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Early History

According to Ptolemy, ancient Arabia consisted of Arabia Petraea, Arabia Deserta and Arabia Felix, a division likewise followed in modern times, but which is not only founded on erroneous principles, but unwarranted by the example of the inhabitants of the country. The name of Arabia Felix, or Arabia the Happy, is derived from an incorrect translation of the word Yemen, which does not signify happy, but the country lying to the right of Mecca, in the same manner as the Arabic term for Syria, Al-Sham, denotes the country lying to the left of that city. Arabia Petraea likewise has been erroneously translated Stony Arabia, the epithet Petraea having been bestowed on it by Ptolemy, from the once flourishing city of Petra.

Yemen, according to some writers, embraces the whole of south Arabia; but the name is now generally used in a confined sense, Yemen proper occupying the southwest part of the peninsula, and comprising a Tehama or maritime lowland on the shores of the Red Sea, with an elevated inland district of considerable breadth. It contains the towns of Sana and Mocha. Appertaining to Yemen is Aden, a free port in the hands of the British. Next Yemen, on the east, is Hadramaut, the western portion of which is a desert five days' journey in length. The limits of this province are, however, variously assigned by authors, some extending the name to almost the whole of the southeast coast, while others confine it to a district only 100 miles in length. Beyond Hadramaut, in the latter narrower sense, lies Mahrah, beyond which again extends the principality of Shejer or Shehr, at the eastern termination of which, near the coast, is the populous district of Dhofar, which has occasionally figured as an independent state. At the east angle of the peninsula is situated Oman.

The history of the Arabs previous to Mohammed is obscure, and, owing to their slight connection with the rest of the world, of little interest. The evidence of language, tradition and other things, establishes the fact that Arabia must have been settled at a very early date by two branches of one race. One of these branches inhabits the south and cast of the peninsula (Yemen, Hadramaut and Oman), and considers itself as forming the "pure" Arabs, while to the other branch it gives the name of Mostareb, or "Arabified."

The oldest traditions regarding the origin of the former branch point to an immigration from Africa which took place about the southwest corner of the peninsula, and the physical appearance and structure of the southern Arabs, the remnants of their dialect (which is now superseded by that of the northern branch), and various institutions and customs prevailing in the parts of Arabia inhabited by them, all confirm the notion that they were originally identical with the nearest inhabitants of Africa. The northern branch, on the other hand, though bearing an unmistakable affinity with the southern, shows (in its language and other respects) more traces of Asiatic than African influence.

The Arabs of the southern branch were the first to attain any considerable political power. A kingdom belonging to this branch is said to have existed in the south for upward of 2,000 years, embracing, when in a flourishing condition, the whole of the south half of the peninsula, and sometimes extending its boundaries by conquest very much farther. There is no doubt that there was actually such a kingdom, called the Kingdom of Yemen, and having its capital first at Mareb and afterward at Sana, both in the district of that name; but how long that kingdom subsisted cannot be determined. Its kings belonged to the Himyarite dynasty, but this designation Himyarite is sometimes applied by Arab writers to the ruling classes of the southern branch, and sometimes to the whole branch.

Tradition (better not call it history) makes Himyar, the supposed founder of this dynasty, a great-grandson of Kahtan, and a younger brother of Saba, the famed Yemanee monarch. But where so manifest a difference obtrudes itself both in complexion and in language, one may be excused for suspecting a degree of inaccuracy in the genealogical tree, though intermarriages may, and probably did, somewhat supply the want of primal consanguinity. To such affinity, and to the influence which the comparatively organizing spirit of the Abyssinians would give them over the unstable Arabs, we may perhaps ascribe the great spread of the Himyarite name and language iu the south, and even its partial introduction into the Northern and Syrian desert under the Yemanee dynasty of GhassSn. It is to be remarked, that up to the present day with none do Arabs so readily contract marriage as with Abyssinians: the two races have much in kind.

Besides, the Arabs of the south, or Yemen, were themselves, it is highly probable, of African origin, though referable to a still more ancient date; and family alliances may, indeed must, have subsequently led to a partial affinity, the groundwork of that universal identity which Mahometan chroniclers above all would fain introduce. Thus Himyar - did such a person ever exist - may, the better to consolidate his rule, have taken to wife the daughter of some Yemanee " Keyl" or king; or if not he, at least one of his descendants. Superior in the art of government and the science of established power, no less than in architecture and some at least of its accompanying arts, to the Arabs around, the Himyarites became ultimately masters of a large portion of the Peninsula, and founded a kingdom remarkable for its extent and comparative durability.

Yemanee vanity may have sought to console itself for submission to a foreign rule, by an imaginary amalgamation of its rulers with their subjects. Arab annalists, supported in this respect by the results of modern research, assign to the Himyarite dynasty an important part in the story of Southern Arabia; and the investigations of Welsted and of others in Hadramaut leave no doubt regarding the Himyarite character of that province. That a fictitious lineage should have attempted to blend the origin of the conquerors, at least of their chiefs, with that of the conquered race, is no wonder;

This designation Himyarite is sometimes applied by Arab writers to the ruling classes of the southern branch, and sometimes to the whole branch. Another Himyarite kingdom was that of Hira on the west shore of the lower Euphrates. It seems also to have extended at times to the region between the Euphrates and the Tigris, so as to give the name of Irak Arabi to that district. The dates given for the foundation of this kingdom are widely different. Its overthrow is placed in the Sth century of the Christian era. In the 1st century of the Christian era the Himyarite kingdom of Ghassan was founded in lower Syria and Hejaz. It lasted till the time of Mohammed. The last Himyarite kingdom that need be mentioned is that of Kindeh, which detached itself from that of Hira early in the 3d century, and lasted about 160 years. Its sway extended over northern Nejed.

Yasir, styled sometimes Malik, or Yasaseen, or Yasir Yoonim, or Yasir Anim, or Yashir Yoonim, or Nashir Enniam, 'the distributor of benefits,' on account of his liberality, and the good he did to his subjects. According to some, he was the son of Shoorahbeel, and the uncle of Balkees ; according to others, the son of Dthoo'l-Adhar. He undertook an expedition into the Maghrib or west country, and advanced as far as the Wadi-er-Raml, or 'valley of sand,' which none had reached before him; a detachment of troops having essayed to cross this waste, perished, whereupon he raised a brazen monument close to its borders, with the inscription " Laisa warayi madthhab," - there is no way beyond me. This suggests the fable of the Pillars of Hercules, with the legend ' Ne plus ultra.' Yashir Yoonim was succeeded by his son Shammir Yerash,-' he trembles,'- so called from a nervous affection to which he was subject. This prince was one of the greatest warriors who ever held the throne of Yemen: he carried his victorious arms into Irak, Persia, and the neighbouring countries, and attacked and partly destroyed the capital of Sogdiana, which obtained the name of Shammir Kand, or 'Shammir destroyed it' (modern Sammercand).

Evidences of this incursion in the form of Himyaritic inscriptions are recorded by Hamza and Ibn Haukal as having been found at Sammercand ; one mentioned by Aboo'1-Feda began thus:-" In the name of God, this building was erected by Shammir Yerash, in honor of the Lord the Sun." Shammir then formed the project of extending his conquests to China, and proceeded through Toorkistan to the borders of India, and through Tibet, where he left a body of twelve thousand Arabs as an army of reserve.

Ancient Yemeni civilisation was much more prosperous than in any other contiguous region. Yemen also controlled ancient world trade centres. The historians have been able to trace Neolithic village settlements in the Yemeni highlands as back as 5000 B.C. Around 3000 B.C., Bronze Age developed in the Yemeni highlands. The first irrigation works were established in the Wadi Adhana at Mareb in 2000 B.C. Camel was domesticated in this land when South Arabian trading States also emerged. Around 1200 B.C., Iron Age flourished in Yemen with urban settlements on the edges of the eastern desert. During this period, Kingdom of Saba also began.