440 BC.
The city of Ma’rib conquers its neighbours and unites south east Arabia in the Kingdom of Sabea. The rich gold, frankincense and myrrh trade enriches the unites kingdom. The Great Marib Dam is extended and renovated. Some 12,000 hectares of land is irrigated by this huge construction. The land is sold off to noblemen who tend it with tenant farmer peasants, who have no land of their own and who live their lives tied to their lord’s estate.
The Sabean nobility is one of warriors, whose wicker chariots are light and manoeuvrable. Some time in the 3rd century BC the King formed the Temple Guards, who guard the Holy Temple of Marduk in Ma’rib. These are made up of the younger sons of lesser nobility. They are a reliable infantry force and loyal to the King alone.
In the early 4th century Ma’rib was walled and a militia formed. The city numbered some 7,000 and the populace was divided into 5 classes: Royalty, Nobility, Warriors, Artisans & Workers. The class structure was highly gentrified, and some 60% of the population was under the ‘worker’ class- the closest equivalent in our history would be serfs, and for centuries they would be doomed to fruitless labour.
The unity brought by the 5th century conquests led to the nationalisation of the production of frankincense and myrrh, the nation’s two most valuable exports. Frankincense, produced by ‘milking’ the Bosweilla tree was produced on a massive scale. The rocky valleys surrounding Ma’rib were filled with so-called ‘orchards’ of them, although they were hardly pleasant places, for the soil was rocky, the climate arid and the trees themselves scrubby and spiny. It was discovered that regularly tapped trees germinated fewer seeds, and it was predicted by some that if over-exploited the trees would die out. It was therefore decided to leave 10% of the trees untapped each year to let them recover.
The Royal administration of these two luxury goods increased their production as good management was brought to bear and the entire business was co-ordinated to earning the state money.
For hundreds of years the main route to the mighty Persian Empire and its huge markets was a treacherous route along the coast of Arabia through Nabatea into Palestine. This route depended on the amicability of the Kingdom of Nabatea, which had in the past raided caravans and seized the goods for themselves and sold them for enormously inflated prices.
It is recorded that in 386 BC the King of Persia Artaxerxes II founded the colony of Sinai on the northernmost branch of the Red Sea in order to facilitate trade with the expanding Sabean Kingdom. Ruins have been found in Sabea of an ancient port dating to the early 5th century BC, where Egyptian goods were found. However, the first literary evidence we have for a major Sabean port is from the 460s BC where the town of Hemastis is mentioned as being a flourishing port receiving goods from across the Mediterranean. Preserved cedar wood has also been found in Sabean houses from the time, which indicates trade with Lebanon.
Sabea grew in wealth and influence, and in the 350s several crossings were made into Africa. The local powers there gave little resistance, and the major power of Axum was busy with its own internecine combat to worry about Sabea. Several towns along the coast were burnt and several minor power holders declared loyalty to Sabea.
332 BC. Having received word of an invasion of Persia, King Hemashis II sends five ships up the Red Sea to meet with the Persian governor of Egypt. The ships carry 500 soldiers who are pledged to help Persia.
September 332: Battle of Gaza. Sabean soldiers are defeated and many captured. Alexander orders them to return to Ma’rib and bring word that Alexander of Macedon is their friend and will bring them great wealth if only they will switch sides in the war.
King Hemashis agrees, and sends 10 ships with 1,000 men to Egypt. By the time they arrive, Alexander has already taken the country. The Sabean commander places himself and his men under Alexander’s leadership and they participate in the campaigns to the east.
One of the 1,000 men is the King’s younger son, Melqat who serves in the Companions. They see the wonders of the Greek and Persian worlds, and when Alexander dies in Babylon in 323 BC the soldiers return to Sabea and Melqat is thoroughly hellenised. He is appointed leader of the ageing king’s armies while his elder brother is declared the heir to the throne. Melqat begins a reform of Sabea’s armies to re-build them in the style of a Macedonian phalanx.
The power vacuum left by the demise of Alexander causes his empire to be divided among his generals. It is decided in Sabea to cultivate good relations with whoever takes Egypt, who will certainly be their greatest trading partner. General Ptolemy takes Egypt and is greeted at Heliopolis by the High Priests of the Kingdom, the Nomarchs and an embassy from the South.
Ptolemy is most interested in the latter group, and they reach an agreement. They sign an alliance. The Sabeans give a loan to Ptolemy of 5,000 talents. Sabea is incredibly rich, and trade begins to flourish.
The various wars of Alexander’s successors were followed with keen interest in Sabea, yet it was their stated policy to support Ptolemy at any cost. Sabean arms lay silent yet Sabean gold did all the talking necessary. Ptolemy used this gold to hire thousands of mercenaries which let him conquer Syria with the aid of Seleucus and Lysimachus. The old lands of their rival Antigonas was partitioned, and Ptolemy received most of the coast up to Tarsus. Seleucus took all of Persia, Mesopotamia and Bactria while Lysimachus took Thrace and Western Asia Minor.
In the late 4th century BC Sabea began building large ships in the Greek style. In times of peace Ptolemy found himself strapped for cash- his armies too large and lying useless and his treasury empty from lack of booty and loan repayments, he would often sell of chunks of his navy. The Sabeans also used their great wealth to hire sailors- especially Phoenicians, to help found their navy.
By 300 they had a reasonably sized navy- most of which was bought from Egypt. They sailed south around the Horn of Africa, mapping far to the south. Some of the larger ones even made the perilous journey east to India. At first these were extremely rare and dangerous, yet the profits were so huge that many more men were encouraged to make the perilous crossing. By the early 3rd century ship designs had improved so that regular trade was possible and safe between India and Sabea.
In 296 Melqat, brother to the king, led an army of 4,000 soldiers armed in the Macedonian fashion north to subdue the Ubar people of southern Arabia. They stuck to oasis and watering spots, yet the heat was intolerable. The expedition was a dismal failure. Melqat barely escaped having stripped off his cumbersome armour with some 100 other men.
On his return he was pelted with stones and dung by the widows and children of those he had led to die. His brother, Hemashis III, had him resign his command and exiled him to Egypt. He lived in Alexandria in the Royal Palace, where he was given succour by the man he had befriended on campaign. He and Ptolemy had not forgotten each other’s company, and the old Pharaoh would often swap tall stories with Melqat about India and Bactria.
Melqat’s son followed him into exile as well. He had been named Makastis yet he swiftly changed his name to Demetrius. He swiftly befriended Ptolemy’s son, who was next in line to the throne. They shared a love of maths, science and literature. There was a difference, however. Demetrius had a love of warfare and strategy not seen since the death of Alexander. Ptolemy recognised Demetrius’s brilliance, and this would come in useful to them both later.
Hemashis III of Sabea reigned from 351-283 BC and these years saw the Kingdom move ever closer to the Hellenistic empires of the north. They also saw significant military activity, as the military was reformed for a second time. The Macedonian phalanx had proved unusable in Arabia’s arid conditions, the tight ranks of heavily armoured men caused many to expire from heat stroke and was unwieldy; especially against the nomads of Arabia’s interior.
With the exile of the King’s brother reform occurred faster. Melqat had been fixated on training vast armies of armoured phalangites; so once he was gone the way was open for changes. The cities of Sabea each maintained their own militia, with each settlement divided up into Districts, each district being responsible for manning part of the wall. These were previously responsible for their own upkeep and armament. In 294 however this was changed so that the State supplied arms to the militia, and that every male urbanite between the ages of 15 and 40 had to devote himself to two weeks of military activity every year. During this time his family was recompensed for the loss of a bread by the State.
The initial State-armed militia were poorly trained and poorly equipped. The crown had just purchased 100 ships from Ptolemy for 6,000 talents, and was therefore strapped for cash. The militia’s arms were therefore just wicker shields with ox hide covering the frame, and a bronze-tipped spear. There were, however, lots of them. It is recorded that in 292 some 10,000 men presented themselves for military service.
Throughout the 280s however they gradually improved. The Divisions were reorganised and got better training from instructors brought from Alexandria. Their weapons too gradually improved. Spears were tipped with iron and then supplemented with a sword. The wicker shields became bronze and their cloth caps became iron helmets. These militia soon became an effective fighting force- they drilled regularly and their equipment, although primitive, was of good quality and easy to maintain.
These militia fought in the style of Greek hoplites, with shorter spears and larger shields than their Macedonian counterparts. Unlike the Greeks, however, their helmets were open-faced and did not cover their ears, which meant that they were far more responsive and manoeuvrable. In 289 Divisions were finally reorganised so that they each contained 100 men. These modified hoplites served well in the arid interior, as their armour was light (generally boiled leather or lamella) and their equipment fairly light.
The new army was put to good use in the First Nubian War of 287-284. It began when the Nubian King of Meroe demanded that the coastal towns pay homage to him and to give tribute and accept military garrisons. The leaders of the towns, turning to Sabea, refused and pledged their loyalty to Ma’rib. The King- Arrakamanni III, then marched an army of 3,000 men east to conquer the towns. They were met outside the largest, Markanit, by a Royal delegation of Sabea. The King’s second cousin and some others demanded that the army turn back lest there be war. Arrakamanni refused, and so the lead delegate drew a line in the dirt between the two parties. He said that if any Nubian crossed the line there would be war. Arrakamanni, furious, threw his javelin across the line and it embedded itself a few feet from the Royal cousin.
The delegation withdrew across the sea and promised assistance to the beleaguered towns. They arrived in Ma’rib in August 287 and reported to Hemastis what had occurred. The King, angered by the Nubian’s insolence, demanded that the militia be mobilised and the Temple Guard be summoned. The fleet too was mobilised, however Nubia’s lack of coastline meant that its only role would be transportation.
In early 286 an army of 5,000 men led by Hemastis himself crossed the Red Sea and landed at Markanit, whose countryside had been ravaged by the Nubians. The leading men of the city listed their grievances to the King, beating their chests and wailing about burned crops, slaughtered livestock and ravaged women. Hemastis then replied that all these and more would be visited upon the people of Nubia, that for centuries her children would shiver and her women weep at the mentioning of his and his Kingdom’s name. He then set off to follow Arrakamanni, who had moved south.
Arrakamanni would be plagued by his kingdom’s lack of a port, and he would often fly into fits of rage when he saw Sabean ships glide past while he and his army sat impotently on the shore. Most of the coastal ports were walled, however a few of the more southerly ones were not. He therefore headed south, with Hemastis trailing him. Hemastis ordered that his fleet secure all the coast’s ports and land detachments of soldiers. It was hoped these would hold out long enough to prevent a port falling into Nubian hands.
The town of Suakin was an excellent defensive point, for the narrow inlet that was easily navigable and shielded the port from storms also formed an excellent moat. The town itself was built on a small island connected only to the mainland by a narrow spit of land. However, because of this excellent natural defence, the town lacked walls and so Arrakamanni attacked it vigorously.
In June of 286 he began the siege, with Hemastis around a week behind him. He had only a week to take the town, and so be moved fast. He ordered local cattle to be slaughtered and for their stomachs and other organs to be inflated and tied up to make floatation devices. He hoped that these would float his men across the placid waters.
The first crossing was made under cover of night, and was very successful. The night guards were killed before raising the alarm and the causeway, which was defended by two towers and a gate, was captured. Soon soldiers flooded into the town. The garrison, which numbered some 700, was forced to retreat and they made their stand in the north and holed themselves up in the town’s Temple. The civilian population too put up a stout resistance, as women and children threw tiles and rocks down onto the Nubians’ heads. This accompanied by frequent sallies made from the Temple stopped Arrakamanni in his tracks.
Meanwhile Hemastis, when he heard of the siege, made for Suakin with greater haste and was there after four days. He found the city in ruins and the Nubians making camp on the island itself. He therefore resolved to lay a counter-siege by encircling the island.
The Temple, fortunately for the defenders, backed against the water, and so it could be resupplied by sea. However, when Arrakamanni saw this he decided to attack by the water and then hold the island as a bargaining chip. He therefore sent his best men on floats around to the back of the Temple. They got inside and set upon those inside. While the fighting was fierce, Arrakamanni fought his way inside the precinct and a fierce battle was fought.
Hemastis, when he saw this, immediately sent his soldiers into the town in an all-out assault. He outnumbered Arrakamanni and so his men swarmed over the Nubians. Arrakamanni, when he saw that the Sabeans had overrun his own defences, surrendered. The terms of the truce were lenient- Arrakamanni would not violate the territory of Sabea or its allies and would pay tribute for ten years. In return he and his men would be granted safe passage to their own lands.
This was not to be, for once Arrakamanni was free and his surviving 2,000 men mustered once more, and with reinforcements of a further 1,000 he struck to the north, and took the small town of Tuavati. Hemastis marched north with 4,000 men while sending 1,000 men under his cousin to Nubia itself to ravage the country.
The Nubian campaign lasted the better part of a year, and the raiding parties reached the walls of Meroe several times. In the north, Hemastis eventually defeated Arrakamanni and, deciding not to take any more chances, gouged out his eyes. The blind king was sent back to Meroe where he was murdered by his own nobility. These then sued for peace from Sabea. The terms were harsh- the coastal cities were to be given their freedom and to be recognised as allies of Sabea, and a vast hinterland was to be made between the two powers. This arid land was populated mostly by hunter-gatherers who were swiftly brought over to the Sabean camp.
The First Nubian War had brought great victories for Hemastis, and he died a year later a great king. He left one son, who took the crown as King Yahannah I.
To the north, Ptolemy II ascended the throne in 289 and made Melqat his chief advisor. Melqat advocated a less belligerent policy towards the other successor states, and that Ptolemy should focus on Egypt, Africa, Syria and the Levant. Ptolemy built many forts in Syria and filled them with veterans, who were awarded with land and an annual stipend. Ptolemy then encouraged trade and learning, building canals and roads as well as extending the port of Sinai with huge stone jetties and wharves that could accommodate the larger ships passing north.
Yahannah proved himself a poor king. He lavished money on Temples, which made him popular with the people, yet weakened the army by rescinding the State supply of arms. He also ran the State incense industry badly, and a terrible disease killed most of 282’s crop, plunging the State into poverty. People began looking for alternate monarchs and one name kept being repeated.
In 281 Melqat was nearing sixty three, yet he was still popular and capable. He was therefore invited by a group of nobles and soldiers to take the crown. He accepted, and with Ptolemy’s backing he sailed down the Red Sea to the acclaim of the fleet. There was no opposition on his march to Ma’rib and he entered the city with little trouble. The Temple Guard however got in his way, demanding he hand himself over to them. When he refused they attacked. The battle raged for four hours in Mar’ib’s central marketplace. Finally the Temple Guard were defeated and Yahannah promptly disappeared. Melqat was made King of Sabea in May 281 and began his brief, but enlightened reign.
Melqat had, during his long exile, become thoroughly hellenised. When he took the crown and looked out upon his new kingdom he saw an ancient kingdom built on mud bricks and sweat. He sought to undo this and to create a land more Greek than Greece. He began building temples in the Greek style to Greek gods. The Sabeans were a Semitic people and worshipped the old gods of Ba’al, Marduk, El and Ishtar. These new temples built of dazzling white marble and filled with statues of naked heroes were not well thought of. Seen as radical and adolescent, respectable people stayed away from them. However, the Cult of Dionysis did gain many followers among the leisured classes, who would indulge themselves in wild drunken orgies.
Religion did not change, but culture certainly did. Sabean science was very primitive, although mathematics had advanced somewhat through the Priest’s fixation on the stars and the night sky. The introduction of Euclidean geometry and other mathematical theories aided in the creation of more accurate horoscopes and were swiftly adopted by the Priesthood. Engineering and technology advanced as well, as did philosophy. In 279 Melqat founded the Ma’rib library and museum, where educated men from across the Greek world were enticed to come and learn. This was meant to rival Melqat’s friend Ptolemy’s creation in Alexandria, yet it would never surpass its size or greatness.
The cultural renaissance brought on by this influx of Hellenic ideals changed Sabea irrevocably. Aristotle’s idea of the polis fitted in neatly with the city-based culture of the kingdom and Plato’s Republic sat well with the higher classes, and the informal class system that had been in existence for hundreds of years began to be codified. It soon became illegal to marry those of lower class to ones self and such elitist policies would be pursued for many years.
Melqat died in 278, much mourned and missed. He was entombed next to his brother Hemastis in a valley nearby Ma’rib. This valley had long been used for burials yet over the years older graves would be removed and replaced with grand Royal mausoleums. It was forbidden for anyone not in mourning to go there, and so became known as the Valley of Ash and Whispers, after the incense burnt over the tombs and the whispered prayers of mourners.
The new King was even more thoroughly hellenised than his father. King Demetrius I had been born in Egypt and had been raised in the Royal Palace there along with the future Ptolemy III. He kept up the pretence of worshipping the old gods, yet the Royal Chapel was cleared of the ancient statues of Ba’al and Marduk and these were replaced by a stone alter upon which live sacrifices were made to Apollo. Such stories shocked the common people, yet was only part of a long process of the upper classes migrating away from the old beliefs towards the Hellenic Gods.
Demetrius continued hellenisation, building schools and yet more temples that continued to stand empty. He was, unlike his father, a friend of the landed classes, and he authorised the sale of large areas of land in Africa to them for large sums of money. This land was used mainly to raise cattle, whose meat was salted and shipped to Sabea. The idea of cheap meat was a novel one to the arid country of Arabia, and demand was very high. A special salt tax was levied, and the State nationalised salt production. Thus vast amounts of money were made by the State and the landed classes while the common diet improved significantly.
To the north, the Macedonian Kingdom had conquered Thrace in the early 3rd century and had sent expeditions north of the Danube. Egypt had remained aloof, however Ptolemy had sent ambassadors to Carthage and to Rome, which was emerging as a local Italian power. Carthage, however, was still ascendant, and through Egypt Sabea made friendly contact with their cultural cousins. Soon trade and commerce flourished in a vast belt, from India to the Pillars of Herakles.
In 276 the Seleucid Empire invaded Syria. King Antiochus, seeking to rebuild his dismembered empire, crossed the Euphrates and marched south. The Ptolemies, however, had built many fortresses in the area which slowed down his advance to an extent that Ptolemy himself could arrive with 20,000 fresh troops and destroy the Seleucid army.
With humiliating defeat, Antiochus lost the control of many of his outlying provinces. Parthia revolted, and proclaimed its independence, as did Bactria. In Bactria, the Satrap Eumenes declared himself King and amassed a large army of horsemen, infantry and elephants. When Antiochus, attempting to make up for his losses, invaded Bactria in 280 he was defeated and nearly 4,000 men captured. Most of these switched sides and joined Eumenes. Antiochus himself was killed, and his empire plunged into anarchy. Eumenes, however, was not looking west, but south.
The Mauryan Empire was nearing the apex of its power, yet that power was one of confederation rather than of outright conquest. The King Bindusara ruled a vast swathe of the sub-continent yet only as primum inter pares and his large army was largely demobilised in Malwa, at the eastern edge of the Gangetic plain. India was vast and wealthy, with an advanced system of roads supported by the thousands of temples and ashrams that paid for the well being of their pilgrims. Trade with Greece and with Sabea was swift and frankincense, myrrh, cotton and silk were all highly valued.
The Graeco- Bactrian invasion of India and the Mauryan Empire would pass into legend, an adventure equal to that of Alexander of Agamemnon. The 40,000 men were drawn from every corner of the earth; there were Scythian noblemen fighting for plunder, conscript infantry fighting out of fear and there were mercenaries fighting for wealth. There were also 10,000 of Eumenes’s own soldiers, fighting for their lord and for glory.
The Mauryan Empire was ruled by Bindusara, whose capital in Magadha was far from the coming storm. Eumenes’s phalanxes swept aside the Indian princes and rulers of the north west, many of whom changed sides. The Mauryan Empire was highly decentralised, and Eumenes would often refer to Bindusara as Darius, and Magadha as Persopolis. The army swept down the Ganges and finally confronted Bindusara outside Mathura. Bindusara led 80,000 men, with war elephants and excellent archers that struck fear into the hearts of the Greeks.
Eumenes, however, deployed his light cavalry as a screen that scattered much of the Mauryan infantry. He then advanced his phalanx and crashed through the broken ranks. The elephants were loosed against his right wing, and they broke through the ranks there, killing many and routing many of the Scythian contingents. It was Eumenes himself who turned the battle, gouging the eyes of the lead elephant personally. He reformed his lines to present a wall of pikes which the elephants would not charge. The soldiers beat their shields together and thus scared the elephants, which were then routed by a volley of arrows.
The battle of Mathura saw the Mauryan Empire smashed in a single day. Bindusara himself was captured, and brought before Eumenes. Eumenes was graceful, and ordered that Bindusara be treated well. When he asked Bindusara how he wished to be treated, Bindusara replied’ As a King.’ This reply earned the defeated man his life and Eumenes ordered that he be spared. However, the Scythians who guarded him attempted to pull out his gold earrings, and he bled to death from the wounds they inflicted upon him.
The Indo-Greek Kingdom that was forged on that day would extend Hellenistic civilisation further than any other power. The fall of the Mauryan Empire fractured India once again, and Eumenes was swift to exploit this. Minor kings and princes soon flocked to his banner, and by 273 he controlled a vast swathe of land running from Bactria to the Bay of Bengal.
Eumenes ordered the construction of a new capital on the west coast of India, which he called Eumenopolis and from here he ruled for the next thirty years. He allied with the southern kingdoms, aware of his overstretched rule, and donated large sums of money to building Vedic and Buddhist temples. He sought to understand Indian culture, and so he devoted himself to learning Sanskrit. He also built courts and schools and hospitals, which all endeared him to the people. The Mauryan Empire had been large but the ruler had little impact upon the people. This new king was one that obviously cared for his people. He would pass into mythology in both Greek and Indian culture as a semi-divine dispenser of justice and wisdom.
The city-states of Africa, nominally loyal to Sabea, too began a new rebirth. They were little affected by the hellenising policies of Craterus, and so continued the worship of their old gods, African or Semitic depending upon geography. However, the commerce fostered meant that the produce of the interior: meat, gold, ivory, grain and slaves were all much more desired.
The formerly beleaguered city of Suakin had, after the war, grown into a prosperous city. The island upon which the city was built was more heavily defended, and the Temple was never restored as a reminder of what had occurred in those fateful weeks. The city had, however, emerged all the stronger. The influx of refugees from the First Nubian War swelled its size greatly, and the leaders of the city capped the price of grain, and then nationalised distribution entirely. Grain came in from the fertile lands of the Nile that had been opened up to trade since the end of the war, and now commerce flowed steadily between Suakin and Meroe.
In 269 the leaders of the city formalised its government. Inspired by the Greek ideal of the polis, there was a General Assembly of all adult male citizens. These elected Judges and leaders, who would form the Council of One Hundred. These would then elect ten to be the leaders of the city. The Council of One Hundred would also choose generals to lead the city’s armies, which although small were formed at the same time.
Suakin used its sheltered harbour and calm waters to become a commercial hub, serving as a stop off point between Sabea, India and Africa. She was punctilious, however, in her tribute to Sabea and the coins she minted would bear the head of the Sabean kind and the word ‘Basileus’ stamped on the reverse. The Suakin fleet was small and mostly merchant marine, yet her ships plied the trade roots between Cochin, Eumenopolis, Sabea and Sinai. The city founded its first colony on the Horn of Africa, a small city called Elamar, named for the God. It exported valuable turtle shells and pearls and also served as a stopping off point for merchants from India.
King Demetrius of Sabea had been astute in is diplomacy and during his exile had married his hellenised daughter (born and raised on the Mediterranean) to the future Ptolemy III. His hope was to unite Egypt and Sabea under one king who would rule the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. He kept his plans quiet, however, as he did not trust his nobility nor did he trust his own family, especially his young sons, from refusing his intended heir.
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