Karib'il Watar I.

Karib'il Watar I. bin Dhamarʿali ( Sabaean krbʾl wtr bn Ḏmrʿly , according to an older census Karib'il Watar I and Karib'il Watar II; also Karib'il Watar the Great ), son of Dhamar'ali I , was probably the most important ruler of the early days of the old South Arabian empire of Saba . His reign is mostly in the early 7th century BC. BC.

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Smaller inscriptions from Karib'il Watar include building inscriptions in the city walls of 'Araratum (today al-Asahil) and Katalum 50 km west-north-west of Marib , a pompous stele from a temple on Jabal al-Laudh on the northeast edge of the Jauf and a stele, to name the Karib'ils ownership of fields marked near Marib.

Above all, however, he left behind two long reports (cited as RES 3945 and RES 3946), which are located in the inner courtyard of the Almaqah temple built by Yada'il Dharih I in Sirwah and which were first copied by Eduard Glaser . The first text reports on the construction of irrigation systems and the military campaigns, the second on construction work and land acquired. They give important insights into both Karib'il's politics and the political situation in southern Arabia at that time. The presumption that the anonymous report RES 3943 also came from Karib'il Watar is rejected today. In addition to Sabaean inscriptions, at least two inscriptions from the Jauf Karib'il also mention . The assignment of numerous private inscriptions that only mention the ruler's name "Karib'il" is uncertain, so that an assignment to Karib'il Watar I. is possible, but not mandatory.

Chronological classification

In addition to the localization of many places, the chronological classification of Karib'il Watar also creates problems. Fritz Hommel identified him at the end of the 19th century with the caribilu , which, according to Assyrian tradition, brought tribute in 685. Nikolaus Rhodokanakis , on the other hand, considered it the last bearer of the title “ Mukarrib ”, which is why he dated it to the 5th century BC. For paleographical reasons, William Foxwell Albright and after him Hermann von Wissmann therefore initially distinguished two bearers of the name Karib'il Watar bin Dhamar'ali: the first is said to be at the beginning of the 7th century, the second in the early 5th century BC . BC, the former attributed the expansion of the cities of 'Araratum and Katalum as well as the mention in Assyrian sources, on the latter, however, the two reports from Sirwah are said to go back. As part of the so-called "Short Chronology", Jacqueline Pirenne reunited both bearers of the name Karib'il Watar and dated them to the 5th century. In his last work, Hermann von Wissmann, the most important exponent of the so-called “Long Chronology”, accepted this theory, but dated Karib'il to the 7th century. A decision in favor of one of these options has not yet been made, but recently the Long Chronology has mainly been used, which is why Karib'il was probably between 700 and 450 BC. May be set.

government

War on Ausan

Karib'il Watar's war against Ausan (legend: green: Saba's allies, red / orange: area with annexations of property of the Ausanian king, fire: destroyed city)

As far as the reports indicate, Karib'il's government was mainly shaped by the war against Saba's southern neighbor Ausan and his vassals. It is generally assumed that the first report of the facts reproduces the order of the campaigns, which of course seems a bit doubtful, since Karib'il must then have undertaken alternate campaigns in areas far apart from one another.

The Ausan empire had conquered large parts of Saba's vassals from Hadramaut and Qataban . Perhaps in order to eliminate Ausan's vassals in the west, Karib'il Watar first undertook a campaign to the southwest, in which he gave up the areas of Sa'd, Nuqbat, Ma'afir, Zabir, Zulm, Arway, Dhubhan and Schar, which - as far as is known - between Sanaa and the Bab al-Mandab lay, defeated, and incorporated a fortress that could not be precisely located and an irrigation system Saba. According to Karib'il's report, 3,000 enemies died and 8,000 were taken prisoner during this campaign.

This was followed by the actual war against Ausan, in which Karib'il, with the support of Hadramaut, Qataban and the city-states of Haram and probably also Kaminahu, crossed the Ausanian heartland of Wusr from west to east to Wadi Maifa'a , then turned north in the Gurdan, which apparently actually belongs to Hadramaut (today Wadi Jirdan ). Only then did the Sabaean army defeat the Ausanian king in Dathina on the coast and destroy the Ausanian coastal cities. The last defeat suffered the Ausanian king Muratta ' in Wusr. Karib'il had his palace Masvar destroyed and certain inscriptions removed.

Strangely enough, the annexation of the Sarum and Humdan areas, which are far to the north near Najran , is now reported, but the former could also be located south of Marib and thus on the Sabaean-Ausanian border.

Although Karib'il had already defeated the area west of Ausan in the first campaign, he now led another campaign in this direction, in which he defeated the areas of Dahas and Tubanay north of Aden and connected Dathina Saba, while the former Ausanian landscape 'Aud dem King of Dahas, who was allowed to remain in office, handed over.

Then the first report of the facts brings a long list of annexed Ausanian cities and areas. As a result, while the Ausanian heartland fell to Saba, the territories occupied by Ausan were returned to the allies Qataban and Hadramaut.

More campaigns

Apparently not related to the war against Ausan are some other campaigns. The first of them was directed against Kahad von Saut in the west of the Hadramaut, who had apparently attacked Saba's allies.

With the support of the city-states of Haram and Kaminahu in Jauf , Saba attacked their neighbor Naschān , who had apparently fought against Ausan on Saba's side, destroyed it after two years of siege along with two other places in Jauf and plundered its oases. This campaign is also known from an inscription from a temple in Haram, in which a certain Ḥnbṣm bin Ḥlwm mentions that the king of Haram had commissioned him to lead the Haramite army in the war against Ausan and against Naschan.

Apparently this campaign was not permanent, however, because Karib'il undertook a second campaign in which he besieged Naschan and the neighboring city of Naschq for three years and finally conquered them. The areas that Sumhuyafa had previously received from Naschan from Saba were confiscated, cities belonging to Naschan were attached to Saba, Naschan's walls were razed and the royal palace 'Afrawu was destroyed. In the middle of the city, a temple of the Sabaean god Almaqah was built and Sabaeans settled there. The allied kings Yadhmurmalik of Haram and Nabat'aliy of Kaminahu were rewarded with some irrigation systems from Naschan. Naschq, on the other hand, was newly fortified and settled by Sabaeans.

The cities of Yadhun, Guzbat and 'Arab cannot be located, which, like Sabl, Haram and Fananan, whose inhabitants had killed Karib'il's guardians in Dahr north of Sanaa and which were conquered, paid tribute and partly destroyed during another campaign. The last campaign was finally directed against the Muha'mir , Amir and 'Auhab who lived near Najran , with the Najran Saba oasis being incorporated and the Muha'mir being made tribute. With that, Saba had taken control of the beginning of the Incense Route ; if Karib'il Watar should be identical with the Sabaean ruler Karibilu, known from Assyrian sources , the tribute delivered to the Assyrians could have served to secure control of the Incense Route.

Construction work and other acts

Karib'il not only fought numerous wars, but also undertook a large number of construction works. So he repaired and expanded the irrigation systems in the Sabaean capital Marib . He also fortified a considerable number of towns in Saba, Ausan, the Ausan-occupied part of Qataban, and in Jauf . In addition, he performed the superstructure of the Salh Palace, probably the later Salhin Palace in Marib, and acquired countless goods around Marib. The fact that Karib'il Watar created stonemasonry schools is too inadequately secured to be considered safe.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Inscriptions: Philby 133, Glaser 1657
2. ↑ Inscriptions Philby 16, Philby 25, Glaser 1550, Glaser A 776, Glaser A 775?, Glaser A 777?
3. ↑ Ryckmans 586
4. ↑ Albert Jamme: Inscriptions de alentours de Mâreb , in: Cahiers de Byrsa 5, 1955, pp. 271 ff., No. 541 (cited as: Ja 541)
5. ↑ The story of Sabaʾ II , see bibliography
6. ↑ Pleading for the 5th century - in the context of the Long Chronology - Kenneth A. Kitchen ( Documentation for Ancient Arabia I, Liverpool 1994, pp. 246–47 ISBN 0-85323-359-4 )
7. ↑ The northern localization was first represented by A. Grohmann (see bibliography), while Walter W. Müller (see bibliography) suggested the second localization.
8. ↑ Cf. the pompous stele as-Sawda 88 set by the Naschanite 'Ammsama (number according to CSAI )
9. ↑ Ch. Robin: Inventaire des inscriptions sudarabiques. Tome 1. Inabbaʾ, Haram, al-Kafir, Kamna et al-Harashif , Paris-Rome 1992, pp. 82-85; cf. fig. 1, p. 19th
10. ↑ Hermann von Wissmann: The story of Sabaʾ II. (See bibliography), pp. 176–177

literature

Overview works

• Klaus Schippmann : History of the old South Arabian empires , Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1998 ISBN 3-534-11623-2 (for the chronology of old South Arabia see pp. 32–49)
• Walter W. Müller (ed.) / Hermann von Wissmann : The story of Sabaʾ II. The great empire of the Sabaeans up to its end in the early 4th century BC. Chr. (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Philosophy and historic Class Proceedings, Vol 402nd) Publisher of Austrian Academy of Sciences Vienna, 1982 ISBN 3700105169 (At Karib'il Watars government, its chronological classification and localization of some places: S. 108- 113 and 150–177)

Special literature

• Walter W. Müller : Old South Arabic and early North Arabic inscriptions , in: O. Kaiser (Ed.): Texts from the environment of the Old Testament Volume I, delivery 6 . 1985 pp. 651–667 (on p. 651–658: latest translation of the first victory report with references)
• Alfred Felix Landon Beeston : Sabaean Inscriptions , Oxford 1937 (treatment of the crime report: pp. 59–71)
• Hermann von Wissmann , Maria Höfner : Contributions to the historical geography of pre-Islamic South Arabia (treatises of the humanities and social science class of the Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz, born in 1952, no. 4). Verlag der Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur in Mainz, Mainz 1953 (most important work on the identification of place names in the Karib'il crime reports)
• Nikolaus Rhodokanakis: Old Sabaean Texts I (Academy of Sciences in Vienna, Philosophical-Historical Class, Session Reports, Volume 206, 2nd Treatise). Holder-Pichler-Tempsky, Vienna / Leipzig 1927 (First Edition and extensively annotated translation of both acts Reports: pp. 19-96 see For identification of many place names the notes. Historical and geographical observations to Eq 418/419, 1000A, B. By Adolf Grohmann )

predecessor	Office	successor
Yitha'amar Bayyin II	Mukrib from Saba 7th century BC Chr.	Yada'ab II.