Minaeans

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Kingdom of Ma’in
مملكة معين
600 BCE–150 BCE[1][2]
Location of Minaeans
CapitalQarnawu
Common languagesMinaean language
Religion
Pre-Islamic Arabian religions
Demonym(s)Minaean(s)
GovernmentMonarchy
History 
• Established
600 BCE
• Disestablished
150 BCE[1][2]

The Minaean people were the inhabitants of the kingdom of Ma'in (

geographers
, which is now known as Ramlat al-Sab'atayn.

The Minaean people were one of four ancient Yemeni groups mentioned by

Ḥaḑramites and Qatabānians. Each of these had regional kingdoms in ancient Yemen, with the Minaeans in the north-west (in Wādī al-Jawf
), the Sabaeans to the south-east of them, the Qatabānians to the south-east of the Sabaeans, and the Ḥaḑramites further east still.

History

Nothing is known about the early history of this north Yemeni kingdom. The region later to be known as Ma’īn first enters history at the time of the Sabaean mukarrib

Dedan. The extent of their long-distance trade is also shown by the presence of Minaean merchants in the Aegean. With the expansion of Ma’īn as far as the Red Sea they were also able to carry out sea trade. At the end of the 2nd century BCE Ma’īn found itself under the rule of Qatabān, but after the collapse of the Qatabānian Empire a few centuries later, the Minaean kingdom fell too. The area was under Sabaean rule at the latest by the time the Roman general Aelius Gallus
waged a military campaign in the area in 25/24 BCE.

Trade

The Minaeans, like some other Arabian and Yemenite kingdoms of the same period, were involved in the extremely lucrative spice trade, especially frankincense and myrrh.[3] Inscriptions found in Qanāwu mention a number of major caravan stations along the trading route, including Yathrib (Medina) and Gaza; there is also a brief account of how war between the Egyptians and Syrians interrupted the trade for a while.

The Minaeans had a different social structure to the rest of the Old South Arabians. Their king was the only one involved in lawmaking, along with a council of elders, who in Ma'īn represented the priesthood as well as families of high social class. The Minaeans were divided into groups of various sizes, led by a very high official called the kabīr, appointed once every two years, who was in charge of one or sometimes all of the trading posts. The reason for this difference in social structure is unknown.

Kings

The order of succession and the dates of individual Minaean kings is extremely uncertain; the following table presents the reconstruction of Kenneth A. Kitchen. It should however be pointed out that the reconstruction of Hermann von Wissmann deviates from this considerably, and is just as probable.[citation needed]

Name (Established) date Observations
'Ammyitha Nabat Author of the first known Minaean royal inscription
Abyada I.
Hufn Sadiq
Ilyafa Yafush
Abyada II. Yitha ca. 343 BCE
Waqah'il Riyam
Hufn
Abkarib II. Sadiq
Yitha'il Riyam Vassal of Saba'
Tubba'karib
Hayu
Abyada III. Riyam
Ilyafa Yitha
Abyada IV.
Ḫalkarib Sadiq Built the Rasf Temple in Qarnāwu
Hufn Yitha
Ilyafa Riyam The first evidence of rule over the incense route
Haufi'athat
Ilyafa Waqah
Waqah'il Sadiq I. First king with inscriptions from Dedan
Abkarib III. Yitha At first coregent with his father
Waqah'il Sadiq II. Coregent for a time with his predecessor
Ilyafa Yashur
Waqah'il Nabat Last king with inscriptions from Dedan
Hufn Riyam
Yitha'il Sadiq
Waqah'il Yitha before 25 B.C. Vassal of the Qatabānian king Shahr Yigal Yuhargib II.
Ilyafa Yashur

See also

Notes

  1. ^ This date is in accordance with the 'Long Chronology'

References

Bibliography

  • Alessandro de Maigret. Arabia Felix, translated Rebecca Thompson. London: Stacey International, 2002.
  • .
  • Andrey Korotayev. Pre-Islamic Yemen. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 1996. .
  • Mounir Arbach: Le madhabien: lexique, onomastique et grammaire d'une langue de l'Arabie méridionale préislamique. Vol. 4: Réexamen de la chronologie des rois de Ma'in d'après les nouvelles donnéées. Aix-en-Provence, 1993
  • Kenneth A. Kitchen: The World of Ancient Arabia Series. Documentation for Ancient Arabia. Part I. Chronological Framework & Historical Sources. Liverpool, 1994
  • Jacqueline Pirenne: Paléographie des Inscriptions sud-arabes, Vol. I. (Verhandelingen van de Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten van België. Klasse der Letteren. Verhandeling Nr. 26) Brussels, 1956
  • , pp. 308–544

External links