Haram (kingdom)

Major tribe and city-state in the Jawf valley that reached its zenith in the 8th-6th cent. BCE. It was centred on the city of Haram (Sab. Hrm^m, today Kharibat Hamdān/Kharibat āl ʿAlī). The city of Haram was a lasting ally of the kingdom of Sabaʾ.

In antiquity, Haram refers to a city, the surrounding territory and the tribe of its inhabitants (Robin 1992; Schiettecatte 2011). Despite its small territory, Haram thus formed an autonomous city-state, ruled by a king and with a specific pantheon (Yadaʿismuhū, Īl, Matabnaṭiyān, ʿAthtar Baʾsān). Like the other city-states of the Jawf valley, the language of Haram inscriptions is Minaic.

The first indirect mention of Haram dates from the 8th century BCE, when its tutelary deity, Yadaʿismuhu, is represented alongside the deities of the city-states of Jawf and the kingdom of Sabaʾ in the federal intra muros temple of Nashshān (Arbach & Audouin 2004). Three inscriptions from this period could refer to rulers of Haram: Yaharʾīl (Haram 3, 4), the builder of the Hadanān temple; Alīmhilāl Waqah (Haram 58), whose name appears on a throne; and Watarʾīl (e.g., YM 28823). In these texts, the title ‘king’ is not explicitly mentioned.

The absence of any mention of Haram in the military campaign led by the Sabaean ruler Yathaʿʾamar Watār against Kamna in the Jawf (ca. 715 BCE, DAI Ṣirwāḥ 2005-50) suggests that Haram was then an ally of Sabaʾ (Nebes 2016: 60-65).

In the early 7th cent. BCE, during the reign of Yadhmurmalik, Haram joined forces with the Sabaean ruler Karibʾīl Watār in his war against Awsān and Nashshān (RES 3945, Haram 15) (Robin 1996: 1121-1123; Arbach, Audouin & Robin 2004: 32-35). The victorious alliance allowed Haram to appoint a governor in the city-state of Nashshān and to be granted part of its territory.

During this period, the presence of a chief (kbr) of a community from Haram in ʿArarāt (today al-Asāḥil) (Haram 11) and in Ḥaḍramawt (Haram 12) suggests that the city may have played a role in the Sabean-dominated caravan trade.

In the 7th cent. BCE, the Sabaean ally seemed to strengthen its hold on the city-state: inscriptions are written in Sabaic and Almaqah, and the tutelary god of Sabaʾ is frequently invoked alongside the deities of Haram (Haram 5, 6, 7 — Robin 1992: 59).

In the following centuries, texts mentioning the names of Haram rulers become rarer. This could be a possible sign of a loss of influence on the political scene. Three rulers are known to date: Sumhūʾamar (YM 11231, YM 29938), Ilīkabīr Amar, first alone (al-Kāfir 3) and then in co-regency with Yashhurmalik Nabaṭ (FB-Haram 1, Tairan 2006), and finally Yashhurmalik ruling alone (Haram 2) (Arbach & Rossi 2020). According to palaeography, these reigns are dated to around the 6th-5th cent. BCE.

Around the 2nd-1st cent. BCE, the kings of Haram are mentioned again: Maʿdīkarib Raydān, son of Hawtarʿathat (Haram 47), and Dhamarkarib, author of a cursive inscription (X.BSB 107). This could be a sign of renewed political autonomy in the city of Haram.

The city of Haram then hosted a new population of diverse origins, in particular from the oasis of Najrān, the Amīr tribe (e.g., Haram 10), the Ḥanak tribe (Haram 53), or the East Arabian city Hagar (Haram 26). They introduced the cult of Ḥalfān, which replaced that of Matabnaṭiyān (e.g., CIH 440), and of dhu-Samāwī (e.g., Haram 31), as well as the use of Arabic language elements (e.g., Haram 8) (Robin 1992: 33-34).

The city-state of Haram was probably abandoned at the turn of the Common Era. The last texts from Haram are dated from the 1st or 2nd century CE (e.g., Haram 10).

List of the rulers of Haram

Mounir Arbach

See also Haram (site)

References and suggested reading

Sources

• X.BSB 107: Stein, P. 2010. Die altsüdarabischen Minuskelinschriften auf Holzstäbchen aus der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek in München. Bd. 1 Die Inschriften der mittel- und spätsabäischen Periode Verzeichnisse und Tafeln (EFAH, 5): 380–382. Tübingen: Wasmuth.

Studies

• Arbach, M. & R. Audouin 2004. Un panthéon de l’Arabie du Sud en images. Le temple I d’as-Sawdāʾ. Sana’a: CEFAS-FSD.
• Arbach, M., R. Audouin & C.J. Robin 2004. La découverte du temple d’Aranyadaʿ à Nashshān et la chronologie des Labu’īdes. Arabia 2: 23–41.
• Arbach, M. & I. Rossi 2020. Haram, cité antique du Jawf (Yémen) : quelques bribes de dix siècles d’histoire et nouveaux textes amīrites. Sem. Clas. 13: 19–47.
• Nebes, N. 2016. Der Tatenbericht des Yiṯaʿʾamar Watar bin Yakrubmalik aus Ṣirwāḥ (EFAH, 7). Tübingen, Berlin: Wasmuth.
• Robin, Ch. 1992. Inabbaʾ, Haram, al-Kāfir, Kamna et al-Ḥarāshif (Inventaire des Inscriptions sudarabiques, tome 1). Paris, Rome: AIBL, IsMEO.
• Robin, Ch. 1996. Sheba. II. Dans les inscriptions d’Arabie du Sud. Supplément au Dictionnaire de la Bible Fasc. 70: 1047–1254. Paris: Letouzey et Ané.
• Schiettecatte, J. 2011. D’Aden à Zafar. Villes d’Arabie du sud préislamique (O&M, 6). Paris: De Boccard.

_{Alternate spellings: Haramum, Hrm, Hrmm}