EMERGENCE OF SOUTH ARABIAN CIVILIZATION

OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF ANCIENT SOUTHERN ARABIA

Yemen was one of the oldest centers of civilization in the Near East. The five principal kingdoms in ancient

southern Arabia were Saba (8th century BC – 275CE), the oldest, the most important and most powerful among

them, followed by Hadramawt(1000 BC - 300 CE) , Awsan (800 BC - 500 BC), Qataban (800 BC - 100 CE) ,

Ma’in (600 CE - 100 CE) and Himyar (100 BC – 520 CE). The three successive civilizations which

controlled the lucrative spice trade were Minaean, Sabaean and Himyarite. The mighty Sabaean

civilisation endured for about 14 centuries and was based not only on the spice trade, but also on

agriculture.

The kingdom of Saba makes its first appearance in world literature in the form of the Queen of Sheba (named

Makeda in Ethiopian tradition and Bilqis in Islamic tradition), who travels to Jerusalem to behold the fame of

King Solomon (ca. 980 BC) (1 Kings 10). The location of Saba has thus become closely linked with national

prestige, as various royal houses have claimed descent from the Queen of Saba and Solomon. Long the most

vigorous claimant has been Ethiopia and Eritrea, where Saba was traditionally linked with the ancient Aksumite

Kingdom (520 – 570 CE). As Ethiopia has remained a Christian state, the connection to Queen Saba has been

an important one, especially to the ruling family, the Solomonic dynasty. The tradition that the biblical Queen

of Saba was a ruler of Ethiopia who visited King Solomon in Jerusalem in ancient Israel is supported by the 1st

century ad Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, who identified Solomon’s visitor as a queen of Egypt and

Ethiopia.

Recent archaeological evidence has not given strong support to the Ethiopian claim. However, today most

scholars believe that, at most, the kingdom of Saba controlled some coastal regions of Ethiopia and Eritrea

while being centered on the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, modern Yemen. Linguistic evidence also

points to a close historical relationship between the two sides of the Red Sea, as South Semitic languages are

found only in two places: southern Arabia (modern Yemen and Oman), and the Horn of Africa (Eritrea and

Ethiopia).

FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE RISE OF SOUTH ARABIAN CIVILIZATION

The ancient Greek geographer Ptolemy, who described Yemen as Eudaimon Arabia (better known in its Latin translation, Arabia Felix) meaning "fortunate Arabia" or Happy Arabia, due to its relatively

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fertile land and adequate rainfall in a moister climate, a feature which helped sustain a stable population.

Geography

The Peninsula of Arabia may be described as a vast rectangle of more than a million square miles in extent, placed between Africa and the mainland mass of Asia. The Red Sea, which forms its western boundary, is part of a great rift valley which continues northwards though the Gulf of Akaba, the Dead Sea, and the River Jordan; the huge convulsions which produced it have piled up mountain ridges which rise steeply along the coast from Hijaz to Yemen..1

1. J.J. Saunders, A History of Medieval Islam, London, 1965, p.1

Southern Arabia presents an inhospitable front to the Indian Ocean; its long coastline has a few natural harbours, and its inhabited valleys lie inland and free from prying strangers. Its principal division, the Hadramawt, was famous in remote antiquity as the land of incense.Physically, Yemen consist of a strip of fairly heavily cultivated plain, the Tihamah, lying along the Red Sea, to the east of which is a tangled mass of mountain, shading off into foothills, steppe, and finally the great Arabian sand desert. Climate

The climate of Arabia is distinguished chiefly by high temperature and the absence of moisture. The autumn monsoon deposits heavy showers in the coastline of Oman and Yemen, but the steep hills force the rain-laden clouds to ascend rapidly and discharge their contents before they have passed over the inland slopes; the winter and spring rains of the Mediterranean region are scattered sparsely over the Northern deserts, the Nufud, where the wilderness blossoms like a rose for a short season, but the southern interior is beyond their range and is in consequence a dreadful waterless waste, the Rub al Khali, the Empty Quarter, which until recent times has rarely been crossed by European travellers. 2

Except in the high country, the summer is intense, yet the climate is not on the whole injurious to human health. The dryness of the atmosphere mitigates the strength of the sun’s rays ; the nights are cool; in winter snow often lies in the highest valleys of Jabal Shammar, a chain of hills immediately south of Nufud, and frost is unknown in the highlands of the Yemen.In the north, the land of Midian , the mountains are wild and desolate, but in Yemen, the Arabia Felix of the ancients, the hillsides receive a substantial rainfall, and rain crops and (since the 16th century ) the coffee bean are grown in fertile valleys. Here in the south-west corner of the peninsula, arose the earliest civilizations of old Arabia, those of the Minaeans and Sabaeans.

RISE OF KINGDOM OF SABA

The Sabean kingdom is located in what is now the Aseer region in southwestern Yemen, and its capital, Ma'rib, is located near what is now Yemen's modern capital, Sana'a. As according to tradition, the eldest son of Noah, Shem, founded the city of Ma'rib. During Sabean rule, Yemen was called "Arabia Felix" by the Romans who were impressed by its wealth and prosperity. The success of the kingdom was based on the cultivation and trade of spices and aromatics including frankincense and myrrh. These were exported to the Mediterranean, India, and Abyssinia where they were greatly prized by many cultures, using camels on routes through Arabia, and to India by sea.

The capital city of the Sabaean state was Ma’rib, which was wealthy thanks to the advantageous position of its geography. The capital city was very close to the River Adhanah. The point where the river reached Jabal Balaq

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was very suitable for the construction of a dam. Making use of this condition, the Sabaean people constructed a dam at this location at the time when their civilisation was first established, and they began the advanced irrigation system which consisted of large water tunnels in mountains and dams. The most impressive dam, known as the dam of Ma'rib was built ca. 700 BCE, provided irrigation for about 25,000 acres of land. Agriculture in Yemen thrived during this time .They indeed reached a very high level of prosperity. The capital city, Ma’rib, was one of the most developed cities of the time. The Greek writer Pliny, who had visited the region and greatly praised it, also mentioned how green this region was.

2. Ibid. , p.1-2

PEOPLE OF SABA AND THEIR CULTURE

The community of Saba was one of the four biggest civilizations which lived in South Arabia. These people is estimated to have been established some time between 1000-750 BC and to have collapsed around 550 AD with the two centuries long attacks of the Persians and the Arabs. The Sabaeans were a Semitic people who, at an unknown date, entered southern Arabia from the north, imposing their Semitic culture on an aboriginal population. The oldest sources which refer to the people of Saba are annual war chronicles left from the time of the Assyrian King Sargon II. (722-705 BC) While Sargon records about the people that pay taxes to him, he also refers to the King of Saba, Yith’i-amara . This record is the oldest written source that yields information about the Saba civilisation. Yet, it would not be right to draw the conclusion that the Saba culture was established around 700 BC depending only on this source, for it is highly probable that Saba had existed for quite some time before it was recorded in written records. This means that the history of Saba may predate the above. Indeed, in the inscriptions of Arad-Nannar, one of the latest kings of the state of Ur, the word "Sabum", which is thought to mean "the country of Saba", was used. If this word does mean Saba, then, this shows that the history of Saba goes back as far as 2500 BC.

Qehtaniyans: They are the descendants of Ya'rab bin Qehtan. They inhabited Yemen and other parts of southern Arabia and are called the full-blooded Arabs. The Yemenites of today and the tribes of Aus and Khazraj which constituted two big tribes of Madina in the early days of Islam are of Qehtaniyan descent. The Qehtaniyans possessed many states. They made strenuous efforts for the development of Yemen and have left a number of civilisations as their memorial. Their inscriptions are being studied now according to scientific methods the Qehtaniyan history has thus been revealed to some extent. Whatever is said about pre-lslamic culture and civilisation of Arabia is totally related to this group of the Arabs and is confined to the region of Yemen.

Historical sources telling about Saba usually say that this was a culture, like the Phoenicians, particularly involved in commercial activities. Accordingly, these people owned and administered some of the trade routes passing across Northern Arabia. In order for the Sabaean traders to carry their goods to the Mediterranean and Gaza, and thus pass across Northern Arabia, they had to get permission from Sargon II, the ruler of all the region, or pay a certain amount of tax to him. When the Sabaean people started paying taxes to the Assyrian Kingdom, their name began to be recorded in the annals of this state.

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The people cultivate the ground, or follow the trade of dealing in aromatics, both the indigenous sort and those brought from Ethiopia; in order to procure them, they sail through the straits in vessels covered with skins. There is such an abundance of these aromatics, that cinnamon, cassia, and other spices are used by them instead of sticks and firewood.

Army : The Sabaeans are known to have been a civilised people in history. In the inscriptions of the rulers of Saba, words such as "restore", "dedicate" and "construct" are frequently used. The Ma’rib Dam, which is one of the most important monuments of this people, is an important indication of the technological level this people had reached. However, this did not mean that the military power of the Sabaeans was weak; the Sabaean army was one of the most important factors contributing to the endurance of their culture over such a long period without collapse. This extraordinarily strong army of the Sabaean state is also described in the Qur’an. An expression of the commanders of the Saba army related in the Qur'an, shows the extent of the confidence this army had in itself. The commanders call out to the female ruler (queen) of the state: 

"We are endued with strength, and given to vehement war: but the command is with thee; so consider what thou wilt command."  (an-Naml: 33)

KINGDOM OF SABA

POLITICAL HISTORY

Yemen has never had definite political borders because it is simply a plethora of tribal units

independent in themselves. The inhabitants of the Tihamah are often African descent, not Arab even;

they have been there between two or three thousand years. The individual tribe has a loyalty within

itself but not to the concept of a country or a monarch; tribes are generally hostile to their immediate

neighbours. The same tribes , as early inscription show, have for thousand years occupied roughly the

same districts .

Saba ultimately absorbed Ma’in and two small principalities, Aswan and Katabans ; her kings known

as mukarribs , combined functions of prince and priest. In 115 B.C. the ancient monarchy was

overthrown by the Hymarites. The king resides in Ma’rib , capital of Saba. He , who determines

absolutely all disputes and other matters; but he is forbidden to leave his palace, or if he does so, the

rabble immediately assail him with stones, according to the direction of an oracle. He himself, and

those about his person, pass their lives in effeminate voluptuousness.

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The Sabaean state had one of the strongest armies in the region. The state was able to adopt an

expansionist policy thanks to its army. The Sabaean state had conquered the lands of the Old

Qataban state. It owned many lands on the African continent. During 24 BC, during an expedition to

Magrib, the Sabaean army utterly defeated the army of Marcus Aelius Gallus, the Governor of Egypt

for the Roman Empire which was definitely the strongest state at the time. Saba can be portrayed as a

state that pursued moderate policies, yet did not hesitate to use power when necessary. With its

advanced culture and army, the Sabaean state was definitely one of the "super powers" of the region

at the time.

TOWN AND TEMPLES

TOWNS : Most of the earlier buildings were constructed of unburnt bricks, the later ones of stone. The

use of woods increased; new types of buildings emerged with stone foundations, wooden beams in the

upper storey, and sanctuaries with majestic gateways. The oldest town fortifications are to be found in

Wadi Raghwan , about 40km north of Ma’rib. Karib II Watar , son of Dhamar Ali and ‘mukarrib’ of

Saba had two city walls constructed there : al – Asahil and Khirbat Sa’ud. Both structures consisted

two firm stone faced outward with a filled in cavity between. Both town walls had protusions in their

fortifications. These two settlements , together with Jidfir ibn Wadi Jufra , show the first wave of

expansion of Saba to the north. In the subsequent period, the Sabaean occupied entire Wadi al Jawf, a

large, well irrigated valley with an undoubtably considerable population. There, several principalities

or small kingdoms had been in existence

Around 5th century BC , a new type of fortification wall emerged : a stone wall supported from behind

by a brick wall which was 2-3 m thick. This wall which was first constructed in Jawf show that Jawf

must have suddenly leapt to enormous prosperity at that time.

The buildings in the town were close to each other, streets were not part of the plan and there seem to

have been no squares except for open areas left between buildings. The houses had stone foundation,

and the upper storey consisted of a wooden framework filled with unburnt bricks. The inscriptions and

the comparison with traditional Yemeni houses suggest that these houses must have been high

buildings.

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TEMPLES : Each town had its sanctuaries, some of which were sited within the city wall and some a

little outside. The sanctuaries consisted rows of pillars with geometrical, plant or animal ornaments.

The sanctuaries outside the towns served the tribes of the surrounding areas while the temples within

the city walls were meant for the town population. Such federative sanctuaries can be found near

almost every important town of the Hadramawt or the Jawf, only two of them , however , boast

fortifications : the Mahram Bilqis of Ma’rib and the temple of Sirwah.

IRRIGATION ECONOMY

Ma’rib was celebrated not only for its temples and palaces, but above all for the dam which was built a

few miles outside its wall to catch and distribute the waters of its local river, the Wadi Dhana, and so

to irrigate a broad expanse of the surrounding countryside. Twice a year, the water from the periodical

monsoon rainfall had to be collected and channeled through an efficient irrigation system. This effort

was a rational concept, a superior degree of planning co-ordination, and highly developed technology.

So remarkable feat of hydraulic engineering and a high degree of technical skill among the Sabaean

people.

It is true other cities in ancient southern Arabia sported similar installations, but in importance and

size, none of these could compete with the irrigation system of Ma’rib. Its fame spread far beyond the

borders of Southern Arabia. In its own era, the Ma’rib Dam, a construction meant for water

conservation and distribution was looked with awe and admiration

CULTIVATION

Agricultural produce grown in the Ma’rib oasis provided with food not only for the inhabitants, but

probably also the caravaneers and their camels, and was, to a certain extent, exported. The maximum

cultivatable area of 96000 hectares equaled in value and area twice that size because it yielded two

crops a year.

Traces of ploughing, rest of tree plantations and other features are important indications as to the

workings of planned agrarian economy in Saba. Grown in Saba, were wheat, barley, millet, wine, date

palms and certain fruits. On extensive pastures clover-like culmiferous plants were cultivated.

TRADE

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Since the earliest days, the south Arabian states, in particular the powerful Saba, had been a trade

center of the Arabian peninsula. The precious home-grown fragrant resins, myrrh and frankincense,

much sought after by the ancient world that used them in rituals and for medicinal purposes, were not

the only reason for the country’s wealth and the prosperity of the inhabitants ; another reason for this

economic boom was southern Arabian’s role as an intermediary. Just as merchandise from Africa and

India was unloaded on the south coast and dispatched by land as far as the commercial centers of the

Mediterranean , Babylon and Egypt , so Mediterranean products reached their Asian and African

destinations via Ma’rib.

An Assyrian inscription records indicates that in the 10th century B.C. camel caravans were already

traveling, laden with products of the East, between South Arabia and Palestine. From this time

onwards Arabia was drawn into the stream of international trade. It is possible that the disorders in

Egypt, which followed the fall of the ‘New Empire’ in the eleventh B.C. and led to the loss of its

overseas territories, enabled the South Arabians to secure naval control of the Red Sea and establish a

virtual monopoly of the incense traffic from the Hadramawt and the spice trade with India. Kingdom

of Saba also expanded their caravans westward towards Africa; their ships controlled the Straits of

Bab al Mandab, the straits leading to the Red Sea.

RELIGION

The primitive religion of the desert was restricted to the worship of trees, streams and stones in which

the deity was supposed to reside. But in the more advanced and civilized kingdoms of the south a

higher type of religion developed. Instead of sticks and stones, the heavenly bodies were the object of

worship curiously akin to that of the Babylonians. The south Arabians were not only highly talented

builders and organizers and inventors of technologically advanced irrigation installations : they were

also , above all very pious people. Their deep religiosity informed all aspects of their public and

private lifves. The gods were invoked for help, favour , pity, protection and health, grant fertility as

well as a good harvest. The oracle played an important role .

The strong faith of the people found an expression not only in invocations but also in many examples

of material culture – in effigies and buildings. Stone temples, often consisting of big sanctuaries

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flanked private chapels , were erected in principal cities, and endowed revenues of incense-forests and

other landed estates, and a sacrificial priesthood. intimate affinity to the deity is the characteristic of

the Sabean religion.

Their main temple - Mahram Bilqis, or temple of the moon god (situated about three miles from the

capital city of Marib) - was so famous it remained sacred even after the collapse of the Sabean

civilisation in the sixth century BC.

In the South Arabian pantheon, the primacy was held by the moon-god, who was venerated under a

variety of names. He was Almakah to the Sabaeans, Wadd to the Minaeans while in Hadramawt he

was known as Sin.The supreme god was joined in the inferior capacity of spouse or daughter, the sun-

goddess Shamsh. Other deities were Athtar, the morning or evening star, Ta'lab, "Patron of Riyâm",

Haubas, Rammâm, and others-names which may be merely epithets of the moon-god. Submission

towards and

ARTS AND POETRY

Many Yemeni poets were associated with the extensive collection of poems recorded since the rise of

Sabaean kingdom. These poems explained and detailed on many things i.e. everyday life, culture, big

events such as wars, reaction and feelings over something which occurred, leaders, legal system, with

all kinds of styles. Yemen is a land of poetry and literature. The two greatest figures in the medieval

period were al-Hamdani, the historian and geographer, indeed “the tongue (“lisan”) of Yemen” as he is

called (d.945 A.D. in Sana’a , and Nashwan bin Said al Himyari (died near Haidan in 1178 A.D.) Al-

Hamdani, whose importance was conveyed to Western orientalists by the Austrian school in the last

century, is mentioned in many parts of this catalogue. Nashwan, whose principal work was edited by

Alfred von Kremer in 1865, is the subject of Qadi Ismail bin Ali al-Akwa’s study in this catalogue. It

opens up completely new sources of material on Nashwan’s writings and particularly his views on

politics and his relationship with the scholars of his time. Also dealing with the subject of literature is

Muhammad Abduh Ghanim’s contribution, which ranges from the pre-Islamic age to the early modern

era and presents various poets in beautiful verse and numerous anecdotes.

Hamdani preserved through his writing many of the works of early Islamic Yemeni poets, though his

own poetry was but modest of standard. Al Hamdani handed down a poem by a knight of the Hamdani

tribe who wrote it probably toward the end of the heathen period. His name was Malik ibn Harim al

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Wadi’I al Hamdani, and the poem is about the town Ma’in , ancient capital of ancient Minaean

kngdom ; the following is an excerpt ;

Ours are the best horses in the world

We are wearing the shining armour

And carry swords we inherited from ‘Ad

We shall protect the Jauf as long as Ma’in exisr

Down there in the valley opposite ‘Arda !

Should anyone wish to take it from us we shall pursue him

To the height of the Yamama and Jarada

INSCRIPTIONS

Numerous inscriptions have told historians of the Sabaean’s intellectual, spiritual life, the way state

and its legal system were organized. Written evidence consist of many thousands of inscriptions,

carved in stone, engraved in rock faces of bronze objects or moulded in bronze, and ranging in date

from somewhere in the first half millennium BC down to the middle 6th century AD. Greek

geographer Eratosthenes stated that the population of South Arabia was divided into four principal

‘nations’ ; Minaic, Sabaic, Qatabanic and Hadramitic. The form of script used for Old South Arabian

Language ( as the four languages are collectively styled), was termed by writers of Muslim date

musnad : this term in fact is used in the inscription themselves for ‘an inscription’. The musnad scripts

found in central and north Arabia recording various ancient Arabian speech-form. The musnad script

consist of a consonantal alphabet of 29 distinct linear letter forms. The direction of the writing is from

right to left, while a simple stroke is used to separate one word from the next. The Sabaic inscriptions

are vastly more numerous than those in the other three languages and the sites which have yielded

them cover a wider area.

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PRE - ISLAMIC YEMEN

The knowledge on South Arabian paganism is rested on the contents of monumental inscriptions and

on archaeological data, to the exclusion of mythological texts or archives. The relation of the Sabaeans

to the divine was deeply rooted in both their private and public life. Many of the ancient personal

names express a relation of the bearer to the god, and every activity commemorated by an inscription :

offering, building of a house or a tomb, etc., was placed under the protection of one or several deities.

Each of the south Arabian kingdom had their own national god, who was the opatron of the principal

temple in the capital. In Saba, this was Ilqamah, in the temple of the federation of the Sabaean tribes in

Ma’rib. He was considerd the Sun-god, as a secondary protecting deity and as a guardian of the

Sabaean dynasty. Several tribal groups had their own divine ‘patron’. In Saba, Ta’lab (ibex)was the

patron of the tribal federation of Sum’ay. Known deities were also invoked as protective deities of

persons, construction etc. Gods are frequently represented by their symbol-animal ; bull, snake, eagle,

gazelle, or more frequently by an abstract symbol ; bludgeon, thunder bolt etc.

The temples, derived from pre Islamic haram, comprise essentially an enclosure, mostly rectangular in

form, toward the far end of which a sort of canopy accommodated the cella or the idol of the god. The

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temple Ilqamah in Ma’rib had exceptionally the form of a vast elliptical enclosure, made of a wall

some 30ft. high.

The temples played an important role in the public life. Each locality had its own temple or shrines.

The more important served as administrative centres in charge of the collection of the sacred tithe.

Various kinds of temples officials , whose functions are ill-defined, were in the service of god. In

Saba, a class of priests of ‘ Attar belonged by birth to three different clans, each of which provided

succession , an eponym priest called ‘kabir’ who remained in charge for seven years. Besides tithe

collection , the kabir also had to interpret the god’s oracle on official issues and he was in charge of

magical practices intended for obtaining rain and irrigation.

POST – ISLAMIC YEMEN

Islam came to Yemen around 628, during Muhammad's lifetime. Muhammad was joined by Abu Musa

al As’ari with several of his brothers and tribesmen who made he journey from Yemen by sea. Active

missionary work only became possible after the conquest of Mecca in 630. The Prophet sent several of

his companions to Yemen to spread Islam there and to collect alms taxes. Thereafter Yemen was ruled

as part of Arab caliphates, and Yemen became little more than a remote province. Islamic Yemen

became part of the huge religious empire which set out to conquer the world. Yemenites played an

important role in this process. It is not primarily for their military record, however, that the Yemenites

have gained a place in the history of Islam, where they are mainly remembered for their peaceful

achievements.

When the Prophet Muhammad united the Arabian Peninsula in the Islamic faith and the Arabs set out

to conquer the world, they came from totally different civilizations. There were the tradesmen from

Mecca and Medina, the Bedouins of the vast deserts and semi-deserts, the farmers from the small

principalities in the north which were under the cultural influence of Byzantium and Persia, and the

southerners, the Yemenis, who accounted for perhaps half of the population of Arabia and had enjoyed

the fruits of civilization for at least one and a half millennia. No wonder that the goods produced in

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southern Arabia were of the finest quality and in great demand, and that they were highly praised by

poets before and after the rise of Islam. Since these commodities until recently not only enjoyed

literary fame but were the mainstay of Yemen’s economy, they are worth studying a little more

closely.

The initial enthusiasm for the new religion expressed itself in a massive emigration. Yemenite tribes

played a significant role in the Islamic conquests in Syria , Egypt, Maghreb, Iraq and Iran and settled

with their families in the conquered territories. Yemen is divided between two Islamic sects , the

Zaidis of the north and east, and the Shafi’is of the south and Tihamah, reflecting a real, perhaps even

a racial division.

BIBLICAL ACCOUNT OF QUEEN SHEBA

The meeting of King Solomon of Israel and the Queen of Sheba had significant repercussions upon the

fate of Israel and the matriarchy of Sheba (believed to be early Ethiopia), and has inspired writers,

artists and readers for centuries. Europeans are more familiar with the biblical account of the Queen of

Sheba’s (Hebrew for Saba) visit to Solomon. It occurs in the First Book of Kings and the Second Book

of Chronicles, the two versions differing only slightly:

“ When the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came

to test him with hard questions. She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels bearing

spices and very much gold, and precious stones … “ Jesus brought the Queen of Sheba from the distant

past into his covenant and placed her on the side of the Just. At the Last Judgement the Queen of the

“South” (Semitic “Yemen”) , too , will sit on the throne and judge: “For she came from the ends of the

earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon (Matthew 12,42 and Luke 11,31).

This wonderful and colourful story has ever since fascinated the peoples of east and west, Jews and

Christians of medieval times, Ethiopia and, of course, the peoples of Islam. It was a source of

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inspiration for the artists who created our Gothic cathedrals and Romanesque miniatures, and so many

artists of later ages such as Piero della Francesca and Ghiberti, Holbein, Veronese, Hieronymus Bosch,

or Cosmas Damian Arab, Persian, Turkish and Indian miniature painters, to whom we are indebted for

some of the most charming masterpieces of Islamic art. A special book is devoted to the Queen of

saba; the object of the exhibition and this catalogue, however, is to portray the old kingdom of Saba,

that political system which for over one and a half millennia played a not insignificant role in the

history and economic development of the Ancient Orient, a kingdom which in many respects can be

regarded as the cradle of Arabian civilization and whose legendary accounts archaeologists, historians

and ethnologists are now beginning to wrest from the sands of the desert. Sheba (from the English

transcription of the Hebrew name sh'va: ,שבא and Saba, Arabic: ,س�بأ also Saba, Amharic) is a

southern kingdom mentioned in the Jewish scriptures (Old Testament) and the Qur'an. The actual

location of the historical kingdom is disputed between Ethiopia and Yemen. However, it is possible

that it could have been situated in Ethiopia and Yemen

In the Old Testament genealogy of the nations (Genesis 10:7), Sheba, along with Dedan, is listed as

one of the descendants of Noah's son Ham (i.e. son of Raamah son of Cush son of Ham). In Genesis

25:3, Sheba and Dedan are listed as sons of Jokshan. Another Sheba is listed in the Genesis 10

genealogy as a descendant of Noah's son Shem, i.e. a Semite. (There the genealogy lists Sheba as son

of Joktan son of Eber son of Shelah son of Arphaxad son of Shem.)

No evidence has been found so far of the Queen of Saba ; nor is any reference made to her in Sabaic

inscriptions. It is, however , worth mentioning that it was by no means unusual for a woman to sit on

the throne in ancient Arabia. Inscriptions of Assyrian rulers in the 18th century B.C. contain many

references to "qeens of the Arabs" who brought tribute or were defeated in battle. The southern

Arabians had the monopoly for two of the most sought after materials of ancient times: frankincense

and myrrah. These two resins only resins only grow in eastern Yemen (Hadramawt) and in Dhafar (the

correct spelling of which is Zafar, today southern Oman, which in those days belonged to the kingdom

of Hadramawt), and in some parts of Somalia. The frankincense route, one of the most ancient

international trade routes, led from Southern Arabia to Ghaza in Palestine , running inland roughly

parallel to the Red Sea and covering a total distance of almost 3,400 km. Not only the production but

also the trade in these goods was in the hands of the ancient South Arabians. There was not a temple or

wealthy home in Babylon, Egypt, Greece, Jerusalem or Rome which did not require these precious

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resins and was prepared to pay for their weight in gold. This explains to the historical background to

the report about the Queen of Saba’s caravan journey to Jerusalem. The story points to the highly

developed system of overland trade in the Arabian Peninsula and at the same time recalls the existence

of queens amongst the Arabs, such an unusual phenomenon in the eyes of contemporary rulers in the

Middle East.

Sheba's caravan of 797 camels, mules and asses was laden with provisions and gifts for Solomon.

Since a camel's saddle could carry 300-600 pounds, the wealth she brought was vast - gold, precious

stones, furniture and spices. Throughout the day, she rode on an extravagant gold palanquin, like a

four-poster bed, richly cushioned, with a roof shielding her from the sun and draperies she could close

for privacy. Her handsome white camel was laden with gold and precious stones. Most likely, she was

also accompanied by an armed guard to protect her from desert brigands, and by her devoted servants.

As Sheba prepared for her journey, she yearned deeply for the wisdom which she imparted to

Solomon. Although she already had a passion for abstract knowledge, her virgin status in a pagan

society, and and her association of wisdom with a young and handsome king most likely fueled her

youthful fervor. Yet the response of her servants reveal that she was not merely a lovestruck

adolescent, enamored with fantasies of her hero. Sheba's own devotion to wisdom likewise inspired

devotion from her people. According to the Kebra Negast, she told them:

"The honouring of wisdom is the honouring of the wise man, and the loving of wisdom is the loving of

the wise man. Love the wise man and withdraw not thyself from him... hearken to the utterance of his

mouth, so that thou mayest become like him... The whole story of him that hath been told me is to me as

the desire of my heart, and like water to the thirsty man."

Her nobles, and her slaves, and her handmaidens and her counsellors answered and said unto her,

"O our Lady, as for wisdom, it is not lacking in thee, and it is because of thy wisdom that thou loved

wisdom. And as for us, if thou goest we will go with thee, and if thou sittest down we will sit down with

thee; our death shall be with thy death, and our life with thy life."

( I Kings 10)

A MEETING OF MINDS

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Although an Ethiopian tale portrays Sheba and her prime minister dressed in man's clothes as they

meet Solomon, most accounts describe her arriving bejewelled and draped in dazzling robes.

Immediately, Solomon gave her a luxurious apartment in a palace next to his, and provided her with

fruits, rose trees, silks, linens, tapestries, and 11 bewitching garments for each day of her visit. Daily,

he sent her (and her 350 servants) 45 sacks of flour, 10 oxen, 5 bulls, 50 sheep (in addition to goats,

deer, cows, gazelles, and chicken), wine, honey, fried locusts, rich sweets, and 25 singing men and

women.

A gracious host, Solomon showed Sheba his gardens of rare flowers ornamented with pools and

fountains, and the architectural splendors of his government buildings, temple and palace. She was

awed by his work on the temple, by his great lion-throne and sandalwood staircase, and by his

enormous brass basin carried by the twelve brass bulls which symbolized the twelve months of the

year. She sought astronomical knowledge, for which he was known; Solomon had developed a new

calendar which added an extra month every nineteen years.

Although impressed by Solomon's wealth, Sheba was more interested in his wisdom. Some scholars

suggest that her visit was also economically and politically motivated, "the conclusion of a trade

agreement governing both land and sea routes, rather than a meeting of mutual admiration." But she

came, according to the Kebra Negast, to learn from him, and according to the Bible, "to prove him

with hard questions."

What were these "hard questions?" Theologians throughout the ages have speculated on their nature,

believing them to pertain to: peace and war, the meaning of life, evil, secrets of death and immortality,

the relationship between spirit and body, sexuality, male/female differences, the role of women, the

reliability of paternity as a basis for an economic system, the cycles of the moon and tides, and the

name and nature of God. Whatever the questions, most sources refer to lengthy discussions occurring

between Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

According to Josephus, "upon the king's kind reception of her, he both showed a great desire to please

her, and easily comprehending in his mind the meaning of the curious questions she propounded to

him, he resolved them." Not only did Sheba ask Solomon philosophical questions; she also tested him

with riddles. The Targum Sheni, Midrash Mischle, and Midrash Hachefez describe twenty two of her

riddles:

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"What is it? An enclosure with ten doors; when one is open, nine are shut, and when nine are open,

one is shut," Sheba asked Solomon. Solomon answered, "The enclosure is the womb, and the ten doors

are the ten orifices of man, namely his eyes, his ears, his nostrils, his mouth, the apertures for

discharge of excreta and urine, and the navel. When the child is still in its mother's womb, the navel is

open, but all the other apertures are shut, but when the child issues from the womb the navel is closed

and the other orifices are open."

QUR’ANIC ACCOUNT OF QUEEN SABA

"There was, for Saba, aforetime, a Sign in their home land, two Gardens to the right and to the left;

Eat of the Sustenance (provided) by your Lord, and be grateful to Him: a territory fair and happy, and

a Lord Oft-Forgiving!" But they turned away (from Allah), and We sent against them the Flood

(released) from the dams, and We converted their two garden (rows) into "gardens" producing bitter

fruit, and tamarisks, and some few (stunted) Lote-trees."

(Surah Saba: 15-16)

“ With sure tidings have I come to thee from Saba” ,

says a somewhat unusual messenger to King Solomon in surah 27, verse 22, of the Holy Koran.

Unusual because the messenger is a bird, a hoopoe, the most beautiful and most inquisitive of

Solomon’s subjects, the king who had at his command people, birds and jinn's alike. The hoopoe had

absented itself from Solomon’s entourage and on its flight arrived in Marib, the capital of Saba. There

it had not only discovered a flourishing kingdom but, most strangely of all, a woman on the throne.

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The Qur'an never mentioned the Queen of Sheba by name, though Arab sources name her Bilqis. The

story is similar to the one in the Bible. The Qur'anic narrative has Solomon getting reports of a

kingdom ruled by a queen whose people worship the sun. He sends a message inviting her to come to

him in submission. She replied with a gift after consulting her people. He replied threatening an

invasion. Then one of the jinn servants of Solomon, proposed to bring him the throne of Sheba 'in the

twinkling of an eye'(27:40). The queen arrives at his court, and she is being shown her throne and

when she entered his crystal palace she accepts Abrahamic monotheism and worshipping God alone.

Legends of the Queen of Sheba are common throughout Arabia, Persia, Ethiopia and Israel. In Arabian

tradition, Balqis ruled with the heart of a woman but the head and hands of a man. Islamic stories

portray Solomon as marrying the Queen. In contrast to the Bible,they portray her abandoning her gods

and converting to the God of the Israelites.

Arabian folklore and the Qu'ran present fanciful stories of the Queen of Sheba. Many of these tales

involve magic carpets, talking birds, and teleportation - the miraculous transfer of Balqis' throne in

Sheba to Solomon's palace. One notable tale involves the hoopoe bird, who tells Solomon about Balqis

and delivers to her a demand from him - unless she visits him, he will annihilate her people. In one

story, her foot which is shaped like an ass's foot is transformed into a human foot when she steps on

Solomon's glass floor; in another story, Solomon invents a depilatory in order to remove goat hair

from her legs.

THE FLOOD OF ARIM WAS SENT TO THE STATE OF SABA

Examining the Qur’an in the light of the historical data ,there is very substantial agreement here.

Archaeological findings and the historical data both verify what is recorded in the Qur’an. As

mentioned in the verse, these people, who did not listen to the exhortations of their prophet and who

ungratefully rejected faith, were in the end punished with a dreadful flood. This flood is described in

the Qur’an in the following verses:

"There was, for Saba, aforetime, a Sign in their home-land - two Gardens to the right and to the left; Eat of the Sustenance (provided) by your Lord, and be grateful to Him: a territory fair and happy, and a Lord Oft-Forgiving!;  But they turned away (from Allah), and We sent against them the Flood (released) from the dams, and We converted their two garden (rows) into "gardens" producing bitter fruit, and tamarisks, and some few (stunted) Lote-trees. That was the Requital We gave them because they ungratefully rejected Faith: and never do We give (such) requital except to such as are ungrateful rejecters." (Surah Saba: 15-17)  

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As emphasized in the above verses, the Sabaean people were living in a region noted for its

outstanding aesthetic, fruitful vineyards and gardens. Situated on the trade routes, the country of

Saba had quite a high standard of living and was one of the most favoured cities of the time.

In such a country, where standards of living and circumstances were so positive, what the Sabaean

people should have done was to "Eat of the Sustenance (provided) by their Lord, and be grateful to

Him" as is said in the verse. Yet, they did not do so. They chose to lay claim to the prosperity they

had. They thought that this country belonged to themselves, that it was they who made all these

extraordinary circumstances possible. They chose to be arrogant instead of being grateful, and, in the

expression of the verse, they "turned away from Allah"…

Because they laid claim to all the prosperity they had, they lost it all. As related in the verse, the

flood of Arim destroyed everything they had. In the Qur’an, the punishment sent to the Sabaean

people is named as "Sayl al-Arim" which means the "flood of Arim". This expression used in the

Qur’an also tells us the way this disaster occurred. The word "Arim" means dam or barrier. The

expression of "Sayl al-Arim" describes a flood that came about with the collapse of this barrier.

Islamic commentators have resolved the issue of time and place being guided by the terms used in

the Qur'an about the flood of Arim. Mawdudi writes in his commentary: As also used in the

expression, Sayl al-Arim, the word "arim" is derived from the word "arimen" used in the Southern

Arabic dialect, which means "dam, barrier". In the ruins unearthed in the excavations made in

Yemen, this word was seen to be frequently used in this meaning. For example, in the inscriptions

which was ordered by Yemen’s Habesh monarch, Ebrehe (Abraha), after the restoration of the big

Ma’rib wall in 542 and 543 AD, this word was used to mean dam (barrier) time and again. So, the

expression of Sayl al- Arim means "a flood disaster which occurs after the destruction of a dam."

"We converted their two garden (rows) into gardens producing bitter fruit, and tamarisks, and some

few (stunted) Lote-trees"  (Surah Saba: 16). 

That is, after the collapse of the dam-wall, all the country was inundated by the flood. The canals that

had been dug by the Sabaean people, and the wall that had been constructed by building barriers

between the mountains, were destroyed and the irrigation system fell apart. As a result, the territory,

which was like a garden before, turned into a jungle. There was no fruit left but the cherry-like fruit

of little stumpy trees.

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The Christian archaeologist Werner Keller, writer of "The Holy Book Was Right" (Und Die Bible

Hat Doch Recht), accepted that the flood of Arim occurred according to the description of the Qur’an

and wrote that the existence of such a dam and the destruction of the whole country by its collapse

proves that the example given in the Qur'an about the people of the garden was indeed realized.

After the disaster of the Arim flood, the region started to turn into a desert and the Sabaean people

lost their most important source of income with the disappearance of their agricultural lands. The

people, who had not heeded the call of Allah to believe in Him and to be grateful to Him, were in the

end punished with such a disaster as this. After the great destruction caused by the flood, the people

started to disintegrate. The Sabaean people started to desert their houses and emigrate to Northern

Arabia, Makkah and Syria.

Since the flood took place after the revelation of the Tawrah and the Bible, this event is described

only in the Qur’an. The city of Ma’rib, which was once a residence for the Sabaean people, but is

now only a desolate ruin, undoubtedly is a warning to those who repeat the same mistake as the

Sabaean people. The Sabaean people were not the only people that were destroyed by a flood. In

Surat al-Kahf of the Qur'an, the story of two garden owners is told. One of these men possesses a

very imposing and productive garden like those of the Sabaean people. However, he makes the same

mistake as them: turning away from Allah. He thinks that the favour bestowed on him "belongs" to

him himself, i.e. he is the cause of it:

The Qur’an tells us that the Queen of Saba and her people were "worshipping the sun besides Allah"

before she followed Sulayman. The information on the inscriptions verify this fact and indicate that

they were worshipping the sun and the moon in their temples, one of which is seen below. On the

pillars, there are inscriptions written in the Sabaean language

And Allah (swt) says in the Qur'an:

Set forth to them the parable of two men: for one of them We provided two gardens of grape-vines and

surrounded them with date palms; in between the two We placed corn-fields. Each of those gardens

brought forth its produce, and failed not in the least therein: in the midst of them We caused a river to

flow.

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(Abundant) was the produce this man had. He said to his companion, in the course of a mutual

argument: "more wealth have I than you, and more honour and power in (my following of) men." He

went into his garden in a state (of mind) unjust to his soul: He said, "I deem not that this will ever

perish, Nor do I deem that the Hour (of Judgment) will (ever) come: Even if I am brought back to my

Lord, I shall surely find (there) something better in exchange."

His companion said to him, in the course of the argument with him: "Dost thou deny Him Who created

thee out of dust, then out of a sperm-drop, then fashioned thee into a man? But (I think) for my part

that He is Allah, My Lord, and none shall I associate with my Lord. Why didst thou not, as thou

wentest into thy garden, say: ‘Allah's will (be done)! There is no power but with Allah!’ If thou dost

see me less than thee in wealth and sons, It may be that my Lord will give me something better than thy

garden, and that He will send on thy garden thunderbolts (by way of reckoning) from heaven, making

it (but) slippery sand!- Or the water of the garden will run off underground so that thou wilt never be

able to find it."

So his fruits (and enjoyment) were encompassed (with ruin), and he remained twisting and turning his

hands over what he had spent on his property, which had (now) tumbled to pieces to its very

foundations, and he could only say, "Woe is me! Would I had never ascribed partners to my Lord and

Cherisher! Nor had he numbers to help him against Allah, nor was he able to deliver himself. There,

the (only) protection comes from Allah, the True One. He is the Best to reward, and the Best to give

success." (Surat al-Kahf: 32-44)

As understood from the verses, the mistake of this garden owner was not to deny the existence of

Allah. He does not deny the existence of Allah, on the contrary he supposed that "even if he is

brought back to his Lord" he would certainly find something better in exchange. He held that the

state he is in, was due to his own successful efforts.

Actually, this is exactly what associating partners to Allah means: attempting to lay claim to everything that belongs to Allah and losing one's fear of Allah thinking that one has some particular grace of his own, and Allah will somehow "show favour" to one. This is what the Sabaean people also did. Their punishment was the same - all of their territory was destroyed - so that they could understand that they were not the ones who were the "owners" of power but that it was only "bestowed" on them…

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FROM SABA TO ANCIENT MALAY PENINSULA

Arab navigational records date from Muslim times but for countless centuries before then Arabian

sailors were famous and amongst them the name of Sabaeans stands foremost. Did the Sabaeans ever

reach Malaysian waters , and could it have been they who carried on the ancient bead-trade which

have been examined by historians on ancient beads found in the Malay peninsula (Kota Tinggi and

Johore Lama)?

The late Mr. T Braddell in his Abstract of Sijarah Malayu made references to the Sabaeans but since

then sight has been lost of them locally . According to statements of Steiger , Otley Beyer and

Benitez(306, pp: 126-132), ‘Arab relations with the Far East began as early as the time of Babylon and

at that time and its subsequent periods their relations were chiefly with India. Now part of the Arabia

that carried on the trade was only one region – the country of Saba in southern Arabia, known in the

Bible as Sheba. This south or Sheban coast , which lies along the southern part of Arabia partly on the

Red Sea and partlyon the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden , had been home of a seagoing and

commercial people in the earliest period of history. There is no question that at the time of King

Solomon and the building of Jerusalem the Shebans were the greatest seagoing people in Asia Minor.

Just as Phoenecians were the sailors of Mediterranean, so in the same way were the Shebans on the

Indian Ocean. ’

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At pp. 127-128 , they say ‘It is entirely doubtful whether any Phoenecian, Greek or Roman ships ever

got beyond India. But during the Roman times the Roman tried to put the Shebans out of business by

building fleets in the Red Sea ports and the Persian Gulf and trading with India themselves. It may

have been this Roman interference which first started the Sheban ships to seek Oriental ports beyond

India for goods which the Romans could not get. At any rate, Sheban trade beyond India began about

the time of the Roman competition with the Shebans in the Indian trade. The first Arab ships which,

according to the records, went as far westward as South China , date from the time of the first century

of the Christian Era. Ptolemy’s famous geography , published about 150 AD, was based in the main on

certain geographical and sailing directions left by a Phoenician sea captain named Marinas, who lived

and visited the East around 75AD. There is no doubt but that Marinas was himself in China and made

several voyages between East China and Arabian ports. These voyages were undoubtly performed in

Sheban ships, since after the destruction of Carthage, Phoenician ships would not enter the employ of

the Romans. In the Chinese records themselves, the first definite account of Arab trade occurred at the

end of the third century of Christian Era, when the extent and character of a thriving Arab merchant

was described. ’

At pp : 128-129 , they say ‘Probably the stimulus of this competition was the prime motivating force

in extending the Arab commerce beyond India to China and Malaysia in an effort to get their goods at

the source rather than through the Indian merchants. At any rate, we know definitely that Arab trade

with China and Malaysia was actually in existence at least as early as the first century of the Christian

Era’

The suggestion that the Johor beads were carried by the Sabaeans would, therefore , not be without

any foundation. If the fact that Sabaeans had certainly entered China by the beginning of the Christian

Era is accepted, it does not seem necessary to ascribe the fact merely to Roman competition. Sailors

extend their explorations and traders have a habit of extending their trade , particularly when it is easy

to do so. The same monsoon which carried the Sabaeans to and from India would have carried them to

and from Malaysia and China. They would have not gone abruptly to China, on imagines, but rather

have extended their exploration and trade gradually , first into Straits of Malacca and the Malay

Peninsula and down it. From the Malay peninsula an extension to the Sarawak region , and the west

coast of Borneo above it, was a normal and easy one and it had already been pointed out in the

Introduction (This Journal, vol: XIX , Pt:I, p.52) how that was so. From the Malay peninsula passing

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up its east coast and standing across the bottom of the Gulf of Siam to the Indo-Chinese coast was the

normal and easiest way to use the SW(South West) monsoon; and to return to the NE (North East) in

the reverse directions. The Indo – Chinese coast abounded with good harbours and clearly visible land

marks , as all navigational works at the beginning of the nineteenth century show; and from Indo-

China to South China was a further normal and easy extension. But one imagines that all this must

have been gradually and with alterations of fortunes , as far as at all events as trade was concerned.

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