Himyar
former country
Himyar was a South Arabian kingdom whose original heartland lay in the southern highlands of present-day Yemen. From this core, Himyar expanded at the expense of the other South Arabian kingdoms and, by the late third century CE, had established its supremacy over most of South Arabia, its rulers subsequently extended their authority into parts of the Arabian interior. Until around 110 BCE, Himyar formed part of the Qatabanian kingdom, after which it emerged as an independent kingdom. Its capital was the ancient city of Ẓafār, in the Yemeni highlands. Political power later shifted toward Sanaa, which became the principal center of the kingdom by late antiquity. Himyarite rulers were associated with dhū-Raydān, and their royal titulature initially styled them as kings of Sabaʾ and dhū-Raydān.
The kingdom conquered neighbouring Sabaʾ in c. 25 BCE for the first time, Qataban in c. 200 CE, and Ḥaḍramawt around 300 CE. Its political fortunes relative to Sabaʾ changed repeatedly until Himyar finally established control over the Sabaean Kingdom in the late third century. Following a period of political decline and conflict, the kingdom fell to an Aksumite invasion in the early sixth century.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q289577. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Himyar” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.