Nashshān [Kingdom and tribe]

In the 8th-6th centuries BCE, Nashshān (Sab. Ns²n) was an important tribe and city-state in the Jawf valley (modern Kharibat al-Sawdāʾ). The tribe of Nashshān lost this political independence in the course of the 4th century BCE by successively passing under the authority of the kingdoms of Maʿīn and then of Sabaʾ.

Large gaps still remain in the early history of Nashshān. The earliest known historical inscriptions date from the 8th century BCE.

A powerful city-state (8th century BCE)

The city-state of Nashshān formed a small and powerful kingdom in the Jawf valley, with a territory including the neighbouring city of Nashq (now al-Bayḍāʾ), the cities of Qawm, Gawʿal, Dawr and Shibām, as well as the region of Aykum (RES 3945) (Robin 1998; Schiettecatte 2011: 77-78).

The language used at Nashshān was Minaic and the specific pantheon included ʿAthtar (dhū-Riṣāf/dhū-Garb), Aranyadaʿ, Wadd and Samīʿ. These deities were worshipped in several temples with decorations known as “Banāt ʿād” (the Daughters of ʿĀd, Arbach & Darles 2019). At al-Sawdāʾ, in the temple of Aranyadaʿ — the tutelary deity of the kingdom —, Mesopotamian-inspired decorations represent images of official deities of the other city-states of the Jawf valley alongside the gods of Nashshān and his ally Sabaʾ (Arbach & Audouin 2004; Arbach, Audouin & Robin 2004). They reflect Nashshān’s political ambition to federate all the cities of the valley and to become the dominant regional power during the 8th century BCE.

The rulers of Nashshān did not explicitly bear the title of king at that time. Successions can be established in the epigraphic record, yet gaps persist and are not always interpreted as breaks in the line of succession; they may be the result of dynastic changes or documentary gaps).

Among the earliest known rulers, Abīʾamar Ṣadiq was the builder of the extra muros temple of ʿAthar dhū-Riṣāf (Breton 1992, 2011; Avanzini 1995).

A new dynasty was then founded by the descendants of a certain Labuʾān (I) —who does not seem to have reigned (Arbach & Rossi 2011). His son Ilīmanbaṭ Amar is the builder of the intra muros temple of Aranyadaʿ.

During the reign of Sumhūyafaʿ Yathaʿ son of Ilīmanbaṭ Amar, the construction of the building (temple?) Qahwān is commemorated (as-Sawdāʾ 95 A, B & C).

Thereafter, ʿAmmīʿalī ascended the throne. He was succeeded by ʿAmmīwatar Yasarān (SW-BA/I/20) and Malikwaqah Rayad (Garbini-Francaviglia 2 & 3). During the latter's reign, an alliance with the ruler of Sabaʾ, Yathaʿʾamar Watār son of Yakrubmalik, resulted in the settling of a neighbourly dispute with the city-state of Kamna, the recovery of lost territories and the repatriation of the statue of the god Aranyadaʿ, which had been carried away (AO 31929, DAI Ṣirwāḥ 2005-50). The city-state of Kamna then came under the control of Nashshān (Kamna 21, 23, Ḥarāshif 3).

During the reign of ʿAmmīyathaʿ Ṣadiq son of Nawaʿsamīʿ, the rampart of Nashshān and the temple of ʿAthtar dhū-Garb were built. This king associated ʿAmmīshafīq with the throne (Kamna 23, as-Sawdā 90), who, in turn, ruled with Yadaʿʾab (as-Sawdāʾ 91).

Alliance and rivalry with Sabaʾ (7th century BCE)

Towards the end of the 8th century BCE, Yaqahmalik, probably son of Yadaʿʾab, ascended the throne. This marked the beginning of a new dynasty (fig. 1). The city of Nashshān was then allied with the kingdom of Sabaʾ, under the reigns of the Sabaean rulers Yathaʿʾamar (Bayān) and Dhamarʿalī (Dhāriḥ), and that of Maʿīn, under the reigns of Yathaʿʾīl and Ṣabḥum (YM 2009).

The ruler Yaqahmalik associated his brother Labuʾān (II) Yadaʿ son of Yadaʿʾab (YM 23250) with the throne, before the latter began a prosperous reign around the beginning of the 7th century BCE. The name of this king is engraved on a throne (Garbini-Francaviglia 1). He is the builder of the city wall of Nashq, a town under the control of Nashshān (AO 31930), the temple of ʿAthtar Matab Khamar (as-Sawdāʾ 3) and the monument of Yafʿat (as-Sawdāʾ 89 A & B).

Labuʾān (II) renewed the alliance with Sabaʾ during the reign of Karibʾīl Watār (as-Sawdāʾ 3).

Labuʾān’s son, Sumhūyafaʿ Yasarān, initially participated in Sabaʾ’s military campaigns against Awsān and Najrān (as-Sawdāʾ 4 and 88, Arbach, Audouin & Robin 2004), before breaking the alliance for unknown reasons. At most, it can be assumed that the powerful city-state of Nashshān posed a growing threat to the kingdom of Sabaʾ. Two successive Sabaean military campaigns were successfully launched against Nashshān by the Sabaean mukarrib Karibʾīl Watār son of Dhamarʿalī (RES 3945). Defeat entailed significant consequences: the city wall was razed, the royal palace ʿAfraw was destroyed, the city was ransacked and part of its population was massacred. A tribute was paid to the Sabaeans. The latter took up permanent residence in the city and a temple dedicated to the Sabaean god Almaqah was built. Part of the territory of Nashshān was handed over to Sabaʾ — the city of Nashq and the region of Aykum and its towns — and its allies Kamna and Haram: Nashshān was placed under the tutelage of a governor (ʿqb) of Haram for two years (Haram 15, Robin 1996: 1122-1123; Nebes 2016: 65-68).

The fate of the king of Nashshān is unclear. Despite his weakened position, Nashshān regained some form of autonomy after the reign of Karibʾīl Watar when Sumhūyafaʿ’s son, Yadaʿʾab, acceded to the throne (al-Jawf 04.35).

The reign of Ilīmanbaṭ Yadaʿ, perhaps the last ruler of the descendants of Labuʾān (II) son of Yadaʿʾab, is dated to the mid-7th century BCE. He is the author of a significant number of dedicatory inscriptions to ʿAthtar dhū-Garb (e.g., YM 22222).

In the following decades, new rulers acceded to the throne of Nashshān: Malikwaqah Rayad (II) (YM 11191) and Luḥayʿathat (al-Jawf 04.37). It is not clear whether they belonged to the same dynasty.

The end of political autonomy (6th-4th centuries BCE)

Around the 6th century BCE, two co-regents are attested: Yadaʿʾab and Yashhurmalik (Moussaieff 22). The latter then associated Dhamarkarib with the throne (YM 19608).

Around the 4th century BCE, ʿAmmīshafaq king of Nashshān is the author of a text written on a wooden stick and dated by ¹⁴C (L 234).

Other rulers are attested but their precise date of reign cannot be confirmed: these are Yashhurmalik and ʿAmīʿalī b. ʿAmīshafaq, mentioned on the cursive inscription L 068 and Dhamarkarib Amar, maybe a king (as-Sawdāʾ 15).

The tribe of Nashshān then lost its political independence and was absorbed into the neighbouring kingdom of Maʿīn, as evidenced by the many texts under the authority of the Maʿīn kings (e.g., as-Sawdāʾ 30 and 40; Avanzini 1995: 50-53; Schiettecatte 2011: 79; Schiettecatte & Arbach 2020: 254).

Thereafter, Nashshān is only mentioned as a tribe. In an as-Sawdāʾ inscription written in Sabaic around the 3rd-2nd centuries BCE (as-Sawdāʾ 97), the authors define themselves as subjects of the kings of Sabaʾ (ʾdm ʾmlk S¹bʾ).

If we accept the identification of ancient Nashshān with the oppidum of Nestum (Plin. HN VI, 32, 160, cf. Wissmann & Höfner 1953: 249), the city would have been stormed during the Roman expedition of Aelius Gallus in 26-25 BCE.

From the first century onwards, the name Nashshān only occasionally appears to designate a geographical origin (YM 11735: ḏ-Ns²n, Ja 700 + 814: nisba Ns²nytn, YM 11125: nisba ʾs²s²n, see Schiettecatte 2011: 80).

By the 6th century CE, Nashshān had become a mere toponym associated with that of Nashq under the designation hagarayn, ‘the two cities’ (The Book of the Himyarites, RIEth 195, see Robin 2004: 119-120).

In the 10th century CE, the city is mentioned by the Yemeni encyclopaedist Abū al-Ḥasan al-Hamdānī as a ruin, al-Kharibat al-Sawdāʾ (al-Hamdānī/Müller, Ṣifa 167).

Mounir Arbach

Nashshān (site): see al-Sawdāʾ (ancient Nashshān)

References and suggested reading

Sources

• al-Hamdānī/Müller, Ṣifa: Müller, D.H. (ed.) 1884. Al-Hamdānī’s Geographie der arabischen Halbinsel, nach den Handschriften von Berlin, Constantinopel, London, Paris und Strassburg zum ersten Male herausgegeben von David Heinrich Müller. 2 vols. Leiden: E.J. Brill.
• as-Sawdāʾ 97: Arbach, M. 2022. Nouvelles inscriptions des sites antiques du Jawf (Yémen). Sem. Clas. 14: 223–231. DOI: 10.1484/J.SEC.5.129528.
• L 068 & L 234: Drewes, A.J. & J. Ryckmans 2016. Les inscriptions sudarabes sur bois: dans la collection de l’Oosters Instituut conservée dans la bibliothèque universitaire de Leiden. Ed. By P. Stein and H. Stroomer: 35–36, 105–106. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.
• Plin., HN: Rackham, H. (ed.) 1941. Pliny’s Natural history. With an English translation. Volume II. Libri III-VII. Cambridge (Mass.), London: Harvard University Press, W. Heinemann.
• RIÉth 195: Bernand, É., A.J. Drewes, R. Schneider & F. Anfray 1991. Recueil des inscriptions de l’Ethiopie des périodes pré-axoumite et axoumite. Tome I. Les documents. Tome II. Les planches. Paris: Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, De Boccard.
• Strabo, Geog.: Seubert, P. 2020. Du Tigre au Nil, la Syrie et l’Arabie de Strabon : édition, traduction et commentaire du livre XVI de la Géographie. PhD, Paris: Sorbonne Université.
• The Book of the Himyarites: Moberg, C.A. (ed.) 1924. The Book of the Himyarites: fragments of a hitherto unknown Syriac work. Lund: C.W.K. Gleerup.

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, Ch. Robin 2004. La découverte du temple d’Aranyadaʿ à Nashshān et la chronologie des Labuʾīdes. Arabia 2: 23–42.
• Arbach, M. & Ch. Darles 2019. Architecture et épigraphie des temples des cités-Etats du Jawf dans les Basses-Terres du Yémen : chronologie et spécificité, in G. Hatke & R. Ruzicka (eds) Ancient South Arabia through History: Kingdoms, Tribes, and Traders: 234–317. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Lady Stephenson Library.
• Arbach, M. & I. Rossi 2011. Réflexions sur l’histoire de la cité-État de Nashshān (Fin du IXe - fin du VIIe s. av. J.-C.). EVO XXXIV: 149–176.
• Avanzini, A. 1995. As-Sawdāʾ (Inventario delle iscrizioni sudarabische, 4). Paris, Rome: AIBL, IsMEO.
• Breton, J.-F. 1992. Le sanctuaire de ʿAthtar dhū-Risaf d’as-Sawdāʾ. CRAI 1992: 429–453. DOI: 10.3406/crai.1992.15117.
• Breton, J.-F. 2011. Le sanctuaire de ʿAthtar dhū-Risāf d’as-Sawdāʾ (Arabia Antica, 7). Rome: L’"Erma" di Bretschneider.
• 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, 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.
• Robin, Ch. 1998. al-Sawdāʾ. EI2, vol. 9: 93–95.
• Robin, Ch. 2004. Les deux villes’ (Hagarəynê/Hgrnhn) sont-elles Nashshān et Nashqum ? Arabia 2: 119–121.
• Schiettecatte, J. 2011. D’Aden à Zafar. Villes d’Arabie du Sud préislamique (O&M, 6). Paris: De Boccard.
• Schiettecatte, J. & M. Arbach 2020. La chronologie du royaume de Maʿīn (VIII^e-I^er siècles av. J.-C.), in I. Zaytsev (ed.) Arabian antiquities. Studies Dedicated to Alexander Sedov on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday [Аравийские древности : Сборник статей в честь 70-летия Александра Всеволодовича Седова]. Moscow: Oriental Literature Publisher: 233–284.
• Von Wissmann, H. & M. Höfner 1953. Beiträge zur historischen Geographie des vorislamischen Südarabien. Wiesbaden.

_{Alternate spellings: Nashshân, Nashshan, Naššān, Naššân, Naššan}