Kaminahu (;

Old South Arabic Ancient South Arabian (ASA; also known as Old South Arabian, Epigraphic South Arabian, Ṣayhadic, or Yemenite) is a group of four closely related extinct languages ( Sabaean/Sabaic, Qatabanic, Hadramitic, Minaic) spoken in the far southern ...

: 𐩫𐩣𐩬𐩠𐩥 ''kmnhw''; modern Kamna) is the name of an ancient South Arabian city in the northern

al-Jawf Al-Jawf or Al-Jouf ( ' ) may refer to: * Al-Jawf Province, region and administrative province of Saudi Arabia * Al Jawf Governorate, a governorate of Yemen * Al Jawf, Libya Al Jawf ( ') is a town in southeastern Libya, the capital of the Kufra D ...

region of present day Yemen, 107 km north-east of Sana'a at about 1100 meters above sea level. In early times Kaminahu like other towns in al-Jawf such as

Ḥaram Haram () is one of several similar words originating from the triliteral Semitic root Ḥ-R-M. The word literally means "sanctuary", commonly used by Muslims to refer to Al-Masjid Al-Haram and Prophet Mohammad's Mosque. There are certain rules ...

and

Nashan 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 Kin ...

, was an independent city state. In about 715 BCE Kaminahu was conquered by Yitha’amar Watar I of Saba', after which it annexed Nashan and the neighbouring town of Manhiyat. Yith'amar left a stela which reads

'' Yatha amar Watar son of Yakrubmalik mukarrib of Saba dedicated to Aranyada' the patron when Aranyada came back form the territories of Aranyada' and of Nashshan and avenged Nashshan at the expense of Kaminahu because Nashahn had maintained the alliance of Almaqah and of Aranyada', of Yatha amar and of Malikwaqah, of Saba of nashshan, because of ... of god and parton of pact and alliance.''

In the war against Nashan led by Karab El Watar. (ca. 685 BCE) and probably in the one against Awsān, Ilsamaʿ from Kaminhau along with Yadhmurmalik from Ḥaram supported the Sabaeans; as a reward Kamninahu was allotted an irrigation canal conquered from Nashan. Walter W. Müller (Ed.) / Hermann von Wissmann: Die Geschichte von Sabaʾ II. Das Grossreich der Sabäer bis zu seinem Ende im frühen 4. Jh. v. Chr. (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-historische Klasse. Sitzungsberichte, Band 402) Verlag der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Wien, 1982 It seems that Kaminahu was flourishing at this time, because Ilsamaʿ is mentioned in many inscriptions. Building inscriptions also relate that Ilsamaʿ Nabaṭ of Kaminahu built the city fortifications of Nashq. Various dedicatory inscriptions from this period allow us to surmise that in Kaminahu, apart from ''Athtar Hagar'', a special form of the god ''Athtar'', there were local gods ''Nabʿal'' and ''Mdhww'' were also worshiped. After the founding of the Kingdom of Ma'īn, in the 6th century BCE, Kaminahu lost its importance.

Kings of Kaminahu

The order and dating for most kings is unclear. * 'Ammyithaʿ and ʿAmmschafiq (affiliation to Kaminahu uncertain) * Muhaqim and Ilsamaʿ * Ilsamaʿ, probably identical with the coregent of Muhaqim * Nabatʿali (Amir), son of Ilsamaʿ, ally of Karib'il Watar I. (ca. 685 BCE) * Ḏmrkrb Rym, son of Ilsamaʿ * S ... (possibly Sumhuyafa) * Ilsamaʿ Nabaṭ * Wahbu, son of Mas'ud * Ilsamaʿ Ḏrḥn

Culture

Kaminahu, was in Wādī Madhāb,Leonid Kogan and Andrey Korotayev: Sayhadic Languages (Epigraphic South Arabian). Semitic Languages. London: Routledge, 1997. Pg. 221. to the north-east of Ma'rib was a town of Pre-Islamic Arabia. Kaminahu, and its neighbors, Haram (Yemen),

and Inabba' were civil temple settlements and city states. Inscriptions in all four towns are in the

Minaean language 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 Nort ...

References

{{Coord, 16, 12, N, 44, 42, E, display=title Archaeological sites in Yemen Former kingdoms