Fayshān

One of the two components of the kingdom of Sabaʾ, which is often called ‘Sabaʾ and Fayshān’. Fayshān appears to have no territory of its own and is said to be the name of a group of populations not belonging to Sabaʾ, but linked to the Sabaean crown. The earliest evidence of the name Fayshān goes back to the 8th century BCE, and it disappeared after the annexation of Sabaʾ by Ḥimyar (c. 275 CE). It was not retained by Arab traditionists of the Islamic period.

Fayshān is a Sabaean social group described as a tribe (s²ʿb) (Ja 558, Ja 629). It was mainly reported in Maʾrib, Ṣirwāḥ, Sana’a and the outskirts of the latter city, and did not seem to have a territory of its own. Four references allude to a “chief of Fayshān” (kbr Fys²n), three of them for the same individual, in the region of Maryab / Marib. Hypothetically, Fayshān would have been the tribal structure accommodating groups annexed by the kingdom of Sabaʾ, but not integrated into the Sabaʾ tribe (s²ʿb). A comparable dual structure is apparently found in the kingdom of Nabaṭ, which is occasionally called Nabaṭ and Salm (Nbṭw w-Šlmw, H 1/4 and comment).

The most numerous occurrences of Fayshān (nine mentions) are found in the locutions “the subjects [of the king] Sabaʾ and Fayshān" [ʾdm- S¹bʾ w-Fys²n] or "the tribe (s²ʿb) [of the king] Sabaʾ and Fayshān” (s²ʿb S¹bʾ w-Fys²n, Ry 540) or “the two tribes (s²ʿb) [of the king] Sabaʾ and Fayshān” (s²ʿby S¹bʾ w-Fys²n, Ir 24), which refer to the population of the kingdom of Sabaʾ, from the 3rd century BCE (CIH 562) to the 3rd century CE:

“This is the reason why obtained a favorable oracle Nashaʾkarib Yuʾmin Yurḥib king of Sabaʾ and dhu-Raydān son of Ilīsharaḥ Yaḥḍub and Yaʾzil Bayān king of Sabaʾ and dhu-Raydān and his subjects Sabaʾ and Fayshān and the princes of the tribes (s²ʿb) and [the people of] the valleys, of the [god] Almaqah Thahwān master of Awām...”* (MB 2002 I-28, 3rd cent. CE)

The expression is also used to refer to all the Sabeans of a specific city: “the tribe (s²ʿb) of Sabaʾ and Fayshān of the city of Shuʿūb^um” (Gl A 452, 1st cent. CE).

In a text, the Sabaean ruler issues a regulation for “his subjects Fayshān and Bakīl^um in Shibām [and Ahgur^um] of Mount Alāw » (CIH 126, ca. 3rd-2nd cent. BCE).

The name Fayshān is cited in the two founding inscriptions of the kingdom of Sabaʾ in the phrase ḥw-hw Fys²n, which seems to refer to populations recently annexed by Sabaʾ (DAI Ṣirwāḥ 2005-50 and RES 3946, ca. 700 and 675 BCE). The precise meaning of ḥw is not known.

Three normative texts of Ṣirwāḥ prior to the beginning of the Common era mention the “nobles (?) of Fayshān” (ʿhrw Fys²n) among the bodies that contribute to the elaboration of legal texts (CIH 601; CIH 955 + 418; RES 3951).

A few individuals proclaim to be Fayshānites. These are ‘clients of the king’ inhabitants of Sana’a (CIAS 39.11/o6 no. 5); inhabitants of the nearby town of Shuʿūb (DJE 13); and female clients of the banū Gurat (CIAS 39.11/o3 no. 6). The princes of the tribe (s²ʿb) Ayfaʿ (unlocated) also declare themselves “Fayshānites” (Ir 37). As for those of the tribe (s²ʿb) Yuhabʿil (unlocated), they call their tribe “Yuhabʿil” in their title, but “Fayshān and Yuhabʿil” in the text (Ja 629). All of the latter texts date from the Sabaeo-Raydānite period (1st-3rd centuries CE).

The last mentions of Fayshān are dated to ca. 300 CE, during the reign of king Shammar Yuharʿish. A prince of Ḥāshid^um and dhu-Raydat then adds ‘dhu-Fayshān’ to his lineage names: Shāfʿathat Ashwaʿ ibn Hamdān, dhu-Fayshān and Suʾrān (Ir 17). This addition was to emphasise that he had authority over the Fayshānites residing either in his tribe (s²ʿb) or in the whole region. The Ayfaʿ princes who proclaim to be “Fayshānites” (Ir 37) date from the same reign. It would seem that the annexation of Sabaʾ by Ḥimyar led to the disappearance of Fayshān.

Fayshān is also attested as a patronymic or lineage name on a Qatabānite funerary stele (T.03.C.T1.O/46). It is apparently the name of an agricultural plot in Haram 15. In the Arab-Muslim scholarly tradition, the name Fayshān has not been preserved. However, the root has been used to form some proper names: al-Fāʾish, al-Faysh and dhū Fāʾish.

Christian J. Robin

References and suggesting reading

Siglum

• H(egra) 1: Healey 1993.

Studies

• Healey, J.F. 1993. The Nabataean Tomb Inscriptions of Mada’in Salih (JSS Supplement, 1). Oxford University Press (on behalf of the University of Manchester): 68–80, fac-similé H 1 and photograph H 1.

_{Alternate spellings: Fayshân, Fayshan, Fys²n, Fyšn, Fysn}