Ancient Arabia
eastern stairs of the Apadana
at Persepolis.
Arabia Deserta
The nomadic tribes from Arabia Deserta, in Akkadian called Aribi, frequently invaded the surrounding countries -i.e., Arabia Felix and Mesopotamia-, where they sometimes managed to settle. Hardly anything about these isolated 'people without history' is known, although it seems certain that they became dromedary riders in the tenth or ninth century BCE. In the Parthian and Roman period, several Arabian dynasties ruled towns in what is now Syria and Iraq: Palmyra, Emesa, Edessa, Hatra, Charax and Gerrha.Arabia Petraea or Nabataea
These Arabs lived between Egypt and Mesopotamia, and could not maintain their isolated way of life. They build several towns; Petra became their famous capital.
driver on a dromedary. Assyrian
relief form the age of
Aššurbanipal (British museum,
London; ©!!!).
The oldest reference to these Arabs can be found in the biblical book Genesis, where Arabian merchants buy and sell Jacob's son Joseph. Other references can be found in the Assyrian king Salmanasser's account of a battle in 853 BCE and in the reports about a kingdom named Aribi, that is mentioned from Tiglath-Pileser III (ruled 745-727) onward and was an Assyrian vassal until the second half of the seventh century. Later, the Arabs were subdued by the Babylonian king Nabonidus, who made the oasis of Temâ his capital and reached Iatribu (modern Medina).
According to the Greek researcher Herodotus, the Persian king Cambyses did not subdue the Arabs when he attacked Egypt in 525 BCE. His successor Darius I the Great does not mention the Arabs in the Behistun inscription from the first years of his reign, but mentions them in later texts; this suggests that Darius conquered this part of Arabia. There are no indications that these Arabs were no loyal subjects of later Persian kings.
After the Macedonian king Alexander the Great had conquered the Achaemenid empire (between 335 and 323), this part of Arabia remained more or less autonomous for centuries; it is called the Nabataean kingdom In 106 CE, however, the part corresponding to modern Jordan was made a province of the Roman empire by the emperor Trajan, who wanted to protect the road from Damascus to Alexandria. There were several cities in this province: from north to south Adraa (modern Dar'â), Dion (unknown), Gerasa (Jarash), Philadelphia (Amman) and Aila (Aqaba).
Arabia Felix
In Antiquity, modern Yemen was famous for its incense and cinnamon - the latter being imported from India. There were several minor kingdoms in Arabia Felix:
(©**)
- Saba (capital: Marib, later Sana) was the leading power in Yemen under the kings Yathî'amar (last quarter of the eighth century BCE?) and Karib'il Watar (first half seventh century). These men may be identical to the kings Itiamara and Kariba'ilu mentioned in Assyrian annals. The famous story of the queen of Sheba's visit to the Jewish king Solomon (1 Kings 10.1-10) is somehow related to Saba, but is is unclear how.
- The city state Ma'in was a kingdom of traders, which gained its independence from Saba at an unknown moment before circa 375 BCE. The Minaeans controlled the incense trade.
- Qataban (capital Timna) had been an ally of Saba, but became its main rival. In the third century, it seized the southwest from Saba; these territories were called Himyar.
- Hadramaut (capital Šabwa) was situated in the East. The Hadramautians produced incense and traded cinnamon from the port of Qana'.
- Zufar was situated in modern Oman. Hardly anything about this country is known, because archaeologists have not found texts. The Roman geographer Ptolemy of Alexandria calls its capital Trade center of the Omanians; others have identified this with other towns known from ancient texts, Ubar and Iram. (The latter is mentioned in the Quran as a splendid city, being punished by God for its wickedness; 89.6-13)
From Der Spiegel (©!!!)
The incense trade was the most important source of wealth. The product was transported from Hadramaut to Ma`in, and from there to Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean world. (The traders used dromedaries: this animal was domesticated in the tenth century BCE and could travel some hundred kilometers/day.) Several new towns were founded along the incense road; the most important was Iatribbu. Mecca was a little off the main road.
When Alexander the Great had conquered the Achaemenid empire, he wanted to launch a naval expedition to Arabia Felix, but he died several days before the expedition started (323 BCE). Although this expedition had come to nothing, southern Arabia was now part of a larger world, and several economic changes took place. It is clear that several new towns were founded in this period and that access to the trade routes changed the balance of power: we already noticed how Qataban seized the country known as Himyar during the third century. About 120 BCE, Saba managed to reconquer Ma`in, a war that may have been motivated by economic motifs.
However, the trade route by land had declined. It had become possible to use the monsoon to make long voyages across the Indian Ocean. Himyar, situated in the South-West, now became independent (about 110 BCE), because it controlled harbor towns like modern Al-Mukha and Aden. The capital of Himyar was Zafar.
From now on, Saba and Himyar were competitors, and they sometimes invited foreign powers to assist them in their wars: e.g., tribes from Arabia Deserta or Ethiopian warriors from Aksum. Later, the foreigners came uninvited, such as the army that was sent by the Roman emperor Augustus in 24 BCE, who wanted to control Himyar's ports.
During the first stages of the conflict between Himyar and Saba, the latter was the leading power. Together with Hadramaut, it destroyed Qataban; later, king Ša`r Awtar conquered Hadramaut. Saba now controlled all the countries in the interior.
However, Himyar's control of the sea routes was
decisive. At the end
of the third century, its king Šamir Yuhar`iš
united Yemen. He was important
enough to negotiate on equal terms with the king of the Parthian
empire.
At a later stage (sixth century), king Dhu Nuwas of Himyar (518-525)
converted
to Judaism. Several inscription mention his 'merciful Lord', a title
that
was later used for Allah.
Literature
- Jean-François Breton, L' Arabie Heureuse au temps de la reine de Saba: VIIIe-Ier siècles avant J.-C. (1988 Paris)
- Kai Buschmann, 'Motiv und Ziel des Aelius-Gellius-Zuges nach Südarabien' in: Welt des Orients 22 (1991) 85-93
- Albrecht Dihle, 'Arabien und Indien' in: Hérodote et les peuples non Grecs. Neuf exposés suivis de discussions (Entretiens sur l' Antiquité classique, tome XXV) (1990 Genève), pages 41-67