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{{Short description|Ancient South Arabian kingdom}} {{redirect|Sabaeans||Sheba (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox former country | image_map = Yemen 100 BC.svg | map_width = 250px | map_caption = Map of Sheba in blue in [[South Arabia]] | capital = [[Marib]]<br />[[Sanaa]]{{sfn|Robin|2002|p=51}}{{sfn|Hoyland|2002|p=47}} | official_languages = [[Sabaic]] | religion = [[Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia#South Arabia|South Arabian polytheism]] | demonym = [[#Society|Sabaeans]] | government_type = [[Monarchy]] | year_end = 275 CE | year_start = ~1000 BCE | title_leader = [[Mukarrib]] ([[List of rulers of Saba and Himyar|list of rulers]]) | year_leader1 = 730–710 BCE | leader1 = [[Yatha' Amar Watar]] | year_leader2 = 620–600 BCE | leader2 = [[Karib'il Watar]] | year_leader3 = 120–130 CE | leader3 = [[Ilīsharaḥ Yaḥḍub I]] | s1 = Himyar | s2 = Dʿmt | today = '''South Arabia'''<br/>{{flag|Yemen}}<br/>'''Horn of Africa'''<br/>{{flag|Eritrea}}<br/>{{flag|Ethiopia}} | conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Sheba<br/> Kingdom of Saba | common_name = Sheba<br/> Saba | native_name = {{Script|Sarb|𐩪𐩨𐩱}} ([[Sabaic]]) <br />{{Lang|ar|سبأ}} ([[Arabic]]) | image_coat = Sabaen kingdom’s coat of arms (cropped).jpg | symbol_type = Emblem }} {{History of Yemen}} '''Sheba''',{{efn|{{IPAc-en|ˈ|ʃ|iː|b|ə}}; {{langx|he|שְׁבָא|Šəḇāʾ}};}} or '''Saba''',{{efn|{{Langx|xsa|𐩪𐩨𐩱|translit=SBʾ}}; {{langx|ar|سبأ|Sabaʾ}}; {{Langx|gez|ሳባ|Sabaʾ|label=[[Geʽez]]}}; ~1000 BCE – 275 CE}} was an ancient [[South Arabian kingdoms in pre-Islamic Arabia|South Arabian kingdom]] that existed in [[Yemen (region)|Yemen]] from {{Circa|1000 BCE}} to {{Circa|275 CE}}.<ref name="British Museum">{{cite web |title=The kingdoms of ancient South Arabia |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/online_tours/middle_east/ancient_south_arabia/the_kingdoms_of_ancient_south.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150504061448/https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/online_tours/middle_east/ancient_south_arabia/the_kingdoms_of_ancient_south.aspx |archive-date=May 4, 2015 |access-date=2013-02-22 |publisher=[[British Museum]]}}</ref> Its inhabitants were the Sabaeans,{{Efn|{{langx|xsa|{{script|Sarb|𐩪𐩨𐩱}}|{{sc|s¹bʾ}}}}; {{langx|ar|ٱلسَّبَئِيُّوْن|as-Sabaʾiyyūn}}; {{langx|he|סְבָאִים|Səḇāʾīm}}}} who, as a people, were indissociable from the kingdom itself for much of the 1st millennium BCE.{{Sfn|Schiettecatte|2024}} Modern historians agree that the heartland of the Sabaean civilization was located in the region around [[Marib]] and [[Sirwah]].<ref>Michael Wood, [https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/cultures/sheba_01.shtml "The Queen Of Sheba"], BBC History.</ref>{{sfn|Nebes|2023|p=299}} In some periods, they expanded to much of [[Yemen|modern Yemen]]{{Sfn|Schiettecatte|2024}} and even parts of the [[Horn of Africa]], particularly [[Eritrea]] and [[Ethiopia]].{{sfn|Nebes|2023|pp=348, 350}} The kingdom's native language was [[Sabaic]], which was a variety of [[Old South Arabian]].<ref name="munro-hay2">[[Stuart Munro-Hay]], ''Aksum: An African Civilization of Late Antiquity'', 1991.</ref> Among [[South Arabia|South Arabians]] and [[Abyssinia|Abyssinians]],{{sfn|Nebes|2023|p=332}}{{sfn|Stein|2024|pp=4–5}} Sheba's name carried prestige, as it was widely considered to be the birthplace of South Arabian civilization as a whole.{{Sfn|Robin|2002|pp=56–57}} The first Sabaean kingdom lasted from the 8th century BCE to the 1st century BCE: this kingdom can be divided into the "[[mukarrib]]" period, where it reigned supreme over all of South Arabia; and the "kingly" period, a long period of decline to the neighbouring kingdoms of [[Ma'in]], [[Kingdom of Hadhramaut|Hadhramaut]], and [[Qataban]], ultimately ending when a newer neighbour, [[Himyar]], annexed them.{{Sfn|Arbach|Rossi|2022|pp=40–41}} Sheba was originally confined to the region of Marib (its capital city) and its surroundings. At its height, it encompassed much of the southwestern parts of the [[Arabian Peninsula]] before eventually declining to the regions of Marib. However, it re-emerged from the 1st to 3rd centuries CE. During this time, a secondary capital was founded at [[Sanaa]], which is also the capital city of modern Yemen. Around 275 CE, the Sabaean civilization came to a permanent end in the aftermath of another Himyarite annexation.{{Sfn|Robin|2002|p=51}}{{Sfn|Arbach|Rossi|2022|pp=40–41}} The Sabaeans, like the other South Arabian kingdoms of their time, took part in the extremely lucrative [[spice trade]], especially including [[frankincense]] and [[myrrh]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Yemen | Facts, History & News |url=https://www.infoplease.com/world/countries/yemen |website=InfoPlease}}</ref> They left behind many inscriptions in the monumental [[Ancient South Arabian script]], as well as numerous documents in the related cursive [[Ancient South Arabian script#Zabūr|Zabūr script]]. Their interaction with African societies in the Horn is attested by numerous traces, including inscriptions and temples dating back to the [[Sabaeans in the Horn of Africa|Sabaean presence in Africa]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Japp |first1=Sarah |last2=Gerlach |first2=Iris |last3=Hitgen |first3=Holger |last4=Schnelle |first4=Mike |date=2011 |title=Yeha and Hawelti: cultural contacts between Sabaʾ and DʿMT — New research by the German Archaeological Institute in Ethiopia |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41622129 |journal=Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies |volume=41 |pages=145–160 |issn=0308-8421 |jstor=41622129}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Prioletta |first1=Alessia |last2=Robin |first2=Christian Julien |last3=Schiettecatte |first3=Jérémie |last4=Gajda |first4=Iwona |last5=Nuʿmān |first5=Khaldūn Hazzāʿ |date=2021 |title=Sabaeans on the Somali coast |url=https://www.academia.edu/94889399 |journal=Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy |volume=32 |issue=S1 |pages=328–339 |doi=10.1111/aae.12202 |issn=1600-0471}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Robin |first1=Christian Julien |last2=Prioletta |first2=Alessia |last3=Schiettecatte |first3=Jérémie |last4=Gajda |first4=Iwona |last5=Nuʿmān |first5=Khaldūn Hazzāʿ |date=2021 |title=Des Sabéens dans la Corne de l'Afrique (Somalie du Nord) vers les VIIIe-VIIe siècles av. l'ère chrétienne |url=https://shs.hal.science/halshs-04135613/ |journal=Comptes-rendus des séances de l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres |volume=2021 |issue=1 |pages=4–49 |doi=10.2143/CRA.2021.1.0000001 |issn=0065-0536 |language=fr}}</ref> The [[Hebrew Bible]] mentions the kingdom in a story describing the interactions between [[Solomon|King Solomon of Israel]] and a supposed [[Queen of Sheba]]. This narrative is co-opted by the [[Quran]] (not to be confused with the [[Sabians]]).<ref>{{cite book |last=Burrowes |first=Robert D. |title=Historical Dictionary of Yemen |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-0810855281 |page=319}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=St. John Simpson |title=Queen of Sheba: treasures from ancient Yemen |publisher=[[British Museum Press]] |year=2002 |isbn=0714111511 |page=8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Kitchen |first=Kenneth Anderson |url=https://archive.org/details/onreliabilityold00kitc |title=On the Reliability of the Old Testament |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |year=2003 |isbn=0802849601 |page=116 |url-access=limited}}</ref> However, the [[Historicity of the Bible|historicity of the Hebrew Bible's account]] has been challenged by some historians due to a lack of sufficient evidence, although recent research has indicated that the kingdom was involved in the [[incense trade route]] as early in its history as the time of Solomon's reign.<ref>{{cite book |title=Ben ‘Ever La‘Arav VI: Contacts between Arabic Literature and Jewish Literature in the Middle Ages and Modern Times. A Collection of Studies Dedicated to Prof. Yosef Tobi on the Occasion of his Retirement |last=Lemaire |first=André |location=Haifa |publisher=University of Haifa |year=2014 |pages=xi–xxxiv |editor-last=Hussein |editor-first=Ali A. |chapter=The Queen of Sheba and the Trade Between South Arabia and Judah |editor-last2=Oettinger |editor-first2=Ayelet}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Sprachen in Palästina im 2. und 1. Jahrtausend v. Chr. |last=Stein |first=Peter |publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag |year=2017 |isbn=978-3-447-10780-8 |page=113 |language=de |editor-last=Hübner |editor-first=Ulrich |series=Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins |volume=43 |chapter=Sabäer in Juda, Juden in Saba. Sprach- und Kulturkontakt zwischen Südarabien und Palästina in der Antike |editor-last2=Niehr |editor-first2=Herbert}}</ref> Traditions concerning the legacy of the Queen of Sheba feature extensively in [[Ethiopian Christianity]], particularly [[Orthodox Tewahedo]], and among [[Yemenis]] today. She is left unnamed in Jewish tradition, but is known as ''Makeda'' in Ethiopian tradition and as ''Bilqis'' in Arab and Islamic tradition. According to the Jewish historian [[Josephus]], Sheba was the home of [[Tharbis|Princess Tharbis]], a [[Cushite people|Cushite]] who is said to have been the wife of [[Moses]] before he married [[Zipporah]]. Some [[Tafsir|Quranic exegetes]] identified Sheba with the [[People of Tubba]].<ref name="Brannon2002" />
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