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3.TeArabsbeforeIslam…
41
Himyarwaschronologicallythelatestcentreofpre-MuslimArabiaFelix.Its
historybeganin115BCandendedin525CE.Apartfromtheareaoftoday’s
Yemen,thecountry’sterritorystretchedoverpartsofthepresentOmanandSau-
diArabia.Ma’ribservedasitsfirstcapital,tobereplacedlaterbyafśr.Around
thefourthcenturyCE,HimyarwitnessedthespreadofChristianity,withthecity
ofNadjrśnbecomingtheChristianreligion’smaincentre.Inthefifhcentury,
thecitywaselevatedtothepositionoftheMonophysiticbishopric.Later,Ju-
daismappearedinthecity,whichledtotheoutbreakofaconflictbetweenits
rulers,whoconvertedtothenewreligion,andtheirChristiansubjects.Himyar’s
mostfamousJewishkingwasDhūNuwśs.Heruledinthefirsthalfofthesixth
centuryandbeganpersecutionofChristians
9.Teyprovokedanarmedinter-
ventionofEthiopiaandsubordinatingtheHimyaritestatetotheEthiopianNe-
gus
10.In575CE,itfellundertheruleofthePersians,whoremainedincontrol
ofitsterritoryuntiltheadventofIslam.IntheArabhistoriography,Himyaris
referredtoasthestateoftheTabdbi(as-thetermderivedfromthenametubba
bywhichitsrulerswereknown11.
TereligioussystemofSouthArabiawasnotuniform.Eachpantheonwas
toppedbydilerentdeities,regardedasbothancestorsandprotectorsoftheirre-
spectivekingdoms.However,thesamegodsofenappearedindilerentpantheons.
Wecansaythatthesevariouscultshadananalogousstructure,forallofthemwere
aimedatcelestialbodiesorrepresentingthem.Amalelunargodusuallyheaded
eachpantheon.TesungodandtheplanetVenuswerealsohighlyregarded.Inthe
kingdomofSaba’thosegodsformeda„triad”
,andthecultwasusuallyunderthe
oversightofmukarrib.Processionsheldaroundsacredstoneswerethecharacteris-
ticpartofreligiousrituals.
WeknowatleastfifeendeitiesofArabiaFelix.Temostimportantofthem
wasAstar,worshippedineverystateoftheregion-thegodofwar,fertilityand
rain.Hismainrolewastolookaferhouseholdsandgraves.(Amm(literally“un-
cle”or“little”)wasalunardeity,fromwhomatabanianswerebelievedtohave
9N.Nebes,TeMartyrsofNajrdnandEndoftheimyar:OnthePoliticalHistoryof
SouthArabiaintheEarlySixthCentury,[in:]TeQur’dninContext:HistoricalandLiterary
InvestigationsIntotheQur’dnicMilieu,eds.A.Neuwirth,N.Sinai,M.Marx,Leiden2010,
pp.27-60;M.R.Al-Assouad,DhūNuwds,[in:]EI,vol.II,pp.243-245.
10Inthisbook,moreonthissubject,seechapterwrittenbyTeresaWolińska,Difcult
Neighbours.Enemies,Partners,Allies.
11I.Gajda,Leroyaumedeimyaràl’époquemonothéiste.L’histoiredel’Arabieancienne
delafnduivesiècledel’èrechrétiennejusqu’àl’avènementdel’Islam,Paris2009;Ph.K.Hitti,
Dzieje…,p.50;A.Moberg,TeBookoftheimyarites.FragmentsofahithertounknownSyriac
work,Lund1924.