Yashhurʾīl Yuharʿish son of Abīyaśaʿ

Supreme ruler of Ḥaḍramawt, who reigned at the turn of the Christian era and was probably the last bearer of the title mukarrib (mkrb) in South Arabia.

The reconstruction and dating of his reign from the early 1st century CE proposed by Ch.J. Robin (1994) are based on his identification with:

• Yashhurʾīl Yuharʿish son of Abīyaśaʿ mukarrib of Ḥaḍramawt ([Ys²h]rʾl [Y]hrʿs² bn ʾbys³ʿ mkrb Ḥḍrmt), attested in the inscription RÉS 2687 from the Wādī al-Bināʾ;
• Yashhurʾīl mukarrib of Ḥaḍramawt (Ys²[hr]ʾl mkrb Ḥḍrmt), whose name is restored in Ja 2883;
• Yashhurʾīl mukarrib of Ḥaḍramawt (Ys²hrʾl mkrb Ḥḍrmt bn ʾbyṯʿ) from the inscription on a bronze bowl found in Sumhurām (KR 10);
• a ruler whose name was abbreviated as YS²H on the reverse of bronze coins from Ḥaḍramawt and whose profile was minted on their obverse.

However, according to A.V. Sedov (Avanzini & Sedov 2005: 15), those coins were discovered at Sumhurām in a layer from the 2nd century BCE. The existence of at least two namesake sovereigns of Ḥaḍramawt called Yashhurʾīl, bearing the titles of mukarrib and king (mlk) respectively, cannot be ruled out. Given the recent dating of the reign of Yashhurʾīl Yuharʿish king of Ḥaḍramawt ([Ys²hrʾl Yh]rʿs² mlk Ḥ[ḍrmt]) (T.02 B 21) to the end of the 1st century BCE (Robin 2016: 72, 74; Arbach & Schiettecatte 2017: 691), this suggestion is rather plausible.

Serge Frantsouzoff

References and suggested reading

• Arbach, M. & J. Schiettecatte 2017. Premiers échos de l’expédition romaine d’Ælius Gallus dans la documentation sudarabique. CRAI 2017 (Apr.–Jun.): 675–700. DOI: 10.3406/crai.2017.96234.
• Avanzini, A. 2008. Notes for the History of Sumhuram and a New Inscription of Yashhurʾil, in A. Avanzini (ed.) A Port in Arabia between Rome and the Indian Ocean (3rd c. BC – 5th c. AD). Khor Rori Report 2 (Arabia Antica 5): 631–634. Rome: "L’Erma" di Bretschneider.
• Avanzini, A. & A.V. Sedov 2005. The stratigraphy of Sumhuram: new evidence. PSAS 35: 11–17. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41219365
• Frantsouzoff, S.A. 2014. История Хадрамаута с древнейших времен до конца британского владычества, т. I: История Хадрамаута в эпоху древности [History of Hadramawt from the Earliest Time up to the End of the British Rule, vol. I: History of Hadramawt in Antiquity]. St. Petersburg: Linguistic Society of St. Petersburg.
• Munro-Hay, S. 2003. Coinage of Arabia Felix. The Pre-Islamic Coinage of the Yemen (Mare Erythræum VI; Nomismata 5). Munich: Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde München.
• Robin, C.J. 1994. Yashhurʾīl Yuharʿish, fils d’Abīyasaʿ, mukarrib du Ḥaḍramawt. Raydān 6: 101–111.
• Robin, C.J. 1996. Sheba (II. Dans les inscriptions de l’Arabie du Sud), in J. Briend & E. Cothenet (eds) Supplément au Dictionnaire de la Bible. Vol. XII (fasc. 70): col. 1043–1254. Paris: Letouzey & Ané.
• Robin C.J. 2016. Tamnaʿ et Qatabān. L'état des lieux, in A. de Maigret & C.J. Robin (eds) Tamnaʿ (Yémen), Les fouilles franco-italiennes, Rapport final (OM, Archéologie, 20): 17–105. Paris: De Boccard.

_{Alternate spellings: Yashhurʾîl, Yashhurʾil, Yashhur’îl, Yashhur’il, Yashhuril, Yuhar’ish, Yuhrish, Abîyasaʿ, Abiyasaʿ, Abîyasa’, Abiyasa’, Abîyasa, Abiyasa, Ys²hrʾl Yhrʿs²}