THE MARTYRS OF NAJRAN AND THE END OF THE YIMYAR: ON ?HE POLITICAL HISTORY OF SOUTH ARABIA IN THE EARL?' SIXTH CENTURY* Norbert Nebes Introduction In the spring of the year 519, or perhaps even as early as the preced- ing autumn,' an Alexandrian spice trader named CosmasZ traveling to Taprobane (known today as Sri Lanka) arrived at the ancient Port city of Adulis on the African side of the Red Sea, where he made a short ~ t a y . ~ In Cosmas' day, Adulis controlled the Bäb al-Mandab and maintained close ties with the commerciai centers along the South Arabian coast; it attracted merchants from Alexandria and Ailat, and it was from them that Cosmas hoped to obtain valuable information for his journey onward to India. Yet at this point in his account of the journey, Cosmas makes no mention of spices or other commodi- ties. His attention is focused on matters of classical philology. * 'ihe aim of this paper is to provide an oveniew of the political history of the events which took place in the period under discussion. It makes no daim to be a complete review of ail the sources available or to consider the current discussion exhaustively. For such a synopsis, See the recer,t contribution by Beaucamp et al., "Perseicution," which emphasizes the chronology of events, and which I shaii follow in placing the Start of the Himyarite era in the year 110 BCE. Müller, "Himyar," gives a thorough evaluation of the source material then availableand remainc z fundamen- tal work-nie sigla of inscriptions cited follow Stein, Untersuchungen, 274-290. For a first draft of this paper, See Nebes, "Mirtyrer" who gives more detailed annotations and also lists the sigla not used in Stein, Untersuchungen. The new edition of the Martyrium Sancti Arethae by M. Detorakis (Paris 2007), which in the most recent secondaryliterature is cited e. g. by Bausi "Review," 265-266, was not available to the author. ' For this date, see Beaucamp et al., "Perskcution," 71. Cosmas' stay in Addis is usuaily dated to the year 525 (cf. for instance Müller, "Himyar," 316); see n. 9. For the most recent contribution, cf. Sima, "Cosmas"; for information concern- ing Cosmas' life and work, See Schneider, "Cosmas," with further references. Adulis, which is located 40 km to the south of Massawa and ca. 4 km inland from the coast, was the main port of Aksum through which Byzantine-and, in an earlier period, Roman-trade with India was conducted; see Fattovich, "Adulis."