Himyarites

The Himyarites were an ancient South Arabian people who established the Himyarite Kingdom in the southwestern part of the Arabian Peninsula, in what is now Yemen. The polity flourished from roughly the late 2nd century BCE to the early 6th century CE, though its emergence and decline are subject to scholarly debate. The Himyarites spoke Himyaritic, a South Semitic language, and used a Musnad-style script in inscriptions. Over time the capital shifted, and at times it was represented by the city of Zafar as a political center. Rulers styled themselves Kings of Himyar and governed a domain that extended across much of the western and interior regions of the peninsula, along the Red Sea corridor.

Economy and culture of the Himyarites were shaped by long-distance trade. They participated in networks that connected the incense routes with the Levant and India, minted coins, and constructed irrigation works, fortifications, and monumental tombs. The religious landscape followed the broader South Arabian polytheistic tradition, though the later period saw religious shifts, including the adoption of Judaism by some rulers. The late antique king Dhu Nuwas is a historical figure associated with a Jewish conversion and consequent conflict with Christian and other powers.

Decline came after the Aksumite invasion of the region around 525 CE, led by Kaleb, which toppled Himyarite authority and installed a new political order. Thereafter the area passed through various Arab and Christian polities before the rise of Islam in the region. The Himyarite legacy persists in inscriptions and material culture studied by historians and archaeologists, and the term “Himyarite” is used to denote the related language, script, and dynastic history of this South Arabian world.