When looking at the history of the Erythrean or Red Sea basin, one must not make the mistake of seeing the water as a divide, a barrier that would alienate those on the Ethiopian and on the Arabian coast. It was actually more the contrary: a highway for communication and trade, which would bring peoples together and see an exchange of products and ideas, forming a cultural unity.
In some alternate scenarios, where the Arabian peninsula itself, as well as neighbouring parts of the world be unified into a distinctly monotheistic theocratic empire (1), that might have been the case, but as of right now, the notion of “North Africa” as a cultural area is pretty-much non-existent, for Mawritain has more in common with Hispania, and Egypt is culturally much closer to the Nubian nations, to Ethiopia and even Yemen.
The western parts of the Arab Peninsula could be geographically and culturally divided into four regions by now:
· Midian (and Nabatia)
· Timamah
· Hejaz
· Asir and Jizan.
The lands of Midian were organized into competing city states around oases such as Tamyam and Tabouk, and had become a refuge for the Ebionitic Church. The Ebionites, a Judeo-Christian group had found refuge once more to the southeast of Israel. However despite a rather progressive spread of the Ebionitic Church during the 8th century, by the 9th century, one can observe a general decline of the Ebionites. This was caused by increased contact and exposure to more influential centers of civilization, following Monophysite Christianity.
It began with the Egyptian conquest of several cities on the Timamah coast, such as Jedda; it was followed by Himyaritic unification of the southern parts of Arabia, during the second half of the 9th century, when Himyar conquers the regions to its north as far as Mecca, and exchanging the Ebionitic form for Miaphysite once more. Himyar also secured its eastern border, conquering the realms of Hadhramawt, leaving solely the region of Dhofar independent. Himyar had by this time greatly profited from incense trade, and its geographic position, lying on the main trade route between Egypt and the Indian coast in Kerala.
From Himyar, Miaphysite Christianity would spread into its conquered territories, and Ebionitism and Rahmanism were supressed; a large number would indeed accept the Miaphysite Christianity, yet others would rather convert to Judaism, which was tolerated, or emigrate to the unified Emirate of Hejaz….
Wait, when did that happen? Well by the end of the 8th century, there were two rival city-states, Khaybar and Mecca, right? And we said Mecca got conquered by Himyar, right?
So in the early 9th century, Yathrib would conquer its neighbours to the northwest in Tabouk and Tayma, and integrate these lands into their kingdom based in Yathrib (2)
Further inland is the plateau region of al-Yamamah. As mentioned in the previous update, the sheikhs and emirs would have already been Christian, yet their tribesmen would have at best heard of al-Masih (3). This was changed when a Syriac archdiocese was established in Jaww al-Yamamah in the mid-ninth century, aiming to establish Christendom among the Beduin populace.
This was true for most tribes in the interior of the Peninsula, yet the Banu Tamim have embraced Manicheism.
Manicheism remained deeply rooted also among the al-Abna, the Persian-descended population of Himyar, now integrated into the local populace, who would inhabit the coastal cities, and be an urban class of artisans, traders and merchants.
As for Axum, also known as Ethiopia or Habesh, the realm remains rather stable during the ninth century (4). It would continue to control much of the northern Ethiopian Highland – the provinces of Gojjam, Begmender, Wello, Tigray, Asseb, as well as the entirety of the region known also as Eritrea. Axum would maintain control also over the Afar Triangle, a lowland, but arid area surrounding Djibouti.
In its close vicinity, Axum would witness the emergence of Zeila, a coastal Somali city-state, founded most probably under Himyarite influence (although, due to excavations of early Manichean temples, it has become now thought that it was indeed founded by al-Abna merchants). Zeila had the oldest Manichean temples in the entire Horn of Africa region.
Zeila, however, wasn’t the sole coastal city in the region of the Horn of Africa. The entire peninsula had been populated by a Cushitic people known as the the Somalis, who have had trade contact with the ancient Egyptians, as well as the Romans.
The southern coast of the Gulf of Aden was home to numerous local city states, west to east: Malao, Mundus, and Mosylon.
On the coast of the Indian Ocean, there were several other states, Tave, Oponi, Sarapion (5) and Nikon. The last two would have colonies established by the Himyaritic kingdom as trade depots; with small colonies of Manichean Abna in Nikon and Miaphysites in Sarapion.
However, the majority of the Horn of Africa remained organized into clan societies, and the Somalians would continue to practise their ancestral religion, known as Waaq, which is the name of God among the Cushitic peoples; it was a rather Monotheistic religious system.
Off the tip of the Horn of Africa is an island called Socotra, or natively Suqutra. Geographers would fail to agree, whether the island belongs to the Asian or African continent; its inhabitants were totally ignorant of the dispute, and would rather take advantage of their position as possibly the last supply station on the route to India. The Suqutri emirate would not only use the trade to develop their very own island, but they would establish merchant colonies on the northern Somali coast, especially in Mosylon , which was the easternmost of the cities there, and on the Hadhrami coast,in Mahra and Dhofar in the late ninth century.
(1) The Rashidun, Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates
(2) Medina.
(3) Arabic for Christ
(4) In contrast to OTL, where the coastal-centred state weakens due to hostile Caliphate next-door, and needs to retreat inlands
(5) At the site of OTL Mogadisho