Ja 1028

Ja 1028 is a Sabaic inscription dating to the late Himyarite Kingdom. It was commissioned by an army commander of Dhu Nuwas named S²rḥʾl Yqbl in which he celebrated massacring the Christian community of Najran and the burning of their church with the army in a move against the Abyssinian Christians of the Kingdom of Aksum based in Ethiopia.

Text

The following translation follows that of the Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions^[1]:

1 Might, the God, to whom belong the heavens and the earth, bless the king Yusuf ʾs¹ʾr Yṯʾr, the king of all the tribes, and might [God] bless the qayls [commanders] …

2 Lḥyʿt Yrḫm, S¹myfʿ ʾs²wʿ, S²rḥʾl Yqbl, S²rḥbʾl ʾs¹ʿd, the sons of S²rḥbʾl Ykml, of the clan of Yzʾn and Gdnm,

3 the supporters of their lord, the king Yusuf ʾs¹ʾr Yṯʾr, when he burnt the church, killed the Abyssinians in Ẓafār, and moved a war against ʾs²ʿrn, Rkbn, Fr–

4 s¹n, and Mḫwn, and brought the war (against) the defence of Nagrān. He reinforced the chain of Mandab, they were with him. And he sent them with an army. What the king has managed

5 to get in this expedition as spoils, amounted to twelve thousand deaths, eleven thousand prisoners, two

6 hundred ninety thousand camels, cows and small animals.102 This inscription was written by the qayl S²rḥʾl Yqbl of Yzʾn, when he was in guard against Nagrān

7 with the tribe of Hamdān, citizens and nomads, and the assault troops of ʾzʾnn and the Arabs [ʾʿrb] of Kinda, Murād, Madhḥig, while the qayls, his brothers, with the king, were mounting guard

8 on the coast against the Abyssinians, while they were reinforcing the chain of Mandab. That is all what they mentioned in this inscription: deaths, boot[y], garrison service and all (what happened) in only one expedition;

9 then they came back to their houses thirteen months later. Might Rḥmnn bless their sons S²rḥbʾl Ykml and Hʿn ʾs¹ʾr, the sons of Lḥyʿt

10 and Lḥyʿt Yrḫm, the son of S¹myfʿ, and Mrṯdʾln Ymgd, the son of S²rḥʾl, of the clan of Yzʾn. The month of Mḏrʾn of the six hundred

11 thirty-three [523ce]. For the protection of the heavens and the earth and of the strength of the men was this inscription against those who would harm and degrade. Might Rḥmnn, the Highest,

12 protect it against all those who would degrade. This inscription was placed, written, executed in the name of Rḥmnn. Tmm of Ḥḍyt placed. By the Lord of Jews. By the Highly Praised.

Interpretation and significance

Ja 1028 is the only surviving written source from within the Himyarite Kingdom to describe the massacre of the Christians of Najran. The inscription ties the massacre of the Christians to the war against the Kingdom of Aksum and the defense of God and Judaism. As a result of this event, a vigorous response by the Akumsites led to the defeat of the Himyarite Kingdom.^[1]

The inscription invokes God using the name Rahmanan, the typical personal name for God used since the Himyarite Kingdom had converted to Judaism and away from polytheistic practices.^[2] Phraseology such as reference to the protection of the heavens and Earth, protection of Rahmanan and the association of Rahmanan with the heavens and Earth can also be found in related Himyarite inscriptions, such as Ry 507 and Ry 508. The reference to Rahmanan as the "Lord of the Jews" can also be seen in Ry 515, which is contemporary to Ja 1028.^[3]

Two names of God are used in Ja 1028 (and Ry 515): Rb-hwd b-Rḥmnn, 'Lord of the Jews by/with Rahmanan', and Rb-hd b-Mḥmd: 'Lord of Jews by / with (?) the Praised'. They are connected by the preposition b-, implying that the two gods are one entity. The two deities may have been distinguished, or syncretized.^[4] Evidence from another inscription, CIH 543, may suggest that the two are separate entities.^[5]

See also

• DJE 23
• Judaism in pre-mic Arabia

References

1. Lindstedt, Ilkka (2023). Muhammad and his followers in context: the religious map of late antique Arabia. Islamic history and civilization. Leiden Boston: Brill. pp. 74–75. ISBN 978-90-04-68712-7.
2. Robin, Christian Julien (2021). "Judaism in pre-Islamic Arabia". In Ackerman-Lieberman, Phillip Isaac (ed.). The Cambridge history of Judaism. Cambridge: Cambridge university press. pp. 297–298. ISBN 978-0-521-51717-1.
3. Kjær, Sigrid K. (2022). "'Rahman' before Muhammad: A pre-history of the First Peace (Sulh) in Islam". Modern Asian Studies. 56 (3): 776–795. doi:10.1017/S0026749X21000305. ISSN 0026-749X.
4. Gajda, iwona (2017). "Remarks on Monotheism in Ancient South Arabia". In Bakhos, Carol; Cook, Michael (eds.). Islam and its past: Jahiliyya, Late Antiquity, and the Qur'an. Oxford studies in the abrahamic religions. Oxford: Oxford university press. pp. 253–254. ISBN 978-0-19-874849-6.
5. Grasso, Valentina A. (2023). Pre-islamic Arabia: societies, politics, cults and identities during late antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 77–78. ISBN 978-1-009-25296-6.