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Minaean
Ma'in (; ) was an ancient South Arabian kingdom in modern-day Yemen. It was located along the strip of desert called Ṣayhad by medieval Arab geographers, which is now known as Ramlat al-Sab'atayn. Wadd was the national god of Ma'in. The spoken language was Minaic. The kingdom appears in the historical record in the 8th century BCE, and transition from a city-state to kingdom in the last quarter of the 7th century BCE. The date of the end of Ma'in is heavily disputed, but the most popular hypothesis places its demise in the 1st century CE. The Minaean people were one of four ancient Yemeni groups mentioned by Eratosthenes. The others were the Sabaeans, 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 Ma'in appears in the 8th century BC ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minaic
The Minaean language (also Minaic, Madhabaic or Madhābic) was an Old South Arabian or Ṣayhadic language spoken in Yemen in the times of the Old South Arabian civilisation. The main area of its use may be located in the al-Jawf region of North-East Yemen, primarily in the Wādī Madhāb. Most of texts in this language were composed by the Minaeans, but the other civil-temple communities of the Wādī Madhāb (Nashshan, Kaminahu, Ḥaram, and Inabba') also used it as a literary medium. History The earliest Minaean inscriptions are contemporary with the earliest Sabaean ones, i.e. the 8th century BCE, though they are less numerous, and come from the cities along Wadi Madhaab, to the north-east of Ma'rib. Minaean trading posts, and Minaean inscriptions are also found outside South Arabia, as in the ancient oasis of Dēdan (the present day Al-'Ula in Saudi Arabia), and even on the Greek island of Delos and in Egypt. Minaean seems to disappear as a written language about th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wadd
Wadd () (Ancient South Arabian script: 𐩥𐩵) or Ved, if translated to English, was the national god of the Kingdom of Ma'in, inhabited by the Minaean peoples, in modern-day South Arabia. Wadd is mentioned once in the Quran as part of a list of five false gods worshipped by the people of Noah. In the Islamic era, it was believed that Wadd was worshipped by a tribe known as the Banu Kalb, with a central idol being stored at the city of Dumat al-Jandal, which is in northwestern Arabia. Accordingly, this idol is said to have been destroyed by the early general Khalid ibn al-Walid. Cult Wadd was the national god of Ma'in, or the Minaeans; the magic formula ''Wd'b'' or "Wadd is y?father" was written on amulets and buildings. These writings were often accompanied with a symbol; a crescent moon with the small disc of Venus. An altar dedicated to him was erected by Minaeans living on the Greek island of Delos. The altar contains two inscriptions, one of which is in Minaean ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arab
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years. In the 9th century BCE, the Assyrians made written references to Arabs as inhabitants of the Levant, Mesopotamia, and Arabia. Throughout the Ancient Near East, Arabs established influential civilizations starting from 3000 BCE onwards, such as Dilmun, Gerrha, and Magan (civilization), Magan, playing a vital role in trade between Mesopotamia, and the History of the Mediterranean region, Mediterranean. Other prominent tribes include Midian, ʿĀd, and Thamud mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, Bible and Quran. Later, in 900 BCE, the Qedarites enjoyed close relations with the nearby Canaan#Canaanites, Canaanite and Aramaeans, Aramaean states, and their territory extended from Lower Egypt to the Southern Levant. From 1200 BCE to 110 BCE, powerful ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baraqish
Barāqish or Barāgish or Aythel () is a town in north-western Yemen, 120 miles to the east of Sanaa in al Jawf Governorate on a high hill. It is located in Wādī Farda(h), a popular caravan route because of the presence of water. It was known to the Greeks and Romans as Athlula (or Athrula), from the ancient Sabaean (probably vocalized ''Yathill''). Barāqish was inhabited as early as the Bronze Age, one generation building their houses on the ruins of the earlier ones. In the main area of the site, there still remain the ruins of a dome, a mosque, a well and tower, as well as many pottery shards and pieces of glass. People lived in the town up to the 1960s, but it has since been abandoned, and is at present occupied by the military. History and Archaeology History Its origins are very archaic, possibly 1000 BCE, but it reached its peak of importance in about 400 BCE when it became the capital of the Minaean Kingdom. Paleolithic ceramic finds indicate the area was inhabit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qarnawu
Qarnāwu ( Old South Arabian: 𐩤𐩧𐩬𐩥, {{transliteration, xsa, ''qrnw'', reconstructed ''Qarnāwu'', Ancient Greek Κάρνα ''Kárna'') is the name of an ancient city situated in present day Jawf in the north of Yemen, near the modern city of Ma'īn (Arabic معين). Qarnāwu was presumably founded at the time the Minaean Kingdom appeared in about 500 BCE; after the end of Sabaean rule over Ma’in in about 400 BCE Qarnāwu became the capital of Ma'īn for a time. Qarnāwu was set on a mound, about 10 meters in height and had a rectangular layout each side of which measured about 350 × 240 meters; it was traversed by an absolutely straight main street, leading from the west to the east gate. The interior was carefully planned. At the end of the Minaean Kingdom in the 1st century BCE, Qarnāwu lost its importance, and was probably abandoned not long after. See also * Minaeans * Minaean Language * Ancient History of Yemen The ancient history of Yemen or Sout ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Religion In Pre-Islamic Arabia
In pre-Islamic Arabia, the dominant religious practice was that of Arab polytheism, which was based on the veneration of various deities and spirits, such as the god Hubal and the goddesses al-Lāt, al-‘Uzzā, and Manāt. Worship was centred around local shrines and temples, most notably including the Kaaba in Mecca. Deities were venerated and invoked through pilgrimages, divination, and ritual sacrifice, among other traditions. Different theories have been proposed regarding the role of "Allah" (a word in Arabic that is now chiefly associated with God in Islam) in the Meccan religion. Many of the physical descriptions of the pre-Islamic gods and goddesses are traced to idols, especially near the Kaaba, which is said to have contained up to 360 of them. Other religions—namely Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism—were also represented in the region. The influence of the Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Aksum enabled the nurturing of Christianity in pre-Islamic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nashshan
Nashshan ( Minaean: romanized: , ; modern day Kharbat Al-Sawda', ) is the name of an ancient South Arabian city in the northern al-Jawf region of present day Yemen, originally independent but later subsumed into the territory of the ancient Kingdom of Ma'in between the 6th and 4th centuries BC. Like many other city-states of the Jawf, ''Nashshan'' functioned as the name of both the city and the tribe. The city was called Nestum in the ''Natural History'' book that was written by Pliny the Elder. The main god of Nashshan was called Aranyadaʿ. History 8th century BC Nashshan is considered the most important city of the Jawf valley. Originally autonomous and independent from its neighbours, it was allied with the Kingdom of Saba in the 8th century BC, as attested by documents from the time of the Sabaean king Yatha' Amar Watar and his royal Nashshanite contemporary, Malikwaqah. Together, the two states fought and subjugated common enemies, like the city-state of Kamna and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qataban
Qataban () was an ancient Yemenite kingdom in South Arabia that existed from the early 1st millennium BCE to the late 1st or 2nd centuries CE. It was one of the six ancient South Arabian kingdoms of ancient Yemen, along with Sabaʾ, Maʿīn, Ḥaḍramawt, Ḥimyar and Awsān. Geography Qatabān was centred around the Wādī Bayhān, and its capital was the city of Timnaʿ. The neighbours of Qatabān were Sabaʾ to the northwest and west, Awsān to the south, and Ḥaḍramawt to the east. At its maximum extent, Qatabān's territory extended from the Bāb al-Mandab in the southwest to the Ṣayhad desert to the north, and the western limits of Ḥaḍramawt to the east. History Prehistory 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. Later, several waves of Semitic-speaking immigrants from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yemen
Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part of the Arabian Sea to the east, the Gulf of Aden to the south, and the Red Sea to the west, sharing maritime boundary, maritime borders with Djibouti, Eritrea, and Somalia across the Horn of Africa. Covering roughly 455,503 square kilometres (175,871 square miles), with a coastline of approximately , Yemen is the second largest country on the Arabian Peninsula. Sanaa is its constitutional capital and largest city. Yemen's estimated population is 34.7 million, mostly Arabs, Arab Muslims. It is a member of the Arab League, the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Owing to its geographic location, Yemen has been at the crossroads of many civilisations for over 7,000 years. In 1200 BCE, the Sab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sheba
Sheba, or Saba, was an ancient South Arabian kingdoms in pre-Islamic Arabia, South Arabian kingdom that existed in Yemen (region), Yemen from to . Its inhabitants were the Sabaeans, who, as a people, were indissociable from the kingdom itself for much of the 1st millennium BCE. Modern historians agree that the heartland of the Sabaean civilization was located in the region around Marib and Sirwah. In some periods, they expanded to much of Yemen, modern Yemen and even parts of the Horn of Africa, particularly Eritrea and Ethiopia. The kingdom's native language was Sabaic, which was a variety of Old South Arabian.Stuart Munro-Hay, ''Aksum: An African Civilization of Late Antiquity'', 1991. Among South Arabia, South Arabians and Abyssinia, Abyssinians, Sheba's name carried prestige, as it was widely considered to be the birthplace of South Arabian civilization as a whole. The first Sabaean kingdom lasted from the 8th century BCE to the 1st century BCE: this kingdom can be divided i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
