A new Qatabanian inscription from the reign of Shammar Yuharʿish dhū-Raydān and other new data on the history of the towns of Ẓafār and Maryamah at the end of the third century CE

Abstract

This paper examines a new Qatabanian inscription, of a construction nature, that was found at Hajar al-ʿĀdī in Wādī Ḥarīb, the site of the ancient town of Maryamah. This inscription is particularly important because its history dates back to the reign of a King Shammar Yuharʿish dhū-Raydān, considered to be Shammar Yuharʿish, the king of Sabaʾ and dhū-Raydān who ruled at the end of the third century CE. The inscription mentions the town of Ẓafār, the capital of Ḥimyar, and provides us with important data on the history of the kingdom of Qatabān, the history of the town of Maryamah, and the relationship of its people to the cities of the western and southern highlands during that important stage in the history of ancient Yemen. The hypothesis that the Shammar Yuharʿish dhū-Raydān mentioned in the inscriptions from Maryamah is the same Shammar dhū-Raydān from the inscription RES 4336 (to be dated 50–20 BC), as recently adopted by Christian Robin, will be discussed.