Sabaʾ , biblical Saba , kingdom in pre-Islamic southwestern Arabia, frequently mentioned in the Bible (especially in the story of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba) and by ancient Assyrian, Greek, and Roman writers from the 8th century v . Ch. Various citations cited about the 5th century n . Chr . The capital was at least in the middle period Maʾrib is 120 km east of present-day Sanaa in Yemen . A second major city was Ṣirwāḥ .
Britannica Quiz The Middle East:Fact or Fiction? Is the literacy rate very high in Afghanistan? Does Yemen take its name from the Arabic word "northern"? Sort the facts in this quiz about Syria, Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries.The Sabeer were a Semitic people who came to southern Arabia from the north at an unknown date and an indigenous population your Semitic Culture imposed. Excavations in central Yemen suggest that the Sabeian Civilization as early as the 10th-12th centuries v . Chr . Began . In the 7th to 5th centuries v . Ch. Besides "Kings of Shebaʾ", were there individuals who called themselves " Mukarrib “ denoted s of Sabaʾ” who appear to have been either high-priest-princes or performed a function parallel to the royal function. This middle period was marked primarily by a tremendous burst of building activity, especially in Maʾrib and Ṣirwāḥ, and most of the major temples and monuments, including the great Maʾrib Dam, from on which the agricultural prosperity of the Sabaeans depended, date from this period. In addition, there was an ever-changing pattern of alliances and wars between Sabaʾ and other peoples of southwestern Arabia - not just the important kingdoms of Qatabān and Ḥaḍramawt but also a number of smaller but still independent kingdoms and city-states.
Rich in spices and agricultural products, Sabaʾ operated a wealth of overland caravans and sea routes. For centuries it controlled Bāb el-Mandeb, the Red Sea leading straits , and established many colonies on the African shores. These Abyssinia ( Ethiopia ) was peopled from southern Arabia and is linguistically proven; However, the difference between the Sabaean and Ethiopian languages implies that settlement occurred very early and that there were many centuries of separation during which the Abyssinians were exposed to foreign influences. Occasionally, however, new colonies seem to have followed, and some parts of the African coast still stood as late as the 1st century v . Chr . Under the suzerainty of the Sabaean kings .
Late 3rd century n . Chr . Was a mighty king called Shamir Yuharʿish (who, by the way, seems to be the first truly historical figure whose fame has survived in Islamic traditions) took the title "King of Sabaʾ and Dhū Raydān and of Ḥaḍramawt and Yamanāt". At this time the political independence of Ḥaḍramawt Sabaʾ slay , which had thus become the controlling power in all of southwestern Arabia. mid 4th century n . Chr It experienced a temporary eclipse, for the title "King of Shebaʾ and the Dhū Raydān" was then given to the king of Aksum claimed on the East African coast. At the end of the 4th century, South Arabia was independent again under a "king of Shebaʾ and the Dhū Raydān and Ḥaḍramawt and Yamanāt". But within two centuries the Sabeans would disappear as they were successively overrun by Persian adventurers and Muslim Arabs.