Saba

The formative phase of the Sabaeans, or the period prior to the emergence of urban cultures in South Arabia, can be placed the latter part of the 2nd millennium BCE, and was completed by the 10th century BCE, where a fully developed script appears in combination with the technological prowess to construct complex architectural complexes and cities. There is some debate as to the degree to which the movement out of the formative phase was channeled by endogenous processes, or the transfer or technologies from other centers, perhaps via trade and immigration.^[27][28]

Originally, the Sabaeans were part of "communities" (called shaʿbs) on the edge of the Sayhad desert. Very early, at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, the political leaders of this tribal community managed to create a huge commonwealth of shaʿbs occupying most of South Arabian territory and took on the title "Mukarrib of the Sabaeans".^[29]

El origen del Reino Sabeo es incierto y es un punto de desacuerdo entre los estudiosos, ^{[ 30 ]} con estimaciones que lo sitúan alrededor del 1200 a. C., ^{[ 31 ]} a más tardar en el siglo X a. C., ^{[ 9 ] [ 10 ]} o un período de florecimiento que comienza a partir del siglo VIII a. C. en adelante. ^{[ 32 ]} Una vez establecida la entidad política, los reyes sabeos se referían a sí mismos con el título de Mukarrib .

Tras la desintegración del primer reino himyarita, el reino sabeo reapareció ^{[ 40 ]} y comenzó a hacer campaña vigorosamente contra los himyaritas, floreciendo durante otro siglo y medio. ^{[ 2 ]} Este reino resurgente se diferenciaba del anterior en muchos aspectos importantes. ^{[ 41 ]} El cambio más significativo con respecto al período sabeo anterior es que la dinámica del poder local se había desplazado de las ciudades oasis en el margen del desierto, como Marib, a las tribus de las tierras altas. ^{[ 39 ]} El templo de Almaqah en Marib volvió a ser un centro religioso. Saba inauguró una nueva moneda y se construyó el notable Palacio de Ghumdan en Sanaa , que, en este período, elevó su estatus al de capital secundaria junto a Marib. ^{[ 2 ]}

Despite liberating itself from Himyar by around 100 CE, leaders of Himyar continued calling themselves the "king of Saba", as they had been doing during the period in which they ruled the region, to assert their legitimacy over the territory.^[39] The Kingdom fell after a long but sporadic civil war between several Yemenite dynasties claiming kingship,^[42][43] and the late Himyarite Kingdom rose as victorious.^[23] Sabaean kingdom was finally permanently conquered by the Ḥimyarites around 275 CE. Saba lost its royal status and reverted to a normal tribe, limited to the citizens of Marib, who are named in the last time in South Arabian sources in CIH 541 in requesting assistance from the king in repairing a rupture in the Marib Dam.^[4]

The major conquests in Saba were driven by the exploits of Karib'il Watar. Karib'il conquered all surrounding neighbours, including the Awsan, Qataban, and Hadhramaut. Karib'il's exploits largely unified Yemen.^[44]

Las conquistas de Karib'il están documentadas en dos extensas inscripciones (RES 3945–3946) descubiertas en el Templo de Almaqah en Sirwah. Estas inscripciones describen una serie de ocho campañas que muestran cómo Karib'il finalmente sometió el sur de Arabia al control de Saba. La primera campaña tuvo lugar en las tierras altas al oeste de Marib, donde Karib'il declara haber capturado a 8.000 enemigos y haber matado a 3.000. ^{[ 45 ]} La segunda campaña se centró en el Reino de Awsan , que floreció en los siglos VIII y VII a. C. Hasta el reinado de Karib'il, fue un importante competidor regional del Reino de Saba. Sin embargo, la campaña de Karib'il provocó la aniquilación del Reino de Awsan. La élite tribal que lo dirigía fue masacrada, y el palacio de Murattaʿ fue destruido, al igual que sus templos e inscripciones. El uadi quedó despoblado, lo que se refleja en su abandono. Las inscripciones sabeas afirman que 16.000 personas fueron asesinadas y 40.000 capturadas. Esto podría no ser una exageración significativa, ya que el reino de Awsan desapareció como entidad política del registro histórico durante cinco o seis siglos. ^{[ 46 ]} La tercera y cuarta campañas implican ataques contra tribus que habitan en colinas bajas que dan al golfo de Adén . La quinta y sexta campañas fueron contra Nashshan . Nashshan era, al igual que Awsan, uno de los competidores más poderosos de Saba. Sin embargo, contra Karib'il, se llevó a cabo una campaña que incluyó la destrucción de varias ciudades y edificios y la imposición de un tributo a su población. Cualquier disidente fue asesinado y se impuso el culto de Almaqah a Nashshan, obligando a sus líderes a construirle un templo. Las dos últimas campañas fueron contra la región costera de Tihamah y la región de Najran . ^{[ 45 ]}

The role played by Sabaeans in the formation of Dʿmt (Di'amat), located in modern-day Ethiopia's Tigray Region and founded c. 800 BCE, continues to be debated by scholars.^[47]:90–94 Evidence of strong Sabaean influence includes Sabaic inscriptions and Sabaean temples. Scholars of South Arabian archaeology and epigraphy tend to favour a migration and/or colonisation, while scholars of African archaeology tend to stress an indigenous origin.^[48] Sabaean populations migrated to maintain the new polity, and link it with the mother country, including through managing trade between the two (ivory might have especially been a driver of the expansion). The capital of the new kingdom was Yeha, where a great temple was built for Almaqah, the national god of Saba. Four other Almaqah temples are also known from Di'amat (including the Temple of Meqaber Gaʿewa), and other inscriptions mention the complete remainder of the known Sabaean deities. The great Yeha temple was modelled by Sabaean masons off of the Almaqah Temple at Sirwah (a major urban center of Saba). Besides religion, Sabaean culture also diffused into Di'amat through the use of objects, architectural techniques, artistic styles, institutions, paleographical styles for writings inscriptions, and the use of abstract symbols. Leaders in Di'amat used the classical South Arabian title, the mukarrib, and one particular title that is seen is the "Mukarrib of Diʿamat and Saba" (mkrb Dʿmt s-S¹bʾ). The exact timing of the collapse of Di'amat is not known: it happened around the mid-1st millennium BCE and involved a destruction of Yeha along with a number of adjacent sites. This also happened when Saba was beginning to lose its grip on power over South Arabia.^[49][50][51]

In 2019 Sabaean inscriptions were found in Somaliland and Puntland, as well as a Sabaean temple whose inscriptions say its construction was ordered by the admiral of Sheba's fleet.^[52][53]

In 2025 Alfredo González-Ruibal said "we can perhaps discern two different models: a proper colonialist one along the northern Somali seaboard, with direct intervention of the state and aimed at the extraction of resources, and a diasporic model in the northern Horn [where Dʿmt was located], led by élites who soon mixed with local people, while maintaining ties with their ancestral homeland".^[53]

Military warfare continued between Saba, Ethiopia, and Himyar during the second Sabaean period, with a dynamic and shifting array of alliances. Recently discovered evidence shows that these encounters took place, not only on the peninsula, but also on Ethiopian territory during expeditions launched by the Sabaeans.^[54]

In the Kingdom of Saba, Marib was an oasis and one of the main urban centers of the kingdom. It was by far the largest ancient city from ancient South Arabia, if not its only real city.^[55] Marib was located at the precise point that the wadi (of Wadi Dhana) emerges from the Yemeni highlands.^[1] It was located along what was called the Sayhad desert by medieval Arab geographers, but is now known as Ramlat al-Sab'atayn. The city lies 135 km east of Sanaa, which is the capital of Yemen today, found in the Wadi Dana delta, in the northwestern central Yemeni highlands. The oasis is about 10,000 hectares and the course of the wadi divides it into two: a northern and a southern half, which was already spoken of in records from the 8th century BCE, and this prominent feature may have been remembered as late as in the time of the Quran (34:15). A wall was built around Marib, and 4 km of that wall is still standing today. The wall, in some places, can be as much as 14 m thick. The wall encloses a 100-hectare area shaped like a trapezoid, and the settlement appears to have been created in the late second millennium BCE. Archaeological inquiries have uncovered a settlement plan that allocated different areas for different tasks. There is one residential division to the city. Another division containing sacred buildings but no residential development was probably a storage area for trade caravans and the shipment of goods. Immediately to the west was the great city temple Harun, dedicated to the national Sabaean god, Almaqah.^[56]

A processional road, known from inscriptions but not yet discovered, led from the Harun temple to the Temple of Awwam, 3.5 km to the southeast of Marib, which is both the main temple for the god Almaqah in the Kingdom of Saba and the largest temple complex known from South Arabia. Hundreds of inscriptions are known from the Awwam Temple, and these documents form the basis from which the political history of South Arabia thus far reconstructable from in the first few centuries of the Christian era. The enclosure was built in the 7th century BCE according to a monumental inscription from the time of Yada'il Darih. South of the temple wall is a 1.5-hectare necropolis, in which it is estimated that about 20,000 people have been buried over a time period covering about a millennium.^[57]

Shortly west of the Awwam Temple is another major temple in the southern oasis dedicated to Almaqah, which has been fully excavated and is the best studied temple to date from South Arabia: the Barran Temple. It is evident that predecessors to the Barran Temple went back to the 10th century BCE. The construction history is properly documented by inscriptions in the area. The temple was destroyed shortly before the beginning of the Christian eraddea. The exact cause is unknown, but it may have been linked to an (ultimately unsuccessful) siege of South Arabia by the Romans, under the leadership of the governor Aelius Gallus in 25/24 BCE. Inscriptions attest other temples dedicated to other gods but these have not yet been discovered archaeologically.^[58]

The Marib Dam was one of the most well-known architectural complexes from Yemen, and was even mentioned in the Quran (34:16), and this construction made it possible to irrigate the 10,000 hectares of the Marib oasis.^[55] The dam is located 10 km west of the main settlement. The dam successfully delegates and distributes water from the biannual monsoon rains into two main channels, which move away from the wadi and into fields through a highly dispersive system. This allowed the region to convert alluvial loads into fertile soils and so cultivate various crops. It took until the 6th century BCE for the full closure to be accomplished. The system required constant maintenance, and two major dam failures are reported from 454/455 and 547 CE. However, as political authority weakened over the course of the 6th century CE, maintenance efforts could not be sustained. The dam was therefore breached and the oasis was temporarily abandoned by the early seventh century.^[59]

El segundo centro urbano sabeo fue Sirwah. Ambas ciudades están conectadas por una antigua calzada. En el siglo X a. C. se construyó una muralla alrededor de Sirwah. Mucho más pequeña que Marib, la ciudad de Sirwah tiene una extensión de 3,8 hectáreas, pero su yacimiento arqueológico está bien documentado. Los principales edificios del sitio son administrativos y sagrados. Algunos edificios demuestran que Sirwah funcionaba como punto de transbordo de mercancías. Documentos legales muestran que Sirwah comerciaba con Qataban al sureste y con las tierras altas alrededor de Sanaa al oeste. A pesar de la limitada superficie urbana, una parte importante del espacio se destinó a edificios sagrados. Esto ha llevado a algunos a pensar que Sirwah era un centro religioso. El Gran Templo de Almaqah es el más notable, además del cual se conocen otros cuatro edificios sagrados. Uno de estos edificios probablemente estaba dedicado a la diosa Atarsamain . Yada'il Darih, quien ya era constructor del templo de Awwam en Marib, también remodeló fundamentalmente el templo de Alwaqah a mediados del siglo VII a. C. Dentro del templo, en el área de mayor importancia religiosa, se encuentran dos inscripciones monumentales paralelas que registran los logros de dos gobernantes: Yatha' Amar Watar y Karib'il Watar , quienes reinaron a finales del siglo VIII y principios del siglo VII a. C. La descripción en estos registros comienza con comentarios sobre los sacrificios realizados a las deidades sabeas y luego profundiza en las campañas militares con meticuloso detalle. Al final, las inscripciones registran la compra de ciudades, paisajes y campos. ^{[ 60 ]}

Las limitaciones de la evidencia disponible impiden una reconstrucción completa del mundo religioso en los antiguos reinos del sur de Arabia. Si bien muchas de las inscripciones conocidas hablan de dioses, la mayoría solo transmite el nombre de la divinidad sin describir su naturaleza, función o culto. Se desconoce, por ejemplo, si estos reinos tenían un dios de la guerra o un dios del inframundo. Sin embargo, las relaciones familiares entre los dioses se mencionan con frecuencia. ^{[ 65 ]}

Saba tenía cinco dioses en su panteón: Almaqah , Athtar , Haubas , Dhat-Himyam y Dhat-Badan . ^{[ 37 ]} Los tres primeros son masculinos y los dos últimos, femeninos. ^{[ 66 ]} El dios supremo del panteón y dios nacional de Saba era Almaqah , cuyo culto se centraba en el Templo de Awwam . ^{[ 67 ]} Las victorias militares contribuyeron a la difusión de este culto, como cuando se construyó un templo a Almaqah en Nashshan tras ser conquistada por Saba. La mención de Almaqah en el Jawf también indica el papel político que desempeñó Saba en ese valle. La naturaleza del dios no está del todo clara, pero algunos investigadores han planteado la hipótesis de que Almaqah era un dios lunar . ^{[ 68 ]}

Athtar no se limitaba a Saba, sino que era el dios común del panteón del sur de Arabia durante su era politeísta. ^{[ 69 ]} Athtar también fue en su momento el gran dios del panteón sabeo, antes de ser suplantado por Almaqah. ^{[ 66 ]} En general, sin embargo, las deidades del sur de Arabia son específicas de la región y carecen de paralelos en otras partes del Cercano Oriente. ^{[ 70 ]}

Las representaciones antropomórficas de los dioses están completamente ausentes del período sabeo antiguo, y solo comienzan a aparecer con el inicio de las influencias helenísticas y romanas a principios de la era cristiana. ^{[ 71 ] [ 72 ]}

Los antiguos reyes del sur de Arabia construyeron grandes obras públicas, mantuvieron vínculos especiales con los dioses, legitimados mediante ritos que solo ellos podían realizar, y dirigieron a sus ejércitos en la batalla. Se les representa como valientes guerreros, devotos y constructores activos. Rara vez se atestigua la existencia de los padres del rey de forma independiente. La función del rey era distinta a la del jeque . La Geographica de Estrabón afirma que, en la región, la sucesión de reyes no era familiar, una afirmación que se confirma parcialmente mediante inscripciones. Los reyes del sur de Arabia no apelaban a su genealogía ni a los logros de sus padres para legitimar su propio gobierno. ^{[ 73 ]} Solo a finales de la historia sabea, a partir de la segunda mitad del siglo II d. C., apareció una verdadera sucesión dinástica de padre a hijo, que duró tan solo dos generaciones. ^{[ 74 ]}

Entre los siglos VIII y VI a. C., al rey sabeo se le denominaba con más frecuencia mukarrib («federador») que malik («rey»), para indicar su hegemonía sobre sus vecinos. Cuando Saba entró en decadencia después del siglo VI a. C. y el territorio sabeo se redujo a lo que era antes de las conquistas de Karib'il Watar , el título de mukarrib fue sustituido por el de malik . ^{[ 4 ]}

En los primeros siglos de Saba, el título del rey era una combinación de un nombre y un epíteto. Todos los títulos se elegían de una combinación de seis nombres posibles (Dhamar'ali, Karib'il, Sumhu'alay, Yada"il, Yakrubmalik y Yitha'amar) y cuatro epítetos posibles (Bayan, Dharih, Watar y Yanu). La repetición de nombres ha causado dificultades a los historiadores que intentan determinar la sucesión relativa de los reyes (incluso cuando están documentados) y plantea interrogantes sobre cuáles eran los nombres propios de cada rey. ^{[ 75 ]} Una práctica similar tuvo lugar en el vecino Reino de Hadhramaut . ^{[ 76 ]} En los siglos previos a la era cristiana, esto cambió, los reyes comenzaron a identificarse con su nombre real y las reconstrucciones de la cronología sabea se simplificaron. ^{[ 77 ]}

El acceso al trono sabeo requería el consentimiento de «los sabeos, los qayls y el ejército», según consta en una inscripción. El cuerpo legislativo se extendía más allá del rey, incluyendo a otros funcionarios. Los monarcas sabeos no recaudaban impuestos, sino que obtenían su riqueza de las tierras reales, los botines de guerra y las rentas de sus clientes. Se podía exigir el servicio militar y solicitar fondos para financiar obras de construcción. Los diezmos sobre las tierras de los templos se destinaban a los templos mismos, no al monarca. ^{[ 78 ]}

El rey de Saba no fue deificado. El único caso conocido de deificación en las antiguas culturas del sur de Arabia corresponde al Reino de Awsan durante su fase de resurgimiento. ^{[ 79 ]}

In the South Arabian tribal system, a fictitious shared ancestor was created and members of the tribe are referred to as the sons of the national god (in the case of Saba, they are "sons of Almaqah"). Allied states and tribes are called "brothers". Tribes were divided into lineages and sub-lineages, reflected by the names of members. The individual proper name appears along with the patronymic, the lineage name, and the name of the tribe, with the exception of funerary inscriptions, where the individual name is attested alone. In areas closer to the desert, the family name was more privileged and commonly mentioned, with the tribal name becoming less mentioned. Personal identity only went back to the name of the father, unlike in North Arabia in the same time period or the later Islamic period where a long sequence of ancestors is used to identify a figure. Identity was also in reference to the kingdom that one belonged to (Sabaeans, Qatabanians), not to a broader geographical construct (like "South Arabian").^[80]

Sabaic was the spoken language of the Kingdom of Saba. Geographically, Sabaic was spoken in Saba, just as Qatabanic was spoken in Qataban and Hadraumitic was spoken in Hadhramaut. The only exception to this is Minaic, which is attested well-beyond the geographical territory of its corresponding kingdom, Ma'in. These four languages share and are distinguished by a number of linguistic features. The documentation for Sabaic is the best of any language of Ancient South Arabian, attested in all phases of the history of Saba.^[81]

The South Arabian kingdoms had writing schools with a common cultural background, although each school also had distinct practices.^[82]

Saba appears in the Hebrew Bible, also the first place that the Sabaeans are mentioned by an external source. Most famously, Saba is presented as, through its female monarch the Queen of Sheba, engaging in trade with Solomon in goods of aromatics and gold. Historians have subjected this story to questions concerning its historicity.^[83] The Hebrew Bible links the Sabaean caravan trading network with other cities including Dedan, Tayma, and Ra'mah.^[4]

The story of the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon is discussed in Quran 27:15–44.^[21][84][85]

The name of Saba' is mentioned in the Qur'an in Surah 5:69, Surah 27:15-44 and Surah 34:15-17. Surah 34 is named Sabaʾ. Their mention in Surah 5 refers to the area in the context of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, whereas their mention in Surah 34 refers to the Flood of the Dam, in which the dam was ruined by flooding. There is also an epithet, Qawm Tubbaʿ or "People of Tubbaʿ" (Surah 44:37, Surah 50:12-14) that some exegetes have identified as a reference to the kings of Saba'.^[21]

Muslim commentators such as al-Tabari, al-Zamakhshari, al-Baydawi supplement the story at various points. The Queen's name is given as Bilqis, probably derived from Greek παλλακίς or the Hebraised pilegesh, "concubine".^[86] According to some he then married the Queen, while other traditions assert that he gave her in marriage to a tubba of Hamdan.^[87] According to the Islamic tradition as represented by al-Hamdani, the queen of Sheba was the daughter of Ilsharah Yahdib, the Himyarite king of Najran.^[88]

Although the Quran and its commentators have preserved the earliest literary reflection of the complete Bilqis legend, there is little doubt among scholars that the narrative is derived from a Jewish Midrash.^[87]

Bible stories of the Queen of Sheba and the ships of Ophir served as a basis for legends about the Israelites traveling in the Queen of Sheba's entourage when she returned to her country to bring up her child by Solomon.^[89] There is a Muslim tradition that the first Jews arrived in Yemen at the time of King Solomon, following the politico-economic alliance between him and the Queen of Sheba.^[90]

The Ottoman scholar Mahmud al-Alusi compared the religious practices of South Arabia to Islam in his Bulugh al-'Arab fi Ahwal al-'Arab.

The Arabs during the pre-Islamic period used to practice certain things that were included in the Islamic Sharia. They, for example, did not marry both a mother and her daughter. They considered marrying two sisters simultaneously to be the most heinous crime. They also censured anyone who married his stepmother, and called him dhaizan. They made the major hajj and the minor umra pilgrimage to the Ka'ba, performed the circumambulation around the Ka'ba tawaf, ran seven times between Mounts Safa and Marwa sa'y, threw rocks and washed themselves after sexual intercourse. They also gargled, sniffed water up into their noses, clipped their fingernails, removed all pubic hair and performed ritual circumcision. Likewise, they cut off the right hand of a thief and stoned Adulterers.^[91]

According to the medieval religious scholar al-Shahrastani, Sabaeans accepted both the sensible and intelligible world. They did not follow religious laws but centered their worship on spiritual entities.^[92]

In the medieval Ethiopian cultural work called the Kebra Nagast, Sheba was located in Ethiopia.^[93] Some scholars therefore point to a region in the northern Tigray and Eritrea which was once called Saba (later called Meroe), as a possible link with the biblical Sheba.^[94]Donald N. Levine links Sheba with Shewa (the province where modern Addis Ababa is located) in Ethiopia.^[95]

Traditional Yemenite genealogies also mention Saba, son of Qahtan; Early Islamic historians identified Qahtan with the Yoqtan (Joktan) son of Eber (Hūd) in the Hebrew Bible (Gen. 10:25-29). James A. Montgomery finds it difficult to believe that Qahtan was the biblical Joktan based on etymology.^[96][97]