In the 16th century, the Portuguese arrived in Hadhramaut and established several settlements along the southern coast. However, their influence was short-lived as the Yemeni Imams managed to drive them out by the 17th century. Subsequently, Hadhramaut came under Ottoman influence, and the Ottomans maintained control over the region until the early 20th century.

From Wikipedia: Hadhramaut · History: Portuguese and Ottoman Influence (CC BY-SA 4.0)

As the Kingdom of Ma'in was not a military or political power, the king (assisted by his council) was invested with limited powers. The king did not mint coins, was not involved in the construction of walls or fortifications around the major cities, and did not have a palace. Instead, Ma'in remained a merchant republic that emerged out of an alliance of polities.

From Wikipedia: Ma'in · Political structure (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Minaeans were the only one of the South Arabian kingdoms to describe their trade in their known inscriptions. Ruling over a small kingdom, they focused on commerce, neglecting the rounds of war and coin minting that their neighbours were engaged in. Ma'in was famous for its trade in aromatics, with Greco-Roman observers naming aromatic products in reference to them, an example being "Minaean frankincense". The caravans of Ma'in reached Central and Northern Arabia, Egypt, Palestine, Phoenicia, Mesopotamia and Greece. The importance of Minaean traders is mentioned in a legal document from the capital of the capital of Qataban. The Ma'in trade surpassed that of the Saba by the mid-1st millennium BCE. Ma'in also took control over the commercial caravan route along the Red Sea (from the Hijaz, to Dedan, to the Mediterranean Sea), from Saba.

From Wikipedia: Ma'in · International trade (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The earliest human occupation in the region of Qatabān dates to around the 20th century BCE and consisted of a Neolithic population. The earliest settlements in the area of Qatabān are from 11th to 10th centuries BCE.

From Wikipedia: Qataban · History: Prehistory (CC BY-SA 4.0)

(ʿAṯtar), who held a supreme position within the cosmology of the ancient South Arabians as the god presiding over the whole world, always appeared first in lists, and had various manifestations with their own epithets, also held this primacy within the religion of Qatabān. And, like in the other South Arabian states, the rulers of Qatabān would offer ritual banquets in honour of ʿAṯtar, with the banquet being paid for from the tithe offered to the god by the populace.

From Wikipedia: Qataban · Religion (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The economy of Qatabān primarily consisted of irrigation-based subsistence agriculture, for which the farmers used well irrigation and also developed flash flood irrigation methods which were more efficient than the constant-flow irrigation systems used elsewhere in ancient West Asian and North Africa. Qatabān also produced myrrh which was sold to Minaean merchants who sold it to markets in the countries of the Fertile Crescent.

From Wikipedia: Qataban · Economy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

While Sabaʾ and Ḥaḍramawt were mentioned in the Table of Nations of the Hebrew Bible, Qatabān's name was not recorded anywhere within it, probably because it was not an independent state at the time of the text's composition.

From Wikipedia: Qataban · History: Legacy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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.

From Wikipedia: Himyar · History: Early period (CC BY-SA 4.0)

During the fourth century onwards after the Himyarite kingdom (or at least its ruling class) converted to Judaism, or 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 the “people of Israel” in monumental inscriptions often ended with the Hebrew words shalom and amen.

From Wikipedia: Himyar · Religion: Jewish period (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Aksumite general Abraha eventually deposed Sumyafa Ashwa and took power, becoming the new ruler of Himyar.

From Wikipedia: Himyar · History: Sasanian conquest of Himyar (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Lakhmids appear to have emerged soon after the emergence of the Sasanian Empire, in the late third century, appearing in the western frontiers of their sphere of hegemony. The capital of the kingdom was set up at Al-Hira, located in south-central modern Iraq. The founder of the Lakhmids' kingdom was Amr ibn Adi, who is identified as the 'Amr ibn Lakhm' in two inscriptions: the Paikuli inscription, written in Pahlavi/Parthian, and a second Coptic inscription. His reign is traditionally dated to c. 293–302 CE. Islamic histories present all Lakhmid kings, going back to the earliest period, as members of the Nasrid dynasty (Banu Nasr). However, this is unlikely, and it is only the last of the Lakhmid kings who are likely to have been members of the Banu Nasr.

From Wikipedia: Lakhmid kingdom · History: Founding (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Lakhmids were pagan, but this began to change with the growth of Christianity in the kingdom. Eventually, the final Lakhmid king, al-Nu'man III ibn al-Mundhir, converted to Christianity.

From Wikipedia: Lakhmid kingdom · Religion (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Al-Hiran elites likely underwent formal education along with young Persian elites. Pre-Islamic Arabic poetry from Al-Hira, the Lakhmid capital, portrays the Lakhmids as Arab tribal chiefs who listen to the panegyric poetry of the Bedouin. They are presented as adopters and enjoyers of the famous wine culture of the Persian ruling class, which itself went on to later influence depictions of wine culture in Abbasid-era poetry. Their participation in Persian culture is also shown from their adoption of other elements of Sasanian court culture, particularly in Persian styles of accessories and furniture.

From Wikipedia: Lakhmid kingdom · Culture (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Lakhmids remained influential throughout the sixth century. Nevertheless, in 602, the last Lakhmid king, al-Nu'man III ibn al-Mundhir, was deposed by the Sasanian emperor Khosrow II. According to one account by the Arab scholar Abu ʿUbaidah (d. 824), this was done out of spite, as al-Nu'man refused to marry the daughter of the emperor. This account, however, is treated as fantastical and with suspicion by historians. An alternative account of events by Hisham ibn al-Kalbi lacks this element. In either account, however, the fall of the Lakhmids, the Arab client kingdom of the Sasanians, paves the way for the defeat of the Sasanians to the Arab tribal confederation Banu Bakr at the Battle of Dhi Qar, only a few years later.

From Wikipedia: Lakhmid kingdom · History: Fall of the Lakhmids and the Muslim conquests (CC BY-SA 4.0)