Dhamārʿalī Yuhabbir

Ḥimyarite ruler who reigned in the middle of the 2nd century CE (ca. 135-165 AD).

Dhamarʿalī Yuhabirr (Ḏmrʿly Yhbr), son of Yāsir Yuhaṣdiq, ascended the Himyarite throne amidst clashes between Sabaʾ and Ḥimyar (Kh-al-Naʿīmīya 12, 13). The newly-ended Himyarite rule over the kingdom of Sabaʾ had lasted for more than a century.

The earliest mention of Dhamarʿalī Yuhabirr appears in an inscription dated to AD 136-137 (Kh-Umayma 1). Its author is a “commander” (mqtwy) of Dhamarʿalī Yuhabirr dhū-Raydān. Here, the latter does not bear the royal title.

No later than 159 CE, at the end of a troubled period during which all of the South Arabian kingdoms fought each other (Ja 629, Ir 4, MAFRAY-Sāriʿ 6, etc. — Robin 1992, Bron 2002), Dhamarʿalī Yuhabirr ascended the throne of Ḥimyar (al-Ḥadāʾ 2017-1, Arbach et al. 2021).

At a certain point during their reign, Dhamarʿalī Yuhabirr and his son Thaʾrān Yaʿub Yuhanʿim controlled Sabaean territory. This period is not precisely dated. Inscription RES 4775 + 4776 mentions that hydraulic works in the oasis of Maʾrib were undertaken by these kings. Four more inscriptions show members of the Sabaean aristocracy pledging allegiance to the Ḥimyarite king Dhamarʿalī Yuhabirr alone (Jabal Riyām 2006-19; CIH 365), or together with his son Thaʾrān (Ir 6; CIH 457). It is not possible to determine whether this corresponds to one or two different periods of the control of Sabaʾ by Ḥimyar. In the second century CE, the sharing of the Sabaean throne by the main Sabaean tribes of the northern highlands had clearly stirred up tensions between them. A reversal of alliances occurred, including temporary allegiance to the Ḥimyarite kings, going so far as to grant temporary control of part of the Sabaean territory by Ḥimyar. This episode did not appear to last. Two periods were particularly favourable to this reversal: either the end of the reign of Saʿdshamsum Asraʿ and his son Marthadum Yuhaḥmid (ca. 155 CE) or the interregna between Wahabʾīl Yaḥūz, Anmarum Yuhaʾmin, and Karibʾīl Watar Yuhanʿim, a period of frequent conflicts in Maʾrib (al-Jawf 04.15, Ja 564).

Dhamarʿalī Yuhabirr associated his son Thaʾrān Yaʿub with the throne. The latter succeeded him around 165 CE.

Mounir Arbach

References and suggested reading

• Arbach, M. & J. Schiettecatte 2017. Inscriptions sabéennes du Jabal Riyām (Yémen) et nouvel éclairage sur les rois de Saba’ au II^e siècle de l’ère chrétienne. Sem. Clas. 10: 179–193. DOI: 10.1484/J.SEC.5.114953.
• Arbach, M., J. Schiettecatte & M. al-Hajj 2021. The kingdom of Sabaʾ in the second century CE — A reassessment, in C. Darles, L. Khalidi & M. Arbach (eds) Contacts between South Arabia and the Horn of Africa from the Bronze Age to Islam: 69–84. Toulouse: PUM.
• Bron, F. 2002. La crise du royaume de Sabaʾ au II^e siècle de notre ère. Orientalia 71–4: 417–423.
• Robin, C.J. 1992. Guerre et épidémie dans les royaumes d’Arabie du Sud d’après une inscription datée (II^e siècle de l’ère chrétienne). CRAI 1992: 215–234.

_{Alternate spellings: Dhamārʿalī Yuhabir, Dhamar’ali Yuhabbir, Dhamar’ali Yuhabir}