The history of Judaism in Yemen prior Islam

Dr. Abdo Al Bahesh

Introduction

Yemen is one of the oldest countries in which Judaism existed, spread widely many centuries before the advent of Islam and lasted until the present day. It should be noted that Yemen in its most ancient historical epochs was purely a Jewish country because a number of the kings in the state of Sheba and Himyarite were Jews as mentioned in many historical sources and heavenly books that clearly indicated that the Jews ruled Yemen and the majority of the Yemenis were Jewish society.

In spite of flourishing the Jewish religion in Yemen, to the extent that we can say that Yemen comes in second degree after Israel in terms of the strong Jewish presence of the Jewish religion, and in terms of the ancient human civilization and strong state governed by the Jews as historical the sources, the heavenly books and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad pointed out, unfortunately the subject of the history of Judaism in Yemen did not have attention of researchers, and did not take its right of adequate scientific study. This is what makes it imperative for researchers, who specialize in studying the ancient history of the Jewish religion, to exert more time and effort to study this history which is rich with tender, construction and struggle with the new competitors, who are Christians, represented by the state of Romania, the Kingdom of Aksum (Ethiopia), and Muslims, who spread in Yemen at the expense of Judaism as an original heavenly religion of the Yemenis.

Judaism in Yemen was exposed to many foreign invasions, especially after the appearance of Christianity, which competed with the Jewish religion in intense competition in the various countries of the world, especially in the Middle East and exactly in Israel and Yemen. That is because these two countries were the only countries, that had two Jewish governments and systems at that time, where the historical sources mention that the Romans sent several military campaigns to invade Yemen, and to overthrew the Jewish government in it in order to make room for Christianity to spread in Yemen and control the road of world trade, which took Yemen its way to transport cargo that was coming from the countries of the Orient and going to European countries and the countries of the Middle East and North Africa.

The extreme ambiguity still besets the general scene of the Jewish religion’s history, even to this day. That is due to the lack of scientific studies and researches that dealt with the history of Judaism in Yemen. Therefore, we find a severe conflict in the accounts that talk about the very beginnings of the Jewish religion in Yemen, as well as the accounts that talk about the origin of the Yemeni Jews and include severe disturbance on the ethnic origins of the Yemeni Jews. Therefore, this research will focus on studying these accounts analyzing them scientifically and logically, comparing them with other facts, and then giving preference to the accounts that are compatible to reality, reason, logic and heavenly books, as they are solid scientific sources, and the revelation which does not accept the error.

The very beginning of the Jewish religion in Yemen:

There are conflicting accounts about the very beginning of the presence of Judaism in Yemen, where the French vice — consul in Yemen in 1881 said that the Jewish presence in Yemen dated back to 1451 BC, without the sources cited any evidence on what the French vice consul mentioned, and without the sources gave details about this opinion, which certainly has its special reasons. This view is among the ideas that lacked the definitive proof or evidence that supports its rightness. It was also taken on this account its vagueness and its failure to provide logical or persuasive details of the nature of the Jewish presence in Yemen in that early period of history in which it was supposed Moses lived and left his people ,the Children of Israel, from Egypt to the Promised land. (Himyarite Jewish kingdom: 2016).

There is a similar account suggest that the Jewish presence in Yemen dates back to the days of the Romanian military campaign against the Kingdom of Sheba, where that account mentions that the Romanian army led by (Oeliosgalos) contained the nearly five hundred Jews sent by the King (the First Agrippa) to help the Romans. Those Jew has remained in Yemen after the withdrawal of Romanian army. (Yemen Jews: 2016). Although this account is weak, it does not rule out that it has indeed occurred. It confirms and supports the existence of the Jewish religion in Yemen since earlier time. This explains the survival of the synagogues in the campaign rather than the others from other races, because the Jews found brothers for themselves in religion. They hugged, lodged them and provide them with safe haven, as it was not reasonable that the Yemenis would accept the survival of aggressors to live among them but religion bond made the Yemenis welcoming their brothers, the Jews, rather than other members of the Romanian campaign led by (Aeliosgalios).

Another account mentions that Judaism has been in Yemen during the rule of the Prophet Solomon to the kingdom of Israel and its capital, Jerusalem, where Solomon was a prophet and a king at the same time. The divine sources say that Solomon sent a message to the Queen of Yemen and asked her to come to Jerusalem. The sources also aver that the Queen of Sheba believed with Solomon and entered with her people into his religion at that time. It is admitted that the Yemeni people embraced the religion of their queen for several reasons. First, the queen was loved and obeyed by her people. Second, the people in those times had the same religion of their kings. Third, the Yemeni queen did not go to Jerusalem alone, but she went at the head of a large delegation from her people .Therefore ,it was natural that they embraced the religion of Prophet Solomon with their queen before returning from Jerusalem to Yemen, the land of Sheba. It was obvious that they spread Judaism in Yemen in that period, which is believed it was in the tenth century BC and specifically (935–970 BC), the period in which the Prophet Solomon lived. (Mohamed Zakaria: 2013).

This account, which we will present, was mentioned in several sources of which the most important was Holy Scriptures of the Jews (Torah) and Muslims (Quran), which indicates in the Surah An Naml the occurrence of this account clearly in many Ayas, among them the following Ayas “

“Saying: exalt not yourselves against me and come to me in submission (31)”

“It was said to her: Enter the palace; but when she saw it she deemed it to be a great expanse of water, and bared her legs .He said: Surely it is a palace made smooth with glass. She said: My Lord! Surely I have been unjust to myself, and I submit with Suleiman to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.(44)” (Holly Quran)

Because of the succession of this account in many sources, most prominent is the heavenly books, I would likely prefer this account for several reasons, including the following: the first is that the account is definitely constant, not just a legend of the other fictional mythology as its events were mentioned in the Scriptures. Second is that the Prophet Suleiman imposed condition to the Queen of Sheba and people of Sheba to engage in his religion in order to avoid the war with which he threatened them in the case if they refused to respond to what he wanted. Third is that the Queen of Sheba tended to international peace and avoid war by responding to the message of the Prophet Suleiman, which was a collective entry of the people of Sheba in the religion of Israel’s Prophet, Solomon and Leaving the Pagan religion that they were in before, so we can say that the very beginning of of Judaism in Yemen dated back to the Prophet Suleiman and the Queen of Shaba, who ruled Yemen at that time. Fourth is that the historical sources mentioned that the Prophet Suleiman sent a group of clerics who accompanied the Yemeni Queen of Sheba while returning from Jerusalem to Yemen, for the purpose of spreading the Jewish religion and teaching the Yemenis the rituals and provisions of the new religion , which their beloved and obeyed queen embraced. (Zaid Bin Ali Al Fadil: 2005).

Another third account says that the first occurrence of the Jewish religion in Yemen goes back to the Babylonian Captivity stage, when Nebuchadnezzar invaded the Jewish kingdom in their own country, destroyed temples and centers of power and governance, killed and captured many Jews in his famous historically campaign in the middle of the sixth century BC, where the account mentions that a number of Jews managed to escape and take their money to Yemen and formed the first presence of the Jewish religion there. (Zaid bin Ali A l Fadil: 2005). Regardless of the validity of this account or its nothingness, I do not agree with what is stated in the account of the claim that the very beginning of the Jewish religion in Yemen was at that period, even though it does not rule out that some of the Jews had already fled to Yemen, despite its vast remoteness from the kingdom of Israel because Yemen represented a safe haven for them from prosecution of Babylonian pursuit, and because they had brothers of the Jewish religion in Yemen since the era of Prophet Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, who converted to Judaism. Therefore. I am confident that the Jews of Israel selected the country of Yemen to escape in because there were their brothers of the Jewish religion who received ,supported , harbored , and protect them from any danger and any aggression there . This supports and confirms the correctness of the account, which says that the first occurrence of the Jewish religion in Yemen was in the era of Prophet Solomon.

The fourth account mentions that the first occurrence of the Jewish religion in Yemen was in the first century after the Romans conquered the Kingdom of Israel at the hands of the emperor (Titus), whose armies swept Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple of Solomon. Then, the Jews fled and scattered in many countries, including Yemen where there were a number of Jews fled to and lived in as the account pointed out .The account also considered that period the first beginning of Judaism in Yemen. (Riad Al Safwani: 2006). In fact, many researchers regard the subject from their own aspects and ignore the other aspects, as it does not rule out that there were Jews who really escaped to Yemen, and for the same reasons mentioned in the previous account. This promotes the idea of the presence of the Jewish religion since the earlier times of the two incidents of the Babylonian conquest, and the Romanian invasion and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.

In the fifth and final account, narrated by Ibn Hisham, which suggests that the beginning of the first presence of the Jewish religion in Yemen dates back to the era of Humairte king, Abu Kraba Asad (Asaad Al Kamel ), who ruled Yemen from the end of third century AD and until the beginning of the fourth century AD, where the account mentions that King got acquainted with two Jewish pontiffs, as he passed from Yathrib while returning from one of the invasions in The Orient. The account says that Humairte king admired the two Jewish pontiffs , took them with him to Yemen and was highly impressed by them .Therefore, he believed in Judaism ,urged his people to embrace it and encouraged the two Jewish pontiffs to spread Judaism in Yemen . (Zaid Ben Ali Al Fadil: 2005).

The Himyarite ancient relics have validated the monotheism of King (Asaad Al Kamel ) ,despite the fact that some researchers denied the Jewish religion of king (Asaad Al Kamel ) and considered him a monotheist king of a divine religion, but not the Jewish religion as they claimed. The account and relics unearthed from the inscriptions and lines of Musnd support the truth that the King embraced the Jewish religion. In addition, the researchers themselves who suspect about the Jewish religion of the King (Asaad Al Kamel) admitted that his men of war and leaders embraced the Jewish religion as those lines and inscription indicated. This admission was a clear evidence on the Jewish religion of the king. It was not reasonable that the king embraced another religion different from the religion of his people, his men of war and the leaders of his army. We look at the entire account from another aspect and with several scientific and logical notes, which are not inconsistent with validity of this account .The most important of these notes are that Judaism has been in Yemen many centuries of time before the era of King (Asaad Al kamel ) , as we noted earlier. We also note through this account that King was probably in Judaism before he met the two Jewish pontiffs in Yathrib. This was clear from the king’s concern with the Jewish pontiffs at first glance. This was evident from the King’s respect of the Jewish pontiffs and following their speech and their opinions in various matters, especially the political ones. What reinforces the hypothesis that the king (Asaad Al Kamel) embraced the Jewish religion before, is that he accompanied the two Jewish pontiffs to Yemen, because they were considered in the doctrine of the Jewish King two dignified men having a special place and the sanctity. In any case, the entire account ,whether it is true or not, does not change the reality of the Jewish religion in Yemen, which has grown and spread among the Yemenis and the Yemeni kings themselves since the era of Shebaean state as noted earlier in the successive account related to the Prophet Solomon and the Queen of Sheba and even the eras of the Himyarite kings who inherited rule and Judaism from their Shebaeans ancestors.

The origin of Yemen Jews:

The sources differed in the subject of ethnic origin of the Yemen Jews, but they conflicted severe conflict, as conflicted on the subject of the beginning of the Jewish presence in Yemen. Some sources mention that the Yemeni Jews who were descendants of the Children of Israel had come to Yemen, and settled there, while other sources mention that Yemeni Jews were the natives of Yemen from Shebaean and Himyarite tribes, whereas the researcher shares others who believe that the Jews of Yemen made up of many races, including the Israelis, who have come from outside Yemen, and the Yemenis, the natives, who converted to Judaism. We will supply details of opinions that dealt with this issue, and with analysis of those views .Then, we will subject them to reflection and meditation on all aspects and conform them to reality, reason and logic.

Some accounts suggest that the origin of the Yemeni Jews dates back to the children of Israel. Those accounts mention that 75 thousand descendants of the grandson, Levi emigrated to Yemen, and of whom the Jewish Yemeni society formed. Another account mentions that it is probable, that the Jews of Yemen were the ten lost tribes from the Children of Israel. Other account suggests that the Jews of Yemen were from the Children of Israel who had fled to Yemen during the Babylonian invasion to the kingdom of Israel and its capital, Jerusalem. One of the accounts confirms that the Jews of Yemen were from the five thousands men from the Children of Israel who were with Romanian campaign on Yemen led by (Aeliosgalios), where five hundred Jews remained in Yemen after withdrawal of the campaign. There was another account mention that Yemeni Jews were from the Children of Israel, who had fled to Yemen during the Roman conquest, which swept through the country of Israel, and destroyed the Prophet Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD. (Yemen Jews: 2016). In fact, these accounts come under proving the Israeli ethnic origin to the Jews of Yemen, but they clash with a number of the irrefutable facts that confirm that Yemeni natives converted to the Jewish religion too, as happened during the reign of the Queen of Sheba from the collective embracing of the Jewish religion, and the case continued with the kings who successively ruled Yemen in the Shebaean and Himyarite era.

On the other hand there is an account tell unlike the previous ones. It says that Yemeni Jews in their origins were from the tribes of Sheba and Himyar, who converted to Judaism in early pre-Islamic time. The account denies categorically that Yemeni Jews came from outside Yemen, and insisted that the Yemeni Jews were the natives, who were from the prestigious Qahtani and Semitic Yemeni tribes of Sheba and Himyar. The account says “The Jews of Yemen are an integral part of the Yemeni people in all descriptions, either on the ethnic similarities or the agreement of features or Arabic language on its different multi-Yemeni dialects as the multiplicity of spread of the Yemenis on the all parts of Yemen. “ (Yemen Jews- History of the Jews: 2016). This account does not vary from the previous ones in terms of extremism and insisting on the fact that the Jews were Yemeni and belonged to Qahtani race, as this account insisted that the Yemeni Jews were original residents of Yemen. This account does not confess the Jewish migrations that came to Yemen from abroad, especially from the Children of Israel, which makes this account made the same error that occurred with the previous ones, which insisted that all the Jews of Yemen descended from Israeli assets.

The account, we see and is seen by others , avers that the Yemeni Jews were combination of multiple races, including the Qahtanis, the natives who converted to Judaism during the reign of the Queen of Sheba and the era of the Himyarite kings, especially King Abu Karba Asaad (Asaad Al Kamil ) and the king Yusuf Asa’ar Yatha’ar ( Dhu Nuwas), and the Israelis who came to Yemen in various historical periods. Judaism is a religion like other religions .It has its followers from all races, genders and not, as some people have thought that the Jews are all from the Children of Israel. We think that this view is the closest to the right, the truth and the reality, which takes into account the reality of the original residents of Yemen who converted to Judaism and the Jews who came from outside Yemen, especially from Israel. The relics have indicated that the Yemeni Jews are mixture between the Hebrews and the Himyarites. (Yemen Jew -the history of Jews: 2016).

The Jewish-Christian conflict in Yemen

When Christianity emerged within the Jewish community, but from the Israeli home at the hands of the Prophet Jesus (Jesus, the son of Mary), the religious conflict between the Jewish and new Christian religion started, as Christianity spread quickly among the European communities and in the Middle East countries, until the Christianity became an official religion of the Romanian empire, which launched an overwhelming attack on the Jews in Israel in general and the city of Jerusalem in particular, where the Romans destroyed the Prophet Solomon’s temple and abused Jews in that terrible invasion.

Apparently, at that time, Yemen was a Jewish state and the kings of Sheba at the time were Jewish as well, as their Queen who was known with her famous story with the Prophet Suleiman, espoused the Jewish religion. Therefore, the Romans sent several military campaigns to invade Yemen for religious, political and economic motives, where the sources mention that the Romanian Emperor (Ogustus Aktavios) ordered his governor in Egypt (Oelios galos) in year of 24 BC to send a military campaign to sway Yemen due to its wealth and its strategic location in controlling the route of the World trade, known as the road of Incense, and Frankincense at that time. But the Yemenis were able to defeat the Romanian campaign and forced them to withdraw and escape from Yemen, after the heavy losses suffered by the Roman army in Yemen. There were a large number of them killed. The disease affected the most of military members. as well as fatigue and exhaustion that affected the Roman army, who is fighting in a strange environment. The terrain, climate and lack of water, disease were the most important factors of the defeat of the Roman army in Yemen. (Munir Talal: 2006).

The echo of that severe defeat suffered by the Roman army at the hands of the Yemenis, who were Jews in that period, has remained in the minds of the Romanian politicians. They were ambushing Jewish Yemeni civilization, and waiting for the opportunity to avenge the Jewish Yemeni state at that time. The Romans have resorted to the introduce the Christian religion to Yemen to have political and economic influence there, that allowed the Byzantines to control Yemen, and the route of the world trade at that time. Then, the Jewish Himyarite king (Yusuf Asar Yathar) was aware of the great danger on his religion and his kingdom. Therefore, he rushed to struggle against the spread of Christianity and to launch numerous military campaigns targeted Dhofar in the country of Yarim, Mokha, Najran, Tehama, and Bab al-Mandab. The king Yusuf has been able to achieve great victories over the Christians supported by the Abyssinians and the Byzantines, as the historical sources mention that King Yusuf killed eleven thousand Christians of the Abyssinians and the Yemeni tribes that were loyal to them. He also captured twelve thousand and five hundreds person of enemies, and looted two hundred thousand heads of sheep, cows and camels. The sources also mentioned that King Yusuf destroyed the Christian churches in Dhofar, the country of Yarim, Najran, Mokha and Tehama. (Mahmoud Shaheen: 2014)

Some sources mention that the State of Himyarites spanned from 115 BC to the year of 575 AD. The Yemeni king , Tub’a Abu Kariba Asa’d was the most famous and brave king of the Himyarites .He is known with his Jewish religion .He invaded the counties of the Orient until he arrived to China. It is believed that Jewish presence in Iran dates back to the time of the military campaigns waged by the Himyarte Jewish King (Asaad Al kamel) there. The researchers point out that the emergence of Christianity and making it an official religion of the Byzantine State since 350 AD, form the biggest challenge of the Jewish religion in Yemen, because the Byzantines tried to control Yemen and spread Christianity there, which awakened Judaism in Yemen under the leadership of the Himyarite King, Yusuf Asar Yather, who faced the Abyssinian Christian invaders led by Ariat who was supported by the Byzantine Empire. (Faraj Allah Deeb: 2002)

The Christian presence in Yemen has associated with external colonial forces represented by Romanian Empire and the Christian Kingdom of Aksum in Abyssinia, so the Yemenis considered the presence of Christianity on their land as an external aggression, and decided to confront the Christian prevalence in Yemen with anti-Christian religion which was the original religion of the Yemenis, as the Jewish religion in ancient Yemen was a Yemeni religion and from inside Yemen, while Christianity was considered a religion brought from abroad. Therefore, the Yemenis gathered around the Jewish king, Yusuf, and overthrew the king (M’adi Karaba Yafer) because he was a Christian and made Yemen under the control of the Romans and the Abyssinians, who appointed him the king of Yemen, and interfered in managing the internal affairs of Yemen. After that, the king Yusuf Asar Yather took over the leadership of the king and he gave himself the title (King of all people).He was also known by the chroniclers as the King (Dhu Nuwas). (Muhammed Zakaria: 2013)

The sources say that the Jewish religion in Yemen reached its peak in the reign of King (Yusuf ) and had been widely spread because of the enthusiasm shown by King Yusuf towards the Jewish religion because it has become the safety for his country from the external Christian danger that threatened it, but the Byzantines never left the Yemenis and their own brave king live in safety and peace and they prepared a huge military campaign, through their allies, the Abyssinians, under the leadership of Ariat, who was looking forward to extending his influence in Yemen. Byzantium also aimed behind this massive military campaign to control the trade routes through the Red Sea, in the west of Yemen, even though the slogan of the military campaign was the revenge for the Christians who were oppressed in Yemen. (Mu hammed Zakaria: 2013)

In 525 AD, the massive military campaign crossed the Red sea coming from Abyssinia and landed on the Yemeni coast on the Red Sea coast, which extends from the Bab al-Mandab to the port of Mokha. (Abdel Wahab Al Maisari: 2016). A fierce battle took place there between the Abyssinians and King Yusuf and his Himyarites , but the victory was for the Abyssinians due to their large number and the magnitude of their military might. The king Yusuf engaged personally in that battle and fought until he was killed .Moreover, a large number of the Himyarites and his army were killed. The remainder of the Himyarite army withdrew and dispersed back to their homes after the bitterness of defeat and the death of their loyal and brave leader, the King (Yusuf). T hen the Abyssinians dominated Yemen, but the kingdom has not dropped after the murder of (King Yusuf). The Himyarite resistance against the Christian Roman and Abyssinian invasion has gone on .Then , the Yemenis rushed behind the Himyarite leader and resistant (Saif Bin DhiYazan). During the Abyssinian occupation of Yemen led by Ariat and then by the Abyssinian Abraha and then led by Masroog Bin Abraha, the Abyssinians made their utmost effort to spread Christianity in Yemen. Despite all that the most of the Yemenis remained in their religion, the Judaism, rejecting the foreign occupation of their country and refusing Christianity (Ali Muhammed Al Suliemani ; 2010)

The Himyarite leader (Saif bin DhiYazan), who lived in the period from 516 to 574 AD has been able to overcome the Abyssinians and expel them from Yemen after he asked the help of the Persian Empire, which sent a military campaign to Yemen to help the Yemeni resistance to liberate their country from the Christian invaders, the Abyssinians. Then Saif Ben DhiYazan became the king of Yemen until his mysterious death , which is likely to be that the Persians were behind his death by assassination .By this , Saif Bin DhiYazan was the last Himyarite king , because the Persians took over the rule after him in Yemen until Islam came. (Saif Bin DhiYazan: 2016).

Conclusion

The theme of the history of Judaism in Yemen is the most important topic in the field of the Humanities in general and in the field of ancient history in particular. In spite of all this importance, the subject does not take its right to adequate study and hard scientific research that it deserves because it is great human heritage that must be taken care of and transferred to the future generations. It can be seen in this simple search in our hands as a modest attempt to draw attention to the importance of studying the history of Judaism in the ancient Yemen, because the extreme ambiguity is still surrounding this important topic. The research found a number of the results. The most important of these results are the following:

First, The study determines the first period of existence of the Jewish religion in Yemen, which is the tenth century BC and specifically (935–970 BC), the time when Prophet Solomon lived and the Queen of Sheba, who responded to his message and entered into his religion in addition to her people , the people of Sheba at that time.

Second, the study determines the ethnic origins of the Yemen Jews, who are from the Israeli race and they are the sons of who emigrated from Israel to Yemen in various historical periods, as well as the Yemeni Qahtani race, the sons of the tribes of Sheba and Himyar, who converted to Judaism in those ages and both sexes are Semites.

Third, Yemen was a second Jewish state beside the kingdom of Israel in those ancient times. Moreover, Yemen was also a safe haven for the Jews of Israel who were fleeing to from the invaders, fearing for their lives and their money, as happened at the time of the Babylonian invasion and the Roman conquest to the Kingdom of Israel and its capital, Jerusalem.

Fourth: the connection between the Jews of Yemen and the Israeli Jews in those ancient periods was continuous and the relationship between the Jewish kingdoms in Yemen and the Kingdom of Israel was strong and the visits between them were reciprocal throughout that ancient era.

Fifth, Judaism in Yemen was exposed to external targeting from the outside, especially after the advent of Christianity, which was used by the Romans and the Abyssinians as pretext and a justification to invade Yemen, to control it, to fight against the Jews in it and to spread Christianity in Yemen rather than Judaism.

Sixth, the Yemenis looked at Christianity in intense suspicion and disliked it, as it has been associated with invasions and aggressive military campaigns against Yemen, while the Yemenis considered Judaism their own nationalistic and patriotic religion, because it was a Yemeni religion inherited by the generations. In addition, the Jewish religion is not linked to any external aggression or foreign colonization against Yemen.

Seventh, the Yemeni Jews built a great human civilization in the land of Yemen in both the Himyarite and Shebaean era, where the evidence and traces of that civilization still exist to this day.

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Dr. Abdo Al Bahesh