CHAPTER II.

THE YEMEN BEFORE THE HEJIRA.

Having in the last chapter briefly sketched the principal geographical features of the Yemen, it remains now to make mention of its history. The same remarks as were made as to the geography are applicable here, that with the exception of certain periods which have been made the study of archæologists and orientalists, there is but very little known of the history of the Yemen, and there are long periods existing between the times of which something has been written or translated that are almost blanks. Nor is it on this account alone that the task of compiling in two chapters so many centuries of historical matter is a difficult one, for many of the times and dynasties of which there exists some trustworthy account are all but unimportant in treating of the country in general, what knowledge we possess in very many cases being simply the genealogies of local princes and rulers. However, it is only by a study of these shreds of history that we are able to gain any facts concerning the condition of the country during the early centuries after the introduction of Islam, for instance; and if they in themselves appeal almost solely to the student of things oriental, they yet tend to throw more light upon the inner life of the people than it would be possible to gather elsewhere.

But the history of the Yemen is by no means confined to such a brief period as that which has passed between the birth of Islam and to-day. There exists a far more ancient and more wonderful history, of which, unhappily, we know as yet but little, but which, should it even be possible to make thorough examination of its monuments and records, may prove that many of the existing civilisations sprang from the Yemen and Hadramaut, and that the ancient Egyptians themselves, owed the foundations of their arts and learning to the inhabitants of Southern Arabia. Some light has been thrown lately upon the old civilisation of Southern Arabia by the successful excavations carried on by Mr Theodore Bent in Mashonaland, which have proved most clearly that the Arabs of Southern Arabia were in touch with that distant quarter of Africa, and not only in touch, but even so firmly rooted there as to erect forts and temples, to build and to decorate, and to work the mines of that country.

At present scientific exploration of the Yemen and the other divisions of Southern Arabia has been, for many reasons, so seldom undertaken that there remains to be discovered there more than is probably to be found in any part of the world. How rich the country is in archæological remains may be judged from the quantity of inscriptions, &c., brought back by the enterprising and scholarly Austrian Dr Glaser, to whom we owe nearly all that is known of the earlier periods of Yemenite history. It was through the extensive researches of this _savant_ that any conclusive data have been given not only to individual sovereigns but to whole dynasties, with the result that although far from perfect knowledge, very considerable light has been thrown upon the early days of the Yemen.

Before, however, entering into any precise account of the historical records of the Yemen, it may be as well to briefly mention a few well-founded traditions generally accepted amongst the natives and believed by themselves to be undisputable. In this they are, no doubt, mainly right in the origin; but in attempting to trace their descent, through periods later than those of the earliest times, they have to some extent become confused. This is most apparent in the cases of the two great divisions, or nations, which inhabited the Yemen, the weaker of which, at times, finding similarity between names, claimed descent from a common ancestor with the stronger, until by force of time no clear line of division was possible in many cases.

Although there can be little doubt of a prehistoric and almost pretraditional race inhabiting Southern Arabia, the only record worthy of acceptance from native sources of their existence is their mention in the Koran. No traditions exist as to them amongst the people to-day, or even amongst those Arab historians of the middle ages who made special studies of the subject.

The inhabitants of Southern Arabia may be divided into two great stems, to which the names of Yemenite and Ishmaelite tribes have been very properly given.

The Yemenite nation are the direct descendants of Kahtan, generally identified with Joktan of the Jewish Scriptures, of the line of Shem, the son of Noah, another of whose descendants, Hazarmaveth, gave his name to what is to-day known as Hadramaut.

The second great division into which the inhabitants of the Yemen may be divided are the descendants of Adnan, who was of the family of Ishmael, son of Abraham: although unfortunately the connecting links are absent, yet in spite of this there can be no doubt as to the fact. This Adnan is said to have been the contemporary of Bukht Nasser, in other words Nebuchadnezzar;[11] and it was the fierce wars waged by this monarch, tradition relates, that drove the Ishmaelite tribes to seek refuge amongst the Yemenite peoples. If this be the case, it is a marvellous fact that two nations inhabiting the same country for such an enormous period of time, and for the last twelve or thirteen hundred years united in religious ideas, are able to-day to speak with any certainty as to which branch they belong. Yet such is the case, with the exception of certain Arab tribes who claim descent from Kahtan, the mistake arising through certain similarities of names to be found amongst his descendants and those of Adnan.

Each of these two divisions of the population are again split up into sections, though in the case of the Yemenites such is not to be found until the days of Himyar, son of Abd esh-shems and great-grandson of Kahtan. It is unnecessary here to enumerate the tribes still existing which claim to have sprung from the family of Himyar, more than to mention the three principal ancestors on which their claims are based. These are respectively Himyar himself, and Malik and Arib, sons of Zayd, son of Kahtan, son of Abd esh-shems.

The family of Ishmael are likewise split up into many tribes, claiming descent from three separate members of the posterity of Abraham—namely, El-Yas, Kays Aylan, and Rabiah.

There yet remains another section which cannot be passed over without notice, as commentators differ as to from which stem they originated. These are the descendants of Kudaah. While some protest that their ancestor was Himyar, son of Abd esh-shems, others claim that they are of Ishmaelite descent, and ought to be enrolled under the heading of Arab tribes. It is more than possible that in their case an early amalgamation took place between the two stocks, and individuals adopted as their ancestor whichever of the founders of the parties it best suited their interests to put forward.

Such, then, was the origin of the two nations which to-day, still to be distinguished from one another by their traditions of ancestry, form the population of the Yemen.

Although there is no reason to doubt the genuineness of these traditions, and in fact everything points to their being authentic, the next period with which we come in contact is no longer a traditional one, but has been handed down to us in monuments and inscriptions still existing. The knowledge we have upon this period of the history of the Yemen is due to the aforementioned Dr Edouard Glaser, who has successfully translated over a thousand inscriptions, with the result of practically proving the existence of two separate great dynasties that in succession held sway over the country. In so doing, what was commonly believed to have been the fact until his discoveries were made has been disproved, and an entirely new epoch in the history of the world brought to light. I refer to the dominion of the Minæan and Sabæan kings. It is, too, from these records that there has been found to have existed, contemporarily with early Egyptian times, a remarkable state of civilisation and commerce in the Yemen, and what was wrongly believed to have been in early pre-Islamic days a country of savagery, has been proved to have contained a cultured population, skilled in art and excelling in commerce. This fact doubtless to no small degree influenced the history of the civilisation of the ancient world.

The earlier of the two great dynasties which at different epochs held sway over the Yemen, if not also over the surrounding coasts of Africa, was that of the Minæans, who are known in tradition as the Maïn. Thirty-two names of kings of this dynasty have already been discovered; and as a proof of the immense power they must have held, tablets commemorative of their wars have been found as far removed from the seat of their government as Teima, on the road from Damascus to Sinai; while an inscription from Southern Arabia renders thanks to Astarte for their escape from the ruler of Egypt and their safe return to their own city of Quarnu. This votive tablet was erected by the governors of Tsar and Ashur, which again speaks for the immense tract of country owing allegiance to the Minæan king; for of these places one has been identified as being situated near where the Suez Canal now passes. This extension of frontier was doubtless owing to the great importance of the trade-routes from East to West, the possession of which in later times brought the otherwise unimportant Jewish kingdom so much to the fore. But more important, perhaps, than the discovery that these peoples were living in a state of considerable civilisation, and carrying on most profitable commerce, is the fact of their knowledge of writing; for many of the recently discovered inscriptions in the Yemen date from a period contemporary with Egyptian hieroglyphics and Chaldæan cuneiform, and earlier than any known inscription in the Phœnician characters.

Following upon the Minæan dynasty, of which, as before stated, thirty-two kings are known by name, is that of the Sabæans: yet the nature of the inscriptions shows that a very considerable period of time must have elapsed between the two; for whereas, in the earlier specimens of writing, full grammatical forms are found, the latter is not nearly so complete. Yet the Sabæan dynasty can be traced back with certainty to the time of Solomon, one thousand years B.C., and there is every reason to believe that they had been in power at that time for a very considerable period. How very remote, then, must be the antiquity of the preceding dynasty, which we know to have been separated from the latter by a sufficient lapse of years to have allowed of radical changes in the formation and grammar of their written language! Besides which, although comparatively few inscriptions have been discovered of this period, we have a list of no less than thirty-two Minæan sovereigns. Professor Sayce, in an able article upon this subject, states that he believes that it is quite possible that inscriptions may be discovered which will prove Southern Arabia to have been in a state of civilisation in the days of Sargon I., or even of Menes, who is supposed to have lived some five thousand years B.C.: nay more, he expresses his opinion, which many traditions tend to prove, that all civilisation may have sprung from the Yemen and its adjacent provinces.[12]

Apart from the great interest attending this alone, another point must at once attract our attention—namely, the existence of an alphabet earlier than that of the oldest discovered Phœnician inscriptions. Until these researches into the writings of the Yemen, it was believed that the Phœnician formation of letters was an abridgment of the hieroglyphics of Egypt; but there seems now to be reason to suppose that this still more ancient writing of Southern Arabia may prove to be not only the source from which the Phœnicians derived their alphabet, but also the origin of those of all modern nations, including Greece and Rome. What may be said almost to prove this theory, says Professor Sayce, is the fact that while the Phœnician letters, described by name as animals and things, have but little resemblance to the object from which the name is taken, this still older form of Semitic writing bears a decided resemblance to the objects described in the names of the Phœnician letters.

Probable as all this is, it must remain for the time at least only a theory, until further discoveries are forthcoming; but apart from all suppositious matters, it may safely be stated that, be the Aryan origin what it may, it is to Southern Arabia that we must look for the home of the Semitic peoples. Referring back to the earlier paragraphs of this chapter, in which mention is made of the two great divisions of the inhabitants of the Yemen, it will be seen that the tradition existed in the time of Mahammed, and is mentioned in the Koran, of an older population, whom it may be inferred were the original Semitic stock,—for it must be remembered that the present geographical position of the Semitic races is almost entirely owing to the spread of Islam, and it is to Arabia, and Arabia alone, that we must look for their origin,—at a time preceding the first Minæan kings, and probably at a period when the stone age was passing into that of metal, and fishers and hunters were becoming traders and agriculturists.[13] But of all the incidents of the ancient history of the Yemen, there is one that will especially appeal to all. I refer to the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon about the year one thousand B.C. Sheba has always been identified with Saba, the capital of the Sabæan empire, a city lying some seven days’ journey to the north-east of Sanaa, the present capital of Turkish Yemen. The story is too well known to need any comment here; it need only be noticed that the point it is written from is that of a Jewish historian, who would naturally tend to magnify the glories of Solomon and the admiration of the queen at his wonderful city, palace, and temple. Yet, as a matter of fact, it is not at all improbable that Saba possessed buildings as fine as any of those of Solomon; and certainly, whereas no ruins remain of the latter, the great dam, built some seventeen hundred years B.C. at Saba, still stands, though of course in ruins, to tell the tale of the vast building powers of the Sabæan architects. Nor do we in the gorgeous description of Solomon’s works find reference to anything that could possibly have compared in size and structure with this extraordinary _barrage_, of which it is sufficient to say that it measured three hundred cubits thick, one hundred and twenty feet high, and two _miles_ in length.[14] The presents which the Queen of Sheba brought to Solomon tend as much as anything to prove that she was a native of Southern Arabia, for her offerings will be found either to be produce of that country, or such articles as could, owing to the enormous commerce of Saba, find an outlet in that direction from farther south and east.

Although the already discovered inscriptions point to Saba having been the capital of a great and civilised empire eight hundred years B.C., the existence of the great dam, which may be attributed to Lokman, who lived 1750 years B.C., and the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon, speak of greater antiquity.

The religion of the Sabæans is too large a question to attempt here, more especially as there are evidences that during the long periods of the Minæan and Sabæan dynasties it underwent many changes, merging from a primitive idolatry into worship of the planets and stars, and even, in cases, to the recognition of a supreme deity. They believed in the immortality of the soul, a future state of reward or punishment, and many also in transmigration. The gradual change of doctrine appreciable in the religion, besides being due to the natural outcome of increased civilisation and culture, was no doubt largely influenced by the astronomers and astrologers of Chaldæa. Doubtless, too, there existed in their religious traditions a sort of hero-worship, for we read in various authorities of certain names as being those of deities and of men. Thus we find the city of Saba was called after a god of that name, while again the founder is mentioned as being Saba the son of Abd esh-shems, the father of the so-called Himyaric dynasty.

[Illustration: ANCIENT TANK AT MENURA, NEAR DHAMAR.]

Any attempt, with the space at disposal here, to draw conclusions from the traditions existing as to the earliest inhabitants of the Yemen, is out of the question; and rather than do so, it will better suit our purpose to keep to what have been proved to be facts—the existence of the Minæan and later the Sabæan dynasties; the high state of culture and commerce in Southern Arabia at a very remote period; and the existence of a written language that was possibly, if not probably, the origin of Phœnician, and so of all European forms of writing; and the still greater idea that Southern Arabia may be proved to be the land of “Punt,” and the birthplace of the Egyptian race, and their arts and culture.

Shortly before the commencement of the Christian era Egypt became a Roman province, and a few years later an expedition under Ælius Gallus was sent to explore Arabia and Ethiopia. How difficult would be the task was evidently realised, for when the expedition started from Cleopatris, near the modern Suez, it consisted of no less than eighty vessels of war and a hundred and thirty transports, with ten thousand Roman troops and fifteen thousand mercenaries.[15] But the expedition was destined to disaster, for although it penetrated as far as Southern Arabia—probably Nejrán—the troops were decimated by famine and disease, and only a small handful ever returned.

In looking through these early pages of the history of the Yemen, one cannot but be struck with the important part that women played in politics; and even after the introduction of Islam, and the women had been assigned a lower position, the old custom crops up again and again, and we find women seizing the reins of government.

The first example that we find of the power exercised by women is without doubt the Queen of Sheba; while a second example follows within a few years after the failure of the expedition of Ælius Gallus, in the person of Queen Balkis, whose real name was Belkama or Yalkama, and who was sufficiently strong-minded to amalgamate two kingdoms by marrying her rival, whom she immediately removed by poison.

About A.D. 120 the great dam of Saba or Mareb burst, spreading wholesale destruction throughout the wide fertile valley below it. About this period, too, an expedition was carried by the then King Tubba el-Akran as far as Samarcand, and thence into China; and in A.D. 206, Abou Kariba, one of the most illustrious of all the Himyaric kings, invaded Chaldæa and defeated the Tartars of Adirbijan. He started on a second expedition to conquer Syria, but returned after taking the Hejaz to the Yemen, where he is said to have renounced idolatry and embraced Judaism.

A legend, quoted by Sir Lambert Playfair in his ‘History of the Yemen,’ tells of the introduction of the Jewish faith into the Yemen during the reign of this Sultan. It savours of the priests of Baal; for, wishing to put to the test the merits of Judaism and idolatry, the priests of either creed proceeded to a certain spot whence fire emerged from the ground. Pushed on by the crowd, the test was tried, and while the Jewish priests passed through the flame unscathed, the idolaters perished. But the feeling between the two was by no means destined from this fact to become a cordial one, and constant fights occurred between the two parties. Although Christianity seems to have appeared in the Yemen previous to the year 297 A.D., it was not until that date that it became a religion of importance in the country. It was during the reign of the king Tubba ibn Hassan, who held the throne at this period, that Christianity was introduced into Abyssinia; and about the middle half of the fourth century the Emperor Constantius sent a certain bishop, Theophilus Indus, to convert the Yemenis, of whom the king was so far tolerant, even if he did not himself embrace Christianity, to allow the building of churches. One was erected at Zafar, near Yerim; another at Aden; and a third at a port in the Arabian Sea, supposed generally to be Hormuzd.

So king succeeded king with the usual rapidity of oriental countries, until in 478 A.D. a certain Lakhnia (or Lakhtiaa) Tanú usurped the throne, whose cruelties to the surviving members of the royal family are recorded by more than one historian. However, it remained for one of these, a youth by name Asaad abou Karib, or Dhu Nowas, to revenge his relations by stabbing the usurper with a dagger, he himself being unanimously elected to the throne. He embraced Judaism, and adopted the name of Yusef (Joseph). However, like many converts, he became a fanatic, and his cruelties toward the Christians are perhaps unparalleled in history. Dhu Nowas attacked them in Nejrán, and having foully broken his promise that no harm should befall them, gave them the choice between death or Judaism. Twenty thousand, it is said, were burned alive in huge pits filled with blazing wood. The Koran commends these people who died for their religion, and calls a curse upon their persecutor.[16]

But the cruelty of Dhu Nowas was to reap its reward. A few Christians who escaped fled to the Court of the Christian emperor of the East, who presented them with letters to the Christian king of Abyssinia, requesting him to punish the perpetrator of these cruel outrages.

In A.D. 525, accordingly, the Abyssinians invaded the Yemen, and Dhu Nowas was defeated, being drowned, purposely, it is said, after the first battle. From that moment the Abyssinian general Aryat met with but futile resistance, and pushed into the heart of the country, destroying and razing the cities as he went along.

Thus was overthrown, never to rise again, the Himyaric dynasty, which had held the throne of the Yemen for over two thousand years. Many of the kings had been celebrated both for war and culture, but their ancestors were now, on account of their fanatical persecution of the Christians, in return to suffer from cruelties and oppression as severe as any they themselves had ever practised.

It is but one of the many examples of the terrible bloodshed consequent upon diversity of opinion on religious subjects,—for with bloodshed did Christianity force itself into the Yemen, and with bloodshed was it destined a few years later to disappear. Aryat, having conquered the Yemen, was appointed Viceroy of the King of Abyssinia in that country, and reigned until nearly the middle half of the sixth century, being succeeded by Abrahá, in fighting with whom Aryat was slain.

Meanwhile, by every means of cruelty and oppression Christianity had been pushed forward; but at length a bishop was appointed at Zafar, whose name is to-day included in the calendar of saints as St Gregentius, who persuaded Abrahá to adopt more lenient measures than those of his predecessor; and even the Arab authors acknowledge him to have been a just and compassionate prince. That he was, however, a fanatic is certain; for the church at Sanaa having been defiled by an Arab from Mecca, where for centuries the Kaabah had been a place of pilgrimage, he vowed to destroy that place, and at the head of a great army marched into the Hejaz. Approaching Mecca, the inhabitants fled; but Abrahá, mounted upon his famous white elephant Mahmoud, failed,—for it is said not only did the huge pachyderm refuse to turn toward the city, but that a miraculous flight of birds dropped pebbles upon the heads of the invading army, killing both men and elephants. This miracle is generally explained as an epidemic of smallpox: however, be it what it may, it ended in the total rout and flight of the Abyssinian troops, who in a miserable plight resought the Yemen, where shortly afterwards Abrahá died.

This “battle of the elephant,” as the Arab historians called it, is doubly famous, as it happened in the year of the birth of Mahammed.

But the Abyssinian rule was soon to end. Acts of tyranny and cruelty hurried on its termination, and Jaskum, the last sovereign, died in 575 A.D., when the ancestors of the Himyaric dynasty, certain of being unable to regain the throne for themselves, and having failed to persuade the Romans to take up their cause, implored the aid of the Persian monarch Kesra, who after many delays fitted out an expedition, formed for the most part of convicts from the prisons, which reached Aden, under the personal conduct of a descendant of Himyar, Maadi Karib, and a Persian general of the name of Wahraz. A battle ensued with the Abyssinians, in which their monarch—for the Viceroys had by this time taken imperial rights—was killed. Sanaa was reached, and the gates broken down to allow the Persian conqueror to enter with uplifted banners, and Maadi Karib was proclaimed viceroy, paying tribute and owning allegiance to the Persian sovereign.

The event of the return of a descendant of Himyar to power is celebrated by many an Arab historian and poet.

Amongst many other ambassadors and men of repute who flocked to the court at Sanaa, after the overthrow of Christianity, was the grandfather of Mahammed, Abd el-Mutalib, who was received with special honours, as belonging to the powerful tribe of the Koreish, lords of Mecca. But Maadi Karib was destined to fall a victim to Abyssinian treachery, being murdered by his body-guard, which consisted of javelin-throwers of Habesh. A state of anarchy ensued, in which the natives struggled with the Abyssinians for the supreme power; and finally the Persian monarch Kesra Paruiz was forced to send an expedition, which proved entirely successful. But bloodshed was the result, and the Abyssinians were put to the sword with great cruelty, even the half-breed children being slaughtered.

Great as was the number of the slain, both the Abyssinian and Persian occupation has left its mark in the Yemen, and a particular and despised race exists there to-day known as the Akhdam.[17] Authorities differ as to whether they are the descendants of the Abyssinians or Persians; but so closely did one occupation follow upon the other that it may be reasonably supposed that, owing to the youth of the children at the time, and the rapidity with which both nationalities died out of the country, but little distinction would exist, in spite of diversity of colour, between the two.

Meanwhile the Persian rule was for a time fairly established, though many tribes were almost entirely governed by their own local chiefs. All religions were tolerated, and Christianity maintained its ground, principally in Nejrán, and we find mention amongst early authorities of a Christian bishop of that province, Kos by name. It was probably in his time that a Christian Church was erected in Nejrán.

At this period a great change was to take place in the religion and government of Arabia, for there had arisen at Mecca a prophet, Mahammed by name, of the tribe of the Koreish, who was destined to influence not only all Arabia but the whole history of the world.