Abraha (also spelled Abreha) (died after AD 553^[1]; r. Events By Place Europe The Ostrogoth Kingdom is conquered by the Byzantines after the Battle of Mons Lactarius 525—at least 553^[2]) also known as 'Abraha al-Ashram (in Arabic أبرهة الأشرم) or Abraha b. Events Dionysius Exiguus proposes a calendar based on the birth of Jesus Christ Events By Place Europe The Ostrogoth Kingdom is conquered by the Byzantines after the Battle of Mons Lactarius Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language as-Saba'h, was an Ethiopian Christian viceroy in southern Arabia for the Kingdom of Aksum, and later self styled King of Saba' (Yemen). NOTE This intro is the result of careful NPOV work Please do not make potentially controversial edits to it without first discussing on the talk page A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth A viceroy is a royal official who governs a country or province in the name of and as representative of the Monarch. The Arabian Peninsula (in Arabic: شبه الجزيرة العربية šibh al-jazīra al-ʻarabīya or جزيرة العرب jazīrat al-ʻarab) The Aksumite Empire or Axumite Empire (sometimes called the Kingdom of Aksum or Axum ( Ge'ez: አክሱም was an important trading Yemen ( Arabic: اليَمَن al-Yaman officially the Republic of Yemen ( Arabic: الجمهورية اليمنية al-Jumhuuriyya ^[3][4]

Lineage

Procopius records that Abraha was once the slave of a Roman merchant at Adulis, while al-Tabari says that he was related to the Axumite royal family. Procopius of Caesarea ( Προκόπιος ο Καισαρεύς, c Adulis is an archeological site in the Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, about 30 miles south of Massawa. Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (838-923 أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير الطبري was one of the earliest most prominent and famous Persian Historians Kings during the zenith of the Kingdom of Axum The following based on S ^[3]

Career

Aksum and South Arabia at the end of GDRT's reign in the 3rd century AD. GDRT (also GDR, vocalized by historians as Gadarat) was a king of the Ethiopian Kingdom of Aksum (c

Dhu Nuwas, the Jewish Himyarite ruler of Yemen, in the period c. Yūsuf Dhū Nuwas, ( Arabic: يوسف ذي نواس (also called Yūsuf Asar Dhū Nuwas, Dhu Nowas and Dhu Nu'as PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ The Himyarite Kingdom or Himyar (in Arabic مملكة حِمْيَر) anciently called Homerite Kingdom by the Greeks and the Romans 523-525^[3] or c. 518-20^[1] launched military operations against the Aksumites in Southern Arabia along and their local Arab Christian allies. The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding ^[4] The Aksumites in Zafar were killed, their fortresses in the Yemeni highlands destroyed, and the coastal regions reconquered and Najran sacked. Zafar or Dhafar (Ar ظفار (14°12'N 44°24'E is an ancient Himyarite site situated in the Yemen, some 130 km south-south-west of the capital Sana'a Najran (formerly Aba as Sa'ud) (نجران is a city in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the frontier with Yemen. ^[4] Nagran fell in 518 or 523 and many members of the Himyarite Christian community were put to death evoking great sympathy throughout the Christian regions of the Orient and prompting an Aksumite military intervention aided by a Byzantine fleet first made in 518/523. The Orient is a term which simply means the " East " It originated in Western Asia to describe that part of the world ^[4]

Abraha was either one of the commanders or a member of one of the armies led by King Kaleb of Axum against Dhu Nuwas. Kaleb (c 520) is perhaps the best-documented if not best-known king of Axum. In al-Tabari's history, 'Abraha is said to have been the commander of the second army sent by Kaléb after the first, led by 'Ariat. Abraha was reported to have led his army of 100,000 men to successfully crush all resistance and then following the suicide of Dhu Nuwas, seized power and establishing himself at San‘a’. ^[3] He aroused the wrath of Kaléb, however, by withholding tribute who then sent his general 'Ariat to take over the governorship of Yemen. 'Abraha rid himself of the latter by a subterfuge in a duel resulting in 'Ariat being killed and 'Abraha suffering the injury which earned him the sobriquet of al-Asräm, "scar-face. "^[3]

According to Procopius, however 'Abraha seized the control of Yemen from Esimiphaeus (Sumuafa' Ashawa'), the Christian Himyarite viceroy appointed by Kaléb, with the support of dissident elements within the Aksum occupation force who were eager to settle in the Yemen, then a rich and fertile land. ^[3] Stuart Munro-Hay, who proposes a 518 date for the rise of Dhu Nuwas, dates this event to 525,^[2] while by the later chronology (in which Dhu Nuwas comes to power in 523), this event would have happened about 530, although a date as late as 543 has been postulated by Jacques Ryckmans. ^[3] An army sent by Kaléb to subdue 'Abraha joined his ranks and killed the ruler sent to replace him (this is perhaps a reference to 'Ariat) and a second army was defeated.

After this Kaléb had to accord him de facto recognition before earning recognition under Kalebs successor for a nominal tribute. ^[3]

Rule

A reference map of the empire of Kaleb of Axum.

Abraha is seen as then becoming a prominent figure in Yemens history, promoting the cause of Christianity in the face of the prevalent Judaism prevalent and the paganism of Central Arabia. Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה Yehudah, " Judah " in Hebrew יַהֲדוּת Yahedut Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "country dweller rustic" is a word used to refer to various religions and religious beliefs from across the world ^[3] A zealous Christian himself, he is said to have built a great church at San'a' and to have repaired the principal irrigation dam at the Sabaean capital of Ma'rib. See also Ancient history of Yemen The Sabaeans ( Arabic: السبأيين were an ancient people speaking an Old South Arabian language who See also Ancient history of Yemen Ma'rib (مأرب or Marib is the capital town of the Ma'rib Governorate, Yemen and was the capital Abraha is chiefly famous, however, for the military…

Epigraphic sources chronicling 'Abraha's career include an inscription on the Marib Dam recording the quelling of an insurrection backed by a son of the deposed ruler, Esimiphaeus, in the year 657 of the Sabaean era, i. Epigraphy (ἐπιγραφολογία from Greek ἐπιγραφή — "inscription" is the study of inscriptions or epigraphs engraved The Marib Dam ( Arabic:سد مأرب blocks the Wadi Adhanah (also Dhana or Adhana in the valley of Dhana in the Balaq Hills, Yemen. e. between 540-550; vital repairs effected to the dam later in the same year; the reception of envoys from the Negus, from Byzantium, from Persia and from Harith b. For other uses see Negus (disambiguation Negus ( Ge'ez gez ንጉሥ, Amharic; cf This article is about the city See also Byzantine Empire. Byzantium ( Greek: Βυζάντιον Latin: la BYZANTIVM The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia Djabalat, the phylarch of Arabia; and the completion of repairs to the dam in the following year, followed by a great feast of rejoicing. The royal title adopted by 'Abraha is similar to that of his immediate predecessors and to that of Emperor Kaléb, "King of Saba' and dhü-Raydän and Hadhramaut and Yamanat and of their Arabs on the plateau and the lowland. Hadhramaut, Hadhramout or Hadramawt (حضرموت) is a historical region of the south Arabian Peninsula along the Gulf of Aden in the " A further text discovered at Murayghän records a defeat inflicted by 'Abraha on the North Arabian tribe of Ma'add in the year 662 of the Sabaean era. ^[3]

Islamic tradition

Main article: Year of the Elephant

See also: Shaiba ibn Hashim

Abraha however is chiefly famous for his military expedition towards the close of his career against the Quraysh of Mecca in an invasion of Hejaz in 570,^[4] as recounted in the Islamic tradition - in particular, the tafsir (exegesis) of the surat al-Fil - states that he perished , known as the Year of the Elephant. The Year of the Elephant (in Arabic, عام الفيل, `Âm al-Fîl is the name in Islamic history for the year approximately equating to 570 Shaiba ibn Hashim (شيبة ابن هاشم (c 497 &ndash 578 better known as Abdul Muttalib or Abd al-Muttalib, since he was raised by his uncle Muttalib Quraish is also the name of a Surah in the Qur'an. Quraysh or Quraish (Arabic ar قريش Mecca ˈmɛkə also spelled Makkah ˈmækə (in full Makkah Al-Mukarramah (Arabic mækːæ(t ælmʊkarˑamæ مكّة المكرمة, literally Honored al-Hejaz (also Hijaz, Hedjaz; الحجاز al-Ḥiǧāz, literally "the barrier" is a region in the west of present-day Saudi Arabia For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. Tafsir ( Arabic: تفسير, tafsīr, "interpretation" is the Arabic word for Exegesis This article is about the chapter of the Qur'an translated to English as "The Elephant The Year of the Elephant (in Arabic, عام الفيل, `Âm al-Fîl is the name in Islamic history for the year approximately equating to 570 The traditions also say that Abraha is said to have built a great church at San'a'^[5] to rival the Kaaba at Mecca and specifically came with his forces of elephants to destroy the Kaaba. The Kaaba ( Arabic: ar الكعبة; 'kɑʕbɑ or 'kæʕbæ "Cube" is a Cuboidal building in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and is the

Death

Islamic tradition holds that he perished of illness contracted shortly after the failure of his expedition to the Hejaz. Munro-Hay dates his death to some time after 553 based on an inscription. ^[1] He was succeeded on the throne by two of his sons, Yaksum and Masruq, born to him by Raihäna, a Yemenite noblewoman whom 'Abraha had abducted from her husband. ^[3] Between 570 and 575 the pro-Persian group in Yemen made contact with the Sassanid king through the Lakhmid princes in Al-Hirah. The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty or Sassanian Dynasty (ساسانیان) is the name used for the third Iranian dynasty and the second Persian empire The Lakhmids ( Arabic:) Banu Lakhm ( Arabic:) Muntherids ( Arabic:) were a group of Arab Christians who lived in Al Hīra ( Arabic, الحيرة) was an ancient city located south of Al-Kufah in south-central Iraq. The Persians then sent troops under the command of Wahriz, who helped the semi-legendary Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan drive the Aksumites from Yemen and Southern Arabia became a Persian dominion under a Yemenite vassal within the sphere of influence of the Sassanian empire. Sayf ibn dhī-Yazan ( Arabic سيف بن ذي يزن was a Himyarite King who lived between 516 and 574 CE known for ending ^[4]

See also

• Ancient history of Yemen#Kingdom of Aksum (520 - 570 CE)

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} Stuart Munro-Hay, "Abraha" in Siegbert von Uhlig, ed. The ancient history of Yemen ( South Arabia) is especially important because Yemen is one of the oldest centers of Civilization in the Near East , Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2003)
2. ^ ^{a b} S. C. Munro-Hay, Aksum: An African Civilization of Late Antiquity (Edinburgh: University Press, 1991), p. 87
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} "Abraha." Dictionary of African Christian Biographies. 2007. (last accessed 11 Apr. 2007)
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Walter W. Müller, "Outline of the History of Ancient Southern Arabia," in Werner Daum (ed.), Yemen: 3000 Years of Art and Civilisation in Arabia Felix. 1987.
5. ^ "Abraha," Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. (accessed 11 Apr. 2007)

Further reading

• Gonick, Larry. Larry Gonick (born 1946 is a Cartoonist best known for The Cartoon History of the Universe, a history The Cartoon History of the Universe III: From the Rise of Arabia to the Renaissance. The Cartoon History of the Universe is an ongoing Book series about the History of the world ISBN 0-393-32403-6 W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2001.