Yemen is one of the most ancient civilizations in the Near East. Starting from the 8th century B.C. to the 6th century A.D., the Yemeni lands embraced abundant ancient kingdoms, among them: Saba, Qataban, Ma’in and others.
Sheba, or Saba[1], a kingdom which goes back to 1200 B.C., it is best known by the biblical and qur’anic narrative which relates the story of “Queen of Sheba and King Solomon”. However, Saba civilization and its queen are archeologically proved, while “King Solomon” is still a myth that science could not prove his existence till the moment.
The Sabaean people spoke their own language which is considered one of the sources of modern Arabic. It is a written semitic language, which belongs to the Afroasiatic languages. Sabaean tribes were involved in spice trade[2], bringing wealth, and managing to initiate their own civilization.
Religion and Mythology:
It is sad that Yemen undergoes wars and destruction[3], which damaged its historical sites and stalled science to acquire more information through further discoveries. Phases of peace are rare in the modern Yemeni history,[4] hence, it is not a location that is suitable for weighty scientific researches.[5]
Another aspect that hinders an objective view of the Yemeni religious history, is that it is too honored by the Abrahamic religions, to the extent that a rational, scientific study is encircled by a biased point of view.
According to the Arab heritage,[6] Sabaean people “used to worship moon, sun and Venus” and it is probable that their religion is close to the Mesopotamia’s doctrine.[7]
Unfortunately, the existence of Abrahamic religions, notably Islam, obliterated the traces of their gods and deities, despite the presence of temples and manuscripts.[8]
Nevertheless, Arab researchers acknowledge that the Sabaean religions comprised a lot of common features with Islam; like rituals of pilgrimage, purification rites, some aspects of penal code like cutting the right hand of a thief, stoning adulteress. etc.[9]
Other influences:
As it shows, the Saba kingdom is more ancient that Abrahamic religions, thus, it has its influence on both Islam and Judaism. An impact that is clear in the sacred texts of both religions.
Saba is cited many times in the Baha’i texts referring to its people religious practice. A mention that reveres the Sabaean religion which was taught by an educator sent by God. They have also been mentioned in the book Secrets of Divine Civilization by `Abdu’l-Bahá’[10] as those peoples who have possibly contributed to the basics of the science of logic.
This concept conforms with the Islamic one, as it is attributed to the Prophet of Islam a saying which stipulates: “Good belief is Yemeni and Wisdom is Yemeni.”[11]
Other Kingdoms:
Ma’īn, Qatabān, Hadhramaut, Kingdom of Awsan, and the Himyarite Kingdom. All are surrounded by circumstances that obscure their history and prevent scientists from achieving more findings.
Sanaa Quranic Manuscript:
Throughout the reconstructions of the Great Mosque of Sanaa in 1972, building labors were renewing the loft. They came across great amounts of depreciated material in the attic places which were exposed to be old scripts and parchments, secreted away. It turned to be the Sanaa Quranic manuscripts, the most ancient copy of Quran.[12]
A radiocarbon analysis has dated the parchment of one of the detached leaves sold at auction, and hence its lower text, to between 578 CE and 669 CE with a 95% accuracy.[13]
The parchments comprise two layers of writings: upper and lower texts. It seems that the writer erased a version and rewrote another version. The upper layer conforms with the Ottoman Quran, while the lower layer slightly differs in phrasing.
According to the Islamic history, this copy was written during the chiefhood of Ali Ibn Abi Taleb, the Prophet’s cousin, to Yemen.
A Call for the World:
The Yemeni land is accumulated with historical and cultural treasures, but unluckily, this land and its ancient people are suffering inhuman conditions because of the war. Consequently, humanity is losing crucial evidence for its origins and history.
[1] https://www.worldhistory.org/Kingdom_of_Saba/
[2] https://blog.cabi.org/2022/02/14/history-spice-trade/
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemeni_Civil_War_%282014%E2%80%93present%29
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_history_of_Yemen#:~:text=The%20modern%20history%20of%20Yemen%20began%20with%20the,of%20Yemen%20gained%20independence%20from%20the%20Ottoman%20Empire.
[5] https://www.saba.ye/en/news3103841.htm#:~:text=The%20aggression%20in%20Yemen%20has%2C%20over%20the%20last,city%20of%20Taiz.%20Yemen%E2%80%99s%20tourism%20industry%20has%20died.
[6] https://www.arabnews.com/tags/yemen-heritage
[7] https://religion.fandom.com/wiki/Mesopotamian_religion#:~:text=Commonly%20thought%20of%20as%20a%20form%20of%20paganism%2C,Assyria%2C%20Assur%2C%20Nineveh%2C%20Ur%2C%20Uruk%2C%20Mari%20and%20Babylon.
[8] https://www.taree5com.com/%D9%85%D9%85%D9%84%D9%83%D8%A9-%D8%B3%D8%A8%D8%A31/
[9] https://www.noor-book.com/%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AE-%D9%86%D8%AC%D8%AF-%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%88%D8%AF-%D8%B4%D9%83%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%88%D8%B3%D9%8A-pdf
[10] https://bahai-library.com/abdul-baha_divine_philosophy&chapter=all
[11] https://hadeethenc.com/ar/browse/hadith/10414#:~:text=%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B1%D8%AD%20%D9%82%D9%88%D9%84%D9%87%3A%20%C2%AB%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D9%8A%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86%20%D9%8A%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%83%D9%85%D8%A9%20%D9%8A%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A9%C2%BB%20%D8%A7%D8%AE%D8%AA%D9%84%D9%81%20%D9%81%D9%8A,%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%A8%D9%8A%20-%D8%B5%D9%84%D9%89%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87%20%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%87%20%D9%88%D8%B3%D9%84%D9%85-%20%D9%88%D9%87%D9%88%20%D8%AD%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%A6%D8%B0%20%D8%A8%D8%AA%D8%A8%D9%88%D9%83.
[12] https://www.abrahamicstudyhall.org/2021/10/21/sana%CA%BDa-manuscript-the-oldest-quran-in-existence/
[13] https://www.historicmysteries.com/sanaa-quran/#:~:text=The%20Sanaa%20Quran%20is%20one%20of%20the%20oldest,manuscript%20was%20confirmed%20to%20be%20a%20palimpsest%20Quran.
