Raḥmānān ( Musnad: 𐩧𐩢𐩣𐩬𐩬 rḥmnn, "the Merciful") was a South Arabian epithet used by

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, and pagans in South Arabia. Raḥmānān is usually followed by " Dhu Samawi", possibly "the out of heaven". During the

Himyarite The Himyarite Kingdom ( ar, مملكة حِمْيَر, Mamlakat Ḥimyar, he, ממלכת חִמְיָר), or Himyar ( ar, حِمْيَر, ''Ḥimyar'', / 𐩹𐩧𐩺𐩵𐩬) (fl. 110 BCE–520s CE), historically referred to as the Homerite ...

king

Sumyafa Ashwa Sumyafaʿ (or Sumūyafaʿ) Ashwaʿ (Greek: ''Esimiphaios'', Latin: ''Esimiphaeus'') was the king of Ḥimyar under the Aksumite Empire from 525/531 until 535. There is an inscription commemorating the refortification of Qanīʾ from February 530 ...

's reign,

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

was referred to as Raḥmānān's son while during

Abraha Abraha ( Ge’ez: አብርሃ) (also spelled Abreha, died after CE 570;Stuart Munro-Hay (2003) "Abraha" in Siegbert Uhlig (ed.) ''Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C''. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. r. 525–at least 553S. C. Munro-Hay (1991) ''Aksum ...

's reign, Jesus was the

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

of Raḥmānān.

History

The earliest known usage of the term is found in an inscription written in Akkadian and

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

and was dedicated to Hadad. The early usage of the term ''rḥmnn'' in South Arabia is found in

polytheistic Polytheism is the belief in multiple deities, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religious sects and rituals. Polytheism is a type of theism. Within theism, it contrasts with monotheism, the ...

inscriptions. It is found in inscriptions that are written in the late

Sabaean language Sabaean, also known as Sabaic, was an Old South Arabian language spoken between c. 1000 BC and the 6th century AD, by the Sabaeans. It was used as a written language by some other peoples of the ancient civilization of South Arabia, including t ...

. Later, the epithet Raḥmānān was adopted by

and

in southern Arabia and these religions tried to replace the traditional pagan religions.

References

Arabian gods Christianity in Yemen History of Yemen Jewish Yemeni history Sabaeans South Arabia {{Yemen-stub