Editing History of Yemen (section)

==Ancient history==
{{Main|Ancient history of Yemen|Sabaeans|Qataban|Minaeans|Himyarite Kingdom}}

[[Image:Panel Almaqah Louvre DAO18.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Sabaean inscription addressed to the moon-god [[Almaqah]], mentioning five South [[Arabia]]n gods, two reigning sovereigns, and two governors, 7th century BC.]]
With its long sea border between early [[civilization]]s, Yemen has long existed at a crossroads of cultures with a strategic location in terms of trade on the west of the [[Arabian Peninsula]]. Large settlements for their era existed in the [[Harir Mountain|mountains]] of northern Yemen as early as 5000 BC.<ref>Daniel McLaughlin ''Yemen: The Bradt Travel Guide'' p. 4</ref> Little is known about ancient Yemen and how exactly it transitioned from nascent [[Bronze Age]] civilizations to more trade-focused caravan kingdoms.
[[File:British Museum Yemen 05.jpg|thumb|upright|Sabaean gravestone of a woman holding a stylized sheaf of wheat, a symbol of fertility in ancient Yemen]]
The [[Sabaeans|Sabaean Kingdom]] came into existence from at least the 11th century BC.<ref>{{cite book|author=Kenneth Anderson Kitchen|title=On the Reliability of the Old Testament|url=https://archive.org/details/onreliabilityold00kitc|url-access=limited|page=[https://archive.org/details/onreliabilityold00kitc/page/n617 594]|publisher= Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|year= 2003|isbn=0802849601}}</ref> There were four major kingdoms or tribal confederations in [[South Arabia]]: [[Sabaeans|Saba]], [[Hadramout]], [[Qataban]] and [[Minaeans|Ma'in]]. Saba is believed to be biblical [[Sheba]] and was the most prominent federation.<ref>{{cite book|author=Geoffrey W. Bromiley|title=The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia|date=1979 |volume=4|page=254|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans |isbn=0802837840}}</ref> The Sabaean rulers adopted the title [[Mukarrib]] generally thought to mean "unifier",<ref>{{cite book|author=Nicholas Clapp|title=Sheba: Through the Desert in Search of the Legendary Queen|page=[https://archive.org/details/sheba00nich/page/204 204]|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|year=2002|isbn=0618219269|url=https://archive.org/details/sheba00nich/page/204}}</ref> or a "priest-king".<ref>{{cite book|author1=P. M. Holt |author2=Peter Malcolm Holt |author3=Ann K. S. Lambton |author4=Bernard Lewis |title= The Cambridge History of Islam|page=7|publisher= Cambridge University Press|date= 21 April 1977}}</ref> The role of the Mukarrib was to bring the various tribes under the kingdom and preside over them all.<ref>Daniel McLaughlin. (2007). ''Yemen: The Bradt Travel Guide'' p. 5</ref> The Sabaeans built the [[Marib Dam|Great Dam of Marib]] around 940 BC.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Jerry R. Rogers |author2=Glenn Owen Brown |author3=Jürgen Garbrecht |title=Water Resources and Environmental History|page=36|publisher= ASCE Publications|date= 1 January 2004|isbn= 0784475504}}</ref> The dam was built to withstand the seasonal flash floods surging down the valley.

[[File:Bmane2002-1-114,1.jpg|thumb|left|A funerary [[Stele|stela]] featuring a musical scene, 1st century AD]]
Between 700 and 680 BC, the [[Kingdom of Awsan]] dominated [[Aden]] and its surroundings. Sabaean [[Mukarrib]] [[Karib'il Watar|Karib'il Watar I]] changed his ruling title to that of a king,<ref>{{cite book|author=Werner Daum|title=Yemen: 3000 Years of Art and Civilization in Arabia Felix|page= 73|publisher= Pinguin-Verlag|year= 1987|isbn=3701622922}}</ref> and conquered the entire realm of Awsan, expanding Sabaean rule and territory to include much of [[South Arabia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/online_tours/middle_east/ancient_south_arabia/the_kingdoms_of_ancient_south.aspx|title=The kingdoms of ancient South Arabia|website=British Museum|access-date=7 February 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203080802/http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/online_tours/middle_east/ancient_south_arabia/the_kingdoms_of_ancient_south.aspx|archive-date=2013-12-03}}</ref> Lack of water in the Arabian Peninsula prevented the Sabaeans from unifying the entire peninsula. Instead, they established various colonies to control trade routes.<ref>{{cite book |author=Jawād ʻAlī |script-title=ar:المفصّل في تاريخ العرب قبل الإسلام |trans-title=Detailed history of Arabs before Islam |year=1968 |orig-year=Digitized 17 February 2007 |publisher=Dār al-ʻIlm lil-Malāyīn |language=ar |isbn=<!-- N/A--> |volume=2 |page=19}}</ref> Evidence of Sabaean influence is found in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, where the [[South Arabian alphabet]] religion and pantheon, and the South Arabian style of art and architecture were introduced.<ref>{{cite book|author=George Hatke|title=Aksum and Nubia: Warfare, Commerce, and Political Fictions in Ancient Northeast Africa|page=19|publisher= NYU Press|year= 2013|isbn=978-0814762837}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Teshale Tibebu|title=The making of modern Ethiopia: 1896–1974|page=xvii|publisher= Lawrenceville, NJ: Red Sea Press|year= 1995|isbn= 1569020019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Peter R. Schmidt|title=Historical Archaeology in Africa: Representation, Social Memory, and Oral Traditions|page=281|publisher= Rowman Altamira|year= 2006|isbn=0759114153}}</ref> The Sabaeans created a sense of identity through their religion. They worshipped [[Almaqah|El-Maqah]] and believed themselves to be his children.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ali Aldosari|title=Middle East, Western Asia, and Northern Africa|page=[https://archive.org/details/worlditspeoplesm0000unse/page/24 24]|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|year=2007|isbn=978-0761475712|url=https://archive.org/details/worlditspeoplesm0000unse/page/24}}</ref> For centuries, the Sabaeans controlled outbound trade across the [[Bab-el-Mandeb]], a [[strait]] separating the Arabian Peninsula from the [[Horn of Africa]] and the [[Red Sea]] from the Indian Ocean.<ref>{{cite book|author=D. T. Potts|title=A Companion to the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East|page=1047|publisher= John Wiley & Sons|year=2012|isbn=978-1405189880}}</ref>

By the 3rd century BC, [[Qataban]], [[Hadramout]] and [[Minaeans|Ma'in]] became independent from Saba and established themselves in the Yemeni arena. Minaean rule stretched as far as [[Dedanites|Dedan]],<ref>{{cite book|author1=Avraham Negev |author2=Shimon Gibson |title= Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land|page=137|publisher= Continuum|year= 2005|isbn= 0826485715}}</ref> with their capital at [[Baraqish]]. The Sabaeans regained their control over [[Minaeans|Ma'in]] after the collapse of [[Qataban]] in 50 BC. By the time of the [[Aelius Gallus|Roman expedition to Arabia Felix]] in 25 BC, the Sabaeans were once again the dominating power in Southern Arabia.<ref>{{cite book|author=Lionel Casson|title=The Periplus Maris Erythraei: Text with Introduction, Translation, and Commentary|page=150|publisher= Princeton University Press|year= 2012|isbn=978-1400843206}}</ref> [[Aelius Gallus]] was ordered to lead a military campaign to establish Roman dominance over the Sabaeans.<ref>{{cite book|author=Peter Richardson|title=Herod: King of the Jews and Friend of the Romans|page=230|publisher= Continuum|year= 1999|isbn=0567086755}}</ref> The Romans had a vague and contradictory geographical knowledge about ''[[Arabia Felix]]'' or Yemen. The Roman army of ten thousand men reached [[Marib]], but was not able to conquer the city, according to [[Cassius Dio]]<ref>Cassius Dio LIII, 29</ref> and [[Pliny the Elder]].<ref>Pliny the Elder, ''Nat. Hist.'' vi. 32.</ref><ref>See also [[Charles Merivale]], ''History of the Romans under the Empire'', ch. 4; H. Krüger, ''Der Feidzug des Aelius Gallus nach dem glucklichen Arabien unter Kaiser Augustus'', 1862.</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Hârun Yahya|title=Perished Nations|page=115|publisher= Global Yayincilik|year= 1999|isbn= 1897940874}}</ref> [[Strabo]]'s close relationship with Aelius Gallus led him to attempt to justify his friend's failure in his writings. It took the Romans six months to reach Marib and sixty days to return to [[Egypt]]. The Romans blamed their [[Nabataeans|Nabataean]] guide and executed him for treachery.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jan Retso|title=The Arabs in Antiquity: Their History from the Assyrians to the Umayyads|page=402|publisher= Routledge|year= 2013|isbn=978-1136872822}}</ref> No direct mention in Sabaean inscriptions of the Roman expedition has yet been found.

[[File:Dhamar Ali Yahbur (bust).jpg|thumb|upright|Himyarite King [[Dhamar Ali Yahbur II]]]]
After the Roman expedition – perhaps earlier – the country fell into chaos and two clans, namely [[Banu Hamdan|Hamdan]] and [[Himyar]], claimed kingship, assuming the title ''King of [[Sheba]] and [[Himyar|Dhu Raydan]]''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |title=The Encyclopedia of Islam|volume= 6|page=561|publisher= Brill Archive|year= 1989|isbn=9004090827}}</ref> Dhu Raydan (i.e. [[Himyar]]ites) allied themselves with [[Aksumite Empire|Aksum]] in Ethiopia against the Sabaeans.<ref>{{cite book|author=Stuart Munro-Hay|title= Ethiopia, the Unknown Land: A Cultural and Historical Guide|page=236|publisher= I.B.Tauris|year= 2002|isbn=1860647448}}</ref> The chief of [[Bakil]] and king of ''Saba and Dhu Raydan'', [[Ilasaros|El Sharih Yahdhib]], launched successful campaigns against the Himyarites and ''Habashat'' (i.e. Aksum), El Sharih took proud of his campaigns and added the title ''Yahdhib'' to his name, which means "suppressor"; he used to kill his enemies by cutting them to pieces.<ref>{{cite book|author1=G. Johannes Botterweck |author2=Helmer Ringgren |title=Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament|volume= 3|page=448|publisher= Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|year= 1979|isbn= 0802823270}}</ref> [[Sana'a]] came into prominence during his reign as he built the [[Ghumdan Palace]] to be his place of residence.
[[File:Himyarite Kingdom.png|thumb|left|The Himyarite Kingdom at its height in 525 AD]]
[[File:The Sasanian Empire at its apex under Khosrow II.svg|thumb|The Sasanian Empire at its greatest extent {{Circa|620}}, under [[Khosrow II]]]]
The [[Himyar]]ite annexed [[Sana'a]] from [[Banu Hamdan|Hamdan]] {{Circa|AD 100}}.<ref>{{cite book |author=Jawād ʻAlī |script-title=ar:الـمـفـصـّل في تـاريـخ العـرب قبـل الإسـلام |trans-title=Detailed history of Arabs before Islam |year=1968 |orig-year=Digitized 17 February 2007 |publisher=Dār al-ʻIlm lil-Malāyīn |language=ar |isbn=<!-- N/A --> |volume=2 |page=482}}</ref> [[Hashid|Hashdi]] tribesmen rebelled against them, however, and regained [[Sana'a]] in around 180.<ref>{{cite book|author=Albert Jamme|title=Inscriptions From Mahram Bilqis (Marib)|page=392|publisher= Baltimore|year= 1962}}</ref> It was not until 275 that [[Shammar Yahri'sh]] conquered [[Hadramout]] and [[Najran]] and [[Tihama]], thus unifying Yemen and consolidating [[Himyar]]ite rule.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Dieter Vogel |author2=Susan James |title=Yemen|page=34|publisher= APA Publications|year= 1990}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Klaus Schippmann|title= Ancient South Arabia: from the Queen of Sheba to the advent of Islam|pages=52–53|publisher= Markus Wiener Publishers|year= 2001|isbn=1558762361}}</ref> The Himyarites rejected [[polytheism]] and adhered to a consensual form of [[monotheism]] called [[Rahmanism]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Francis E. Peters|title=Muhammad and the Origins of Islam|page=[https://archive.org/details/muhammadorigins00pete/page/48 48]|publisher=SUNY Press|year=1994|isbn=0791418758|url=https://archive.org/details/muhammadorigins00pete/page/48}}</ref> In 354, [[Roman Emperor]] [[Constantius II]] sent an embassy headed by [[Theophilos the Indian]] to convert the Himyarites to Christianity.<ref>{{cite book|author=Scott Johnson|title=The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity|page=265|publisher= Oxford University Press|date= 1 November 2012|isbn= 978-0195336931}}</ref> According to [[Philostorgius]], the mission was resisted by local Jews.<ref name="Shlomo Sand p.193">{{cite book|author=Shlomo Sand|title=The Invention of the Jewish People|page=[https://archive.org/details/inventionofjewi00sand/page/193 193]|publisher=Verso|year=2010|isbn=9781844676231|url=https://archive.org/details/inventionofjewi00sand/page/193}}</ref> Several inscriptions have been found in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and [[Sabaean language|Sabaean]] praising the ruling house in Jewish terms for ''helping and empowering the People of [[Israel]]''.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Y. M. Abdallah |title=The Inscription CIH 543: A New Reading Based on the Newly-Found Original in C. Robin & M. Bafaqih (Eds.) Sayhadica: Recherches Sur Les Inscriptions De l'Arabie Préislamiques Offertes Par Ses Collègues Au Professeur A.F.L. Beeston|year= 1987|publisher= Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner S.A.|location= Paris|pages= 4–5}}</ref>

According to Islamic traditions, King [[Tub'a Abu Kariba As'ad|As'ad The Perfect]] mounted a military expedition to support the Jews of [[Yathrib]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Raphael Patai |author2=Jennifer Patai |title=The Myth of the Jewish Race|page=63|publisher= Wayne State University Press|year= 1989|isbn=0814319483}}</ref> [[Tub'a Abu Kariba As'ad|Abu Karib As'ad]], as known from the inscriptions, led a military campaign to central Arabia or [[Najd]] to support the vassal [[Kingdom of Kinda|Kinda]] against the [[Lakhmids]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Uwidah Metaireek Al-Juhany|title=Najd before the Salafi reform movement: social, political and religious conditions during the three centuries preceding the rise of the Saudi state|page=171|publisher= Ithaca Press|year= 2002|isbn=0863724019}}</ref> However, no direct reference to Judaism or [[Yathrib]] was discovered from his lengthy reign. Abu Karib As'ad died in 445, having reigned for almost 50 years.<ref>{{cite book|author=Scott Johnson|title=The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity|page=266|publisher= Oxford University Press|date= 1 November 2012|isbn= 978-0195336931}}</ref> By 515, Himyar became increasingly divided along religious lines and a bitter conflict between different factions paved the way for an [[Aksumite Empire|Aksumite]] intervention. The last Himyarite king [[Mu'di Karab Ya'fir]] was supported by Aksum against his [[Yemenite Jewish|Jewish]] rivals. Mu'di Karab was Christian and launched a campaign against the [[Lakhmids]] in Southern [[Iraq]], with the support of other Arab allies of [[Byzantine Empire|The Byzantine Empire]].<ref name="Scott Johnson 282">{{cite book|author=Scott Johnson|title=The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity|page=282|publisher= Oxford University Press|date= 1 November 2012|isbn= 978-0195336931}}</ref> The [[Lakhmids]] were a Bulwark of [[Persia]], which was intolerant to a proselytizing religion like Christianity.<ref>{{cite book|author=Irfan Shahîd|title=Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fifth Century|page=65|publisher= Dumbarton Oaks|year= 1989|isbn=0884021521}}</ref>

After the death of Ma'adikarib Ya'fur around 521 AD, a Himyarite Jewish [[warlord]] called [[Dhu Nuwas]] rose to power. He began a campaign of violence against Christians under his control. Dhu Nawas executed Byzantine traders, converted the church in [[Zafar, Yemen|Zafar]] into a synagogue, and killed its priests, among other acts of conquest.<ref name="Ken Blady p.92">{{cite book |author=Ken Blady |title=Jewish Communities in Exotic Places |publisher=Jason Aronson |year=2000 |isbn=1-4616-2908-X |page=9 |quote=Even more dramatic was the conversion of Abu-Kariba's grandson, Zar'a, who reigned from C.E. 518 to 525. Legend ascribes his conversion to his having witnessed a rabbi extinguish a fire worshipped by some Arab magi, merely by reading a passage from the Torah over it. 12 After changing his religion, he assumed the name Yusef Ash'ar, but gained notoriety in history by his cognomen Dhu Nuwas ("Lord of the Curls," possibly because he wore his peot long). For some years Dhu Nuwas was successful in staving off Ethiopian incursions and preserving Jewish Himyar's independence. Informed by some Jewish advisors in Tiberias of atrocities perpetrated against Jews in Roman lands, the overzealous proselyte decided on a course of revenge: He executed some Byzantine Christian merchants who were traveling through Himyar on their way to Ethio-pia. This outrage led to a rebellion among his Christian subjects in the city of Nejiran, which Dhu Nuwas suppressed with great cruelty. He is said to have cast twenty thousand Christians into pits filled with flaming oil. " The massacre and forced conversions of thousands of Christians at Nejiran infuriated Constantine, the Byzantine emperor. As he was occupied in a war with Persia, Constantine sent ambassadors to his Ethiopian Christian ally, King Caleb, entreating him to intervene on behalf of their Arabian coreligionists. With a formidable force of sixty thousand men (some say one hundred twenty thousand), Caleb crossed the Red Sea and attacked the Jewish king. In a fierce battle in 525 c.E. the invaders won a decisive victory. His queen captured and his capital laid waste, Dhu Nuwas chose to escape what was sure to be a cruel death by riding horseback off a cliff into the sea.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Greenslade |first=W. G. |year=1932 |title=The Martyrs of Nejran |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-1913.1932.tb02885.x |journal=The Muslim World |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=265 |doi=10.1111/j.1478-1913.1932.tb02885.x |issn=0027-4909 |quote=He turned the church in his capital (Ẓafār) into a synagogue, and killed all the priests and other leading Christians, especially the Abyssinians who had been in control of the church. Then he moved on to Nejran, with the intention of subduing that city, where Christianity was stronger than in any other centre of south Arabia.|url-access=subscription }}</ref> He marched toward the port city of [[Mocha, Yemen|Mocha]], killing 14,000 and capturing 11,000.<ref name="Scott Johnson 2823">{{cite book |author=Scott Johnson |title=The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity |date=1 November 2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-533693-1 |page=282}}</ref> Then he settled a camp in [[Bab-el-Mandeb]] to prevent aid flowing from Aksum. At the same time, Yousef sent an army under the command of another Jewish warlord, Sharahil Yaqbul, to [[Najran]]. Sharahil had reinforcements from the Bedouins of the [[Kinda (tribe)|Kinda]] and [[Madh'hij]] tribes, eventually wiping out the Christian community in Najran by means of execution and [[forced conversion]] to Judaism. Blady speculates that he was likely motivated by stories about Byzantine violence against Byzantine Jewish communities in his decision to begin his campaign of state violence against Christians existing within his territory.<ref>{{cite book |author=Eric Maroney |url=https://archive.org/details/otherzionslosthi0000maro/page/94 |title=The Other Zions: The Lost Histories of Jewish Nations |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-4422-0045-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/otherzionslosthi0000maro/page/94 94]}}</ref><ref name="Ken Blady p.92" /><ref name="auto">{{cite journal |author=P. Yule |year=2013 |title=A Late Antique Christian king from Ḥimyar, southern Arabia, Antiquity, 87 |journal=Antiquity Bulletin |publisher=Antiquity Publications |page=1134 |issn=0003-598X}}; {{cite book |author=D. W. Phillipson |title=Foundations of an African Civilisation: Aksum and the Northern Horn, 1000 BC – 1300 AD |publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-84701-041-4 |page=204}}</ref>

Christian sources portray Dhu Nuwas as a Jewish zealot, while Islamic traditions say that he marched around 20,000 Christians into trenches filled with flaming oil, burning them alive.<ref name="Ken Blady p.92" /> Himyarite inscriptions attributed to Dhu Nuwas himself show great pride in killing 27,000, enslaving 20,500 Christians in [[Zafar, Yemen|Ẓafār]] and [[Najran]] and killing 570,000 beasts of burden belonging to them as a matter of imperial policy.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ryckmans |first=Jacques |title=La Persécution des Chrétiens Himyarites au Sixième Siècle |publisher=NEDERLANDS HISTORISCH-ARCHAEOLOGISCH INSTITUUT IN HET NABIJE OOSTEN |year=1956 |location=Leiden/Istanbul |language=fr |quote=Ry 508, le plus ancien des deux textes, termine ici, en mars~avril, le récit de la campagne par le bilan provisoire des opérations effectuées jusque là: 13.000 tués, 9.500 prisonniers, 280.000 têtes de bétail (Ry 508, 4 - 6). [...] Le texte termine là, à la date du mois de ḏū-Maḏraʾān (entre juillet et septembre) le récit des opérations effectuées, en mettant à jour le bilan global de la campagne (Ry 507, 8 ~ 9): on y relève 1.000 tués, 1.500 prisonniers et 10.000 têtes de bétail de plus que dans le bilan clôturé à la date de Ry 508.}}</ref> It is reported that Byzantium Emperor [[Justin I]] sent a letter to the Aksumite [[Kaleb|King Kaleb]], pressuring him to "...attack the abominable Hebrew."<ref name="Scott Johnson 2823"/> A military alliance of Byzantine, Aksumite, and Arab Christians successfully defeated Dhu Nuwas around 525–527 AD and a client Christian king was installed on the Himyarite throne.<ref name="auto"/>[[File:Jemen1988-022 hg.jpg|thumb|Ruins of [[Marib Dam|The Great Dam of Marib]]]]
[[Esimiphaios]] was a local Christian lord, mentioned in an inscription celebrating the burning of an ancient Sabaean palace in [[Marib]] to build a church on its ruins.<ref name="Angelika Neuwirth p.49">{{cite book|author1=Angelika Neuwirth |author2=Nicolai Sinai |author3=Michael Marx |title=The Quran in Context: Historical and Literary Investigations Into the Quranic Milieu|page=49|publisher= BRILL|year= 2010|isbn=978-9004176881}}</ref> Three new churches were built in Najran alone.<ref name="Angelika Neuwirth p.49" /> Many tribes did not recognize Esimiphaios's authority. [[Esimiphaios]] was displaced in 531 by a warrior named [[Abraha]], who refused to leave Yemen and declared himself an independent king of [[Himyar]]. Emperor [[Justinian I]] sent an embassy to Yemen. He wanted the officially ''Christian'' [[Himyar]]ites to use their influence on the tribes in inner Arabia to launch military operations against [[Persia]]. [[Justinian I]] bestowed the ''dignity of king'' upon the Arab [[sheikh]]s of Kinda and [[Ghassanids|Ghassan]] in central and north Arabia.<ref name="Scott Johnson 293">{{cite book|author=Scott Johnson|title=The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity|page=293|publisher= Oxford University Press|date= 1 November 2012|isbn= 978-0195336931}}</ref> From early on, Roman and Byzantine policy was to develop close links with the powers of the coast of the [[Red Sea]]. They were successful in converting [[Aksum]] and influencing their culture. The results with regard to Yemen were rather disappointing.<ref name="Scott Johnson 293"/>

A Kindite prince called ''Yazid bin Kabshat'' rebelled against [[Abraha]] and his Arab Christian allies. A truce was reached once [[Marib Dam|The Great Dam of Marib]] had suffered a breach.<ref>{{cite book|author=Scott Johnson|title=The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity|page=285|publisher= Oxford University Press|date= 1 November 2012|isbn= 978-0195336931}}</ref> [[Abraha]] died around 555&ndash;565 AD; no reliable sources regarding his death are available. The [[Sasanid empire]] annexed [[Aden]] around 570. Under their rule, most of Yemen enjoyed great autonomy except for [[Aden]] and [[Sana'a]]. This era marked the collapse of ancient South Arabian civilization, since the greater part of the country was under several independent clans until the arrival of [[Islam]] in 630.<ref>{{cite book|author=Scott Johnson|title=The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity|page=298|publisher= Oxford University Press|date= 1 November 2012|isbn= 978-0195336931}}</ref>