Jewish Warriors (original) (raw)

In the late fourth century (about 390 CE) a local chieftain named Tub'a Abu Kariba As'ad became king of Yemen. He was to rule until about 420 CE.
Legend has it that Abu Kariba took his tribe north, from Yemen to Medina to make war on the Jews of that city. However, instead of fighting the Jews, he came to learn from them. He returned to Yemen with two rabbis and became a convert to Judaism. His followers followed suit and Yemen, then known as Himayar, became a Jewish kingdom.
Himayar was thus ruled by Jewish kings (whether ethnic or convert) into the sixth century. Early in the sixth century Ethiopia conquered Yemen and the Himayarite king, Rabiah ibn Mudhar was forced to flee.
Yusuf Dhu Nuwas (also referred to as Yusuf Asar Dhu Nuwas, Masruq, and, in Russian sources, Dunas "Zhidovin" - Dunas "the Jew") succeded Rabiah, taking kingship in a state vassal to Ethiopia. Dhu Nuwas was himself a religious Jew, of the line of the convert kings, and the son of an ethnically Jewish woman.
Upon becoming king, Dhu Nuwas began a tireless campaign to rid Yemen of Ethiopian rule. For a time, he was able to loose Ethiopia's hold on Yemen, but was eventually overcome by the combined might of Ethiopia and Rome.
The turning point was the battle of Najran, in 523 CE - a battle that is especially important as an early instance, and probably the prototype, of the Christian-Empirial propaganda that would reach its full development with the Crusades.
From 327 CE, Ethiopia had been a Christian kingdom. As would Portugal in the late Middle Ages, Ethiopia sought to cement its power through the use of religion in service to the Empire. After conquering Himayar, Ethiopia seeded the places of power with loyal Christians. Among the changes, the main synagogue of the capital was turned into a church.
Contemporary inscriptions found in the 1950ies at Najran indicate that the city was a hotbed of Ethiopian-Christian agitation against the Himayar kingship -- agitation that culminated in an uprising which targeted loyal Yemenites and Jews.
Dhu Nuwas besieged the city to punish the pro-Ethiopian agitators.
In October of 523 he took Najran and ruthlessly exterminated the pro-Ethiopian faction - a group that was exclusively Christian and included the Christian-clerical authorities of the city.
However, the Ethiopian Emperor, Ella Asbeha III (also known as Elesboas, Hellesthaeus, and Kaleb or Caleb) was able to take advantage of the death of his allies.
Though the Yemenite nationalist forces under Dhu Nuwas included Jews, pagans, and Christians, Ethiopian propaganda painted the punishment of Najran as a Jewish religious, anti-Christian action and called for a "righteous war" against Yemen - the war to be carried out under the spiritual guidance of an Auximite monk called Pantaleon.
While on a smaller scale then would happen at the time of the Crusades, other Christian rulers responded. Patriarch Timothy III of Alexandria was one very vocal proponent of the "Crusade" against "Jewish" Yemen.
A more practically important ally was Justin I of Rome, who provided the Ethiopian army with 60 warships - warships that would alter the balance of power, giving the clear advantage to Ethiopia.
The deciding battle where Dhu Nuwas was defeated was fought at Zabid in 525. In shades of a "Once and Future King", one legend has Dhu Nuwas riding his horse into the sea and disappearing.
As a result of the war, Ella Asbeha became a saint in the Ethiopian, Greek Orthodox, and Roman Catholic churches (St. Ellasbaan).
In an attempt to learn from his earlier mistake, Ella Asbeha set one of his own generals, Esimephaeus, on the throne of Himayar but Esimephaeus didn't last long. Soon after his assention, there was a rebellion led by Dhu Giadan, a relative of Dhu Nuwas.
That rebellion was crushed but was soon followed by another under the leadership of Abramos.
Giving the lie to the Ethiopian-Christian "Crusader" propaganda that made the Ethiopian invasion into a righteous war against an "enemy of Christ", this Abramos, also known as Abraha, was a Christian.
After Abramos defeated Esimephaeus, Ethiopia sent two further armies against him. The first army mutinied, joining the forces of Abramos and killing their leader - Arethas (or Aryat), a relative of king Ella Asbeha. The second army was decimated in battle.
The conflict continued and after the death of King Ella Asbeha, Abramos swore fealty to the new king of the Ethiopian Empire.
In 570-572 CE Persia, who had been allies of Dhu Nuwas, took Yemen.

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