Chapter 39
An Oasis of Gold [FN1]
An image depicting an ancient Himyar king. Scholarly consensus can not determine whether this is of Ibrahim the Magnificent or an earlier ruler
“Upon ancient Himyar in days of old
The Sun cast life in rays of gold
Arabia’s sons came to ply their trades
And wooed its daughters who lay in the shade
As priests of Raman chanted prayers to the sky
Where black vultures, on silent wings, did glide”
-“Fair Himyar” by Sigfreid Cyngwulfson, Yearningist poet
Balqis’ Children: The Judean Monarchs of Yemen and Arabia [vol. IV of “The Cross, the Star, the Flame and the Wheel: Studies in the Faiths of the Middle East”]
By: Halimah Ali
[Mar Simon University Press, Ctesiphon, 2011]
Chapter 6: The Kingdom of Himyar under Ibrahim the Magnificent
The circumstances surrounding the death of Yūsuf Dhū Nuwās, and the rise of his successor Ibrahim, has been lost to us in the fog of history. The first concrete evidence we have of Ibrahim’s rule comes to us in the form of coins bearing his bust and inscription from the year 554. Despite this, as has been mentioned previously, Theodore of Nibis stated that Dhū Nuwās died by his own hand in the year 552. However, Theodore shows a staunchly pro-Orthodox slant to his writing that goes far and beyond even that of his contemporary Rhomanio writers, and I believe it is possible that the story was included in an effort to undermine the legitimacy of the Himyarites and their successors.
Unfortunately, we don’t know much about the early life of Ibrahim the Magnificent. Although a biography of him has come down to us, penned in the final years of the Himyarite Kingdom, due to the fates of history the two surviving copies are both missing the early chapters. Luckily, Ibrahim carried on a lengthy correspondence with Rhomanian Emperors Photius and Justinian II as well as Persian Emperor Kavadh II. These letters are important for a number of reasons but, for our purposes at the moment, in Ibrahim’s early letters he makes reference to himself as the son of Yūsuf Dhū Nuwās. Later in this chapter, we shall examine what these letters show us of Ibrahim’s foreign policy and the way played the Rhoman and Sassanid empires against one another in order to expand his hegemony over much of the Arabian peninsula as well as the eastern Libyan coast. [FN1]
From what we can gather, Ibrahim was born in the 530s. He would have been a young man when he ascended the throne, which makes it likely he was the youngest son of Yūsuf Dhū Nuwās. There are some reference to Dhū Nuwās having lost other sons in the course of battle in the historical records but, like so much of the early Himyar Kingdom, the details are hazy and sourced unreliable. There appears to have been a struggle for the throne following his father’s death, judging from an early letter between Ibrahim and Photius which states “[Ibrahim] who took his patrimony, by the grace of god, only after great struggle, by which the One True God tested his resolve.” However, other than this one reference, no more is known. Based on the iconography from his coins, and his letters, we know that Ibrahim was Jewish from at least the early years of his reign. His biography expands on this and paints him as particularly pious ruler from the earliest surviving chapters.
…
Since we know so little about the early life of Ibrahim, it is impossible to say what the first great crisis of his early reign truly was. However, we know that the invasion of Axum in 561 set the tone for the remainder of his life and set the stage of Himyar hegemony over the entirety of the Arabian Peninsula. The defeat of Kaleb and Alla Amidas of Axum by Dhū Nuwās had reduced Axum to the state of a protectorate of Himyar. However, in 561, the new Axumite King Wazena staged a rebellion against Himyar, possibly believing that the young Ibrahim was too weak in his position to stage a successful response. If so, he was bitterly disappointed. Based on his biography, Ibrahim responded decisevly. When Wazena attempted to besiege Avalites, the sole Himyar possession in Libya, Ibrahim refused to take the bait. Rather than rushing to its defence, he intead worked withhirty allies within Axum to rise a rebellion against Wazena. When Wazena was forced to give up the siege in order to put down the threat to his own throat, Ibrahim struck decisively. His navy quickly gained dominance over the minimal Axumite forces at sea, giving him access to the coast. He raided Wazena repeatedly, keeping his foe continually off his guard before landing him main army at Adulis. A weakened and weary Wazena proved no match for the better trained and supplied Himyar forces and Wazena was struck down in battle.
…
After the battle of Adulis, Ibrahim annexed the entirety of Axum into the Kingdom of Himyar. Luckily, his biography and his letters to Photius both converge at this time. The Rhoman Emperor was neccesarily concerned about the growth of Jewish Himyar at the expense of Chrisitan Axum, especially as the aggressive Himyar could conceivably threaten Rhoman Egypt. We have no less than three letters from this time between Ibrahim and Photius in which the King seeks to sooth the concerns of his Emperor. Always deferentially referring to Photius as “older brother”, he expresses his hopes the Himyar and the Rhoman Empire could exist in eternal peace as brothers in the faith of the one true god. He also expresses that the invasion of Axum was necessary due to rebellion, and that he was simply restoring the peace. Most importantly, in every letter during this period, he stresses that he has no desire to renew the persecution of Christians which had been carried out by his father. Instead, he has decreed that Christians would have the freedom to worship as they had before under his rule.
These platitudes appear to have worked, as there are no further reports of hostility between the Rhoman Empire and Himyar during the reign of Photius, although tensions increased again under Justinain II, once the House of Justin was restored to power. [FN3]
…
Although Ibrahim had expanded his control over all of Axum, administration of the expanded realm remained an issue. Axum itself remained firmly secure for the Himyarites, but Axum’s most northernly sub-kingdoms, namely Blemmyes, Alodia, Nobatia and Makuria, were another matter entirely. Although all four realms swore fielty to Ibrahim, in practice they were largely independent. Each would rebel, several times, throughout the King’s reign and would prove to be a constant source of distraction until his successors.
In order to administer the newly conquered provinces Ibrahim the Magnificent followed a policy that was not only wise, but also marked his governing style as vastly different from that of his own father. Although the ruling families of Axum who had opposed his rule in the rebellion were stripped of their lands and titles, he showed remarkable leniency towards many members of the lower nobility. In doing so, he retained a bureaucratic class that would help smooth the annexation of the realm. There would be no general persecution of the Christian populations in the territories under his rule, and a decoration of toleration was announced to protect the Axum Christian population. Despite this, Christianity lost its official status, and there is evidence which suggests that members of the Beta Israel population in Axum were favored and relied heavily upon throughout Ibrahim’s rule.
The favor shown by Ibrahim and his descendents would help strengthen the position of Beta Israel within the Axumite lands. Even after the fall of Himyarite kingdom, Beta Israel would continue to show strong loyalty to its successor state, becoming one of the religious minority groups to do so and reap the rewards. [FN4]
…
Throughout the remainer of his roughly thirty-three year reign, two mutually inclusive concerns dominated Ibrahim’s policies. The first, was the strengthening the power of Himyar and its place within the broader geopolitical world. The second, was fostering a culture of learning and the arts within Himyar. In order to accomplish the first, he began a far reaching strategy to expand Himyar influence into the Hejaz. To accomplish this, he played the individual cities against one another and slowly spread his hegemony over Abaria’s western shores. The military of Himyar was the largest within the region, but Ibrahim took special pride in negotiation and peacefully expanding his realm, only resorting to military force when utterly necessary.
In order to accomplish the second goal, Ibrahim engaged in massive building projects in order to turn his capital of Zafar into one worthy of a great empire. He finished the construction of the great Synagogue which has been begun by his father, and also constructed a university which drew learned men from throughout the Middle East, especially Greek and Persians, but also Romans from the Gothic Empire. Perhaps, most importantly, he invited Jewish scholars from throughout the world to come to Zafar. For as long as the Kingdom of Himyar continued to exist, it would prove to be a center of Jewish learning, literature and thought, becoming a home to many of that scattered people for the rest of the Kingdom’s existence. So important was Ibrahim to the Jewish people that he was often compared to Solomon the Wise, himself; his military and political victories, as well as his sponsoring of the arts led many to conclude that he was the promised Messiah. Legends persit to this day that, before his death, Ibrahim was planning a great holy war to liberate the Holy Land from the Rhoman Empire, although there is no historical evidence to support this claim. The Jewish people would have to wait several more centuries for their Messiah to arrive.
…
In addition to his general sponsoring of Jewish culture, as well as the arts, the Sabean language which was spoken by the Himyar people entered into a period of ascendency. Due to the power of Himyar, it became the dominant language throughout the entire Arabian Peninsula. Although local dialects of Arabic would continue to be spoken for centuries, it was during this time that Sabean became the language of culture, commerce and learning throughout Arabia. Even once Himyar had fallen, Sabean would maintain its position for centuries to come.
The Vicinity of Mecca, Kingdom of Himyar
588 CE
Abbas had been traveling for days since the attack on his caravan. The memory of the stick of burning bodies was still clinging to the inside of his nostrals and the screams of the dying echoing in his ears. He still couldn’t remember how he had managed to escape and in his current state, he cared not to think about it. He was more animal than man now, a thing of instinct. He slept during the day, and traveled by night. A few days ago he had found a small oasis and filled his cantines. For a while he had considered staying and waiting for others, but the oasis did not seem well traveled and so he had started on his way again. He couldn’t say how long ago that had been. It could have been days, weeks, years. Once he saw small fires burning on the horizon, but he had heard the tales of desert spirits and feared they were Jinni, so he traveled on.
He was contemplating the fury of his thirst when a clear voice called out to him. “Hello, friend, are you in need of assistance?”
Abbas nearly screamed.
“Whoa there, no need to be afraid,” the voice said again. Abbas turned around and found himself looking at a man of medium height, dark haired, with brilliant brown eyes and a smile that shone even in the faint light of the states.
“Who are you,” you wanted to say, “what do you want?” Even “where am I?” But the only word that came from his parched lips were “Water.”
“Of course, my friend”, the man said with a voice that seemed as deep and soothing as that of an angel. He opened a water pouch and held it to Abbas’ lips while he greedily drank.
“Thank you,” Abbas said, feeling life flowing back into him for the first time in days. “Thank you!”
The man smiled, “No need to thank me, it was surly the Lord of Light himself who showed me to you.”
“The Lord of Light,” Abbas asked, his mind reeling.
“Yes, certainly. But there is time for that later. Come, I will take you to my comrades. You are not well after your trip through the desert and need drink and food. We may speak of the Lord of Light once you are well.”
“Who,” Abbas said, his tongue thick and stammering, “who are you?”
The man smiled again. Did he ever stop? “By the Prophet Mani, I am known as Abdul-Bari. But, as I said, there will be time for names later. Come.”
And Abbas followed. As an old man, he would realize that he never stopped following; even when the world itself seemed to shake and burn, and when a new world was forged. But that was in the future. For the time being, Abbas shuffled after his savior, not knowing the destiny that was ahead of him. [FN5]
[FN1] It’s been a while since we took a solid look at the Middle East (frighteningly long in real life time, I’m afraid, due to my constantly taking long breaks!). I’ve had plans for Arabia for some time and I thought it was time to bring the rest of the world up to date before we turn our attention back to the Goths. If you need a refresher on the situation in Arabia, please check out Chapter 24.
[FN2] As had been made clear in previous posts, the term ‘Libya’ in this time is used to refer to the entire continent of OTL Africa, while ‘Africa’ refers mainly to the region of North Africa and the Vandal heartland in particular.
[FN3] A bit of foreshadowing for an upcoming Byzantine chapter. Because, if I’ve learned one thing on this board, people can’t get enough Byzantium! J How does the House of Justin regain power after the troubles of the 6th century? Stay tuned!
[FN4] I’m basically imagining that Beta Israel, if not the most populous religious group in *Ethiopia, but it is significantly larger than in OTL and becomes to become one of the most prestigious. Once again, the Middle East of this ATL is much more religiously diverse than in OTL. Also, the thought of a more diverse Jewish community is far too good to pass up.
[FN5] More foreshadowing! Come now, did you really think I would miss the chance to have a major prophet religion take hold in Arabia? Of course not.
