Book of the Himyars

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The Book of the Himyars is a fragmentary Syrian Nestorian work in the Syrian language that reports on the persecution of Christians in Himyar at the beginning of the 6th century, the martyrdoms of those persecuted and the intervention of the Christian Aksumite Empire . It is only preserved in the remains of a single manuscript from the 10th century. According to the editor, Axel Moberg (1872–1955), the work is authentic and dates from the 6th century. Both the author and the original title are unknown; the title commonly used today comes from Moberg.

Handwriting

The book of the Himyars is known only through almost 60 parchment fragments, which were found in 1920 in the cover of a Syrian manuscript with liturgical content from the 15th century. The fragments belong to an older manuscript which contained at least the book of the Himyars as well as a theological treatise and which was written by a certain Stephanos around 930 in the Syrian language and a regular Jacobite script ; the completion of the book of the Himyars is dated April 10, 932 ( Nisan 10, 1243 of the Seleucid era ).

Structure and content

The book originally consisted of 49 chapters, plus a foreword, a table of contents and a colophon . First the book reported in no longer preserved chapters about the spread of Judaism and Christianity in Himyar. Then the first persecution of Christians is discussed , which at the request of the Himyarian bishop Thomas of Najran is ended by an invasion of the Aksumites under Haywana (Ḥywnʾ). After his retreat, the new Jewish King Masruq in Himyar led to further persecution of Christians, the cruel course of which is reported in detail. First he had the churches in the Himyarian capital Zafar destroyed and the Aksumites living there murdered, then he besieged the city of Najran and had Christians living there killed and also persecuted the Christians in the "cities" of Hadramaut and Marib . Even after Masruq's withdrawal from Najran, the Christians there continued to be persecuted. The book goes into detail on the martyrdoms of individuals (Zerxyba and Elishba) and contains two lists of martyrs. At the request of the Himyarian Christians, a new invasion of the Aksumites under King Caleb , interpreted as a punishment from God, takes place, who frees the persecuted Christians. He forgives the Christians who have denied their faith, has churches built and priests consecrated, appoints a Christian king from the Himyar royal family and returns to Ethiopia.

Historical background

The political events depicted in the book of the Himyars are also known from other Christian and Islamic sources as well as from Himyar inscriptions . The first Aksumite invasion of Himyar was believed to have occurred in AD 518. The Jewish king Masruq, known from himyarian inscriptions as Yusuf Asʾar Yathʾar and from Islamic tradition as Dhu Nuwas , had the himyar throne shortly before this event. The persecution of the Aksumites and the Himyar Christians as well as the conquest of Najran can probably be dated to 523 through contemporary inscriptions and later traditions. The invasion of Caleb, whose original name was Ella Asbeha , took place in the summer of 525 and led to the establishment of Christianity in southern Arabia and the establishment of the puppet king Sumyafa Aschwa (525-536).

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Paul Yule: Himyar – Spätantike im Yemen / Late Antique Yemen. Linden Soft, Aichwald 2007. ISBN 3-929290-35-9 , p. 50 f.