The Jewish Kingdom of Himyar

HISTORY: The Jewish Kingdom of Southern Arabia. The tale of Himyar reminds us of the ongoing Jewish presence in the Middle East, its important history, but also of the danger of religion interwoven with state politics (Lane Igoudin, Jewish Journal).

Two well-documented academic works shed light on the mysterious kingdom: “The Throne of Adulis: Red Sea Wars on the Eve of Islam” by G. W. Bowersock (Oxford University Press) and “The Judaism of the Ancient Kingdom of Himyar In Arabia: A Discreet Conversion” by the French historian Christian Robin in volume 3 of Cambridge Semitic Languages and Cultures. Their scholarship is based on historical chronicles written in Arabia and Ethiopia, contemporary reports from Indian and Syrian travelers, Byzantine diplomatic dispatches, as well as hundreds of stone inscriptions found on both sides of the Red Sea.

I have added the links. The OUP book is for sale only, but you can read the description and see the TOC. The article by Robin is chapter 7 of the linked-to Openbook Publishers book.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the late-antique Jewish Kingdom of Himyar in Arabia, start here and follow the links.

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