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Karib'il Watar ( Sabaean: , romanized: ; 7th century BCE), sometimes distinguished as was probably the most important
ruler A ruler, sometimes called a rule, line gauge, or scale, is a device used in geometry and technical drawing, as well as the engineering and construction industries, to measure distances or draw straight lines. Variants Rulers have long ...
of the early days of the
Sabaean Kingdom The Sabaeans or Sabeans ( Sabaean:, ; ar, ٱلسَّبَئِيُّوْن, ''as-Sabaʾiyyūn''; he, סְבָאִים, Səḇāʾīm) were an ancient group of South Arabians. They spoke the Sabaean language, one of the Old South Arabian langua ...
. He is sometimes regarded as the founder of the kingdom proper, as he was responsible for changing the ruler's title from ("
Mukarrib Mukarrib (Old South Arabian: , romanized: ) is a title variously defined as "priest-kings" or "federators"; the mukarribs may have been the first rulers of the early South Arabian states. Sometime in the fourth century BCE, the title was replaced b ...
") to "
king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
" (''
malik Malik, Mallik, Melik, Malka, Malek, Maleek, Malick, Mallick, or Melekh ( phn, 𐤌𐤋𐤊; ar, ملك; he, מֶלֶךְ) is the Semitic term translating to "king", recorded in East Semitic and Arabic, and as mlk in Northwest Semitic duri ...
'').


Name

The name ''Karibʾīl'' (, ), variously
transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...
, is probably Sabaean for "blessed by
God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
" or " the god", in the case of the early Sabaeans usually referring to the
moon god A lunar deity or moon deity is a deity who represents the Moon, or an aspect of it. These deities can have a variety of functions and traditions depending upon the culture, but they are often related. Lunar deities and Moon worship can be found ...
Almaqah Almaqah or Almuqh ( xsa, 𐩱𐩡𐩣𐩤𐩠; ar, المقه; gez, አልመቀህ) was the Moon god of the ancient Yemeni kingdom of Saba'. He was also worshipped in the kingdom of Dʿmt, which later became the kingdom of Aksum in Ethiopia a ...
. It may also mean "obedient to God" or "the god". The name ''Watar'' (, ) is of uncertain meaning but appears in numerous regnal names in the area.


Life

Karib'il Watar, the son of Dhamar El Yanuf III who reigned in the early 7th century BCE, changed his title from ''
Mukarrib Mukarrib (Old South Arabian: , romanized: ) is a title variously defined as "priest-kings" or "federators"; the mukarribs may have been the first rulers of the early South Arabian states. Sometime in the fourth century BCE, the title was replaced b ...
'' to ''
Malik Malik, Mallik, Melik, Malka, Malek, Maleek, Malick, Mallick, or Melekh ( phn, 𐤌𐤋𐤊; ar, ملك; he, מֶלֶךְ) is the Semitic term translating to "king", recorded in East Semitic and Arabic, and as mlk in Northwest Semitic duri ...
''. He is mentioned in one of the longest and most important Sabaean inscriptions which is located on the Great Temple of
Almaqah Almaqah or Almuqh ( xsa, 𐩱𐩡𐩣𐩤𐩠; ar, المقه; gez, አልመቀህ) was the Moon god of the ancient Yemeni kingdom of Saba'. He was also worshipped in the kingdom of Dʿmt, which later became the kingdom of Aksum in Ethiopia a ...
in
Sirwah Sirwah ( OSA: Ṣrwḥ, ar, صرواح خولان ''Ṣirwāḥ Ḫawlān'') was, after Ma'rib, the most important economical and political center of the Kingdom of Saba at the beginning of the 1st century BC, on the Arabian Peninsula. Ṣi ...
40 kilometers west of
Marib Marib ( ar, مَأْرِب, Maʾrib; Old South Arabian: 𐩣𐩧𐩨/𐩣𐩧𐩺𐩨 ''Mryb/Mrb'') is the capital city of Marib Governorate, Yemen. It was the capital of the ancient kingdom of ''Sabaʾ'' ( ar, سَبَأ), which some scholars ...
. The inscription in
Sirwah Sirwah ( OSA: Ṣrwḥ, ar, صرواح خولان ''Ṣirwāḥ Ḫawlān'') was, after Ma'rib, the most important economical and political center of the Kingdom of Saba at the beginning of the 1st century BC, on the Arabian Peninsula. Ṣi ...
which is composed of twenty lines describes the military campaigns led by Karib'il Watar. From the first line of the inscription, it seems the author was dazzled by his numerous extensive victories. Karib'il started his campaigns by attacking western lands of
Ma'rib Marib ( ar, مَأْرِب, Maʾrib; Old South Arabian: 𐩣𐩧𐩨/𐩣𐩧𐩺𐩨 ''Mryb/Mrb'') is the capital city of Marib Governorate, Yemen. It was the capital of the ancient kingdom of ''Sabaʾ'' ( ar, سَبَأ), which some scholars ...
, killing and capturing thousands of his enemies. Then he focused his attention on conquering of south-western sea ports and lands in order to weaken the
Kingdom of Awsan The ancient Kingdom of Awsān ({{Lang-ar, مملكة أوسان) in South Arabia, modern-day Yemen, with a capital at Ḥajar Yaḥirr in Wādī Markhah, to the south of Wādī Bayḥān, is now marked by a tell or artificial mound, which is loc ...
. He continued his advance to reach the lands of Awsan, which was controlling the southern regions up to shores of the
Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...
. Karib'il ordered his soldiers to shed their swords on Awsan's people, kill and capture thousands of them, and burn all their cities all the way to the sea.
Minaeans The Minaean people were the inhabitants of the kingdom of Ma'in (Minaean: ''Maʿīn''; modern Arabic ''Maʿīn'') in modern-day Yemen, dating back to the 10th century BCE-150 BCE. It was located along the strip of desert called Ṣayhad by ...
pose the next dangerous opponent. Therefore, he attacked their cities such as "Nestum" ( Nasha'an) and burned them. Afterwards, he besieged the city of "Nescus" (
Nashaq Nashaq (Minaean language, Minaean: romanized: ; modern day Kharbat Al-Bayda', ar, خربة البيضاء) is the name of an ancient South Arabian city in the northern Al Jawf Governorate, al-Jawf region of present-day Yemen, in the territory o ...
) for three years. The result of the siege was a humiliating defeat for Minaeans and the annexation of all their arable lands and dams, and a tribute have been imposed to the God Almaqah. The last ever campaign was to north of Al Jawf near
Najran Najran ( ar, نجران '), is a city in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the border with Yemen. It is the capital of Najran Province. Designated as a new town, Najran is one of the fastest-growing cities in the kingdom; its population has risen fr ...
. The outcome of the aggression was a landslide in which Karib'il killed five thousand, enslaved twelve thousand children, and seized more than two hundred thousand cattle.


Archaeology

A number of smaller inscriptions tell us about Karib'il Watar include: *building inscriptions in the city walls of 'Araratum (today al-Asahil) and Katalum 50 km west-northwest of Marib, *a showpiece from a temple on Jabal al-Laudh on the northeast edge of the Dschauf. *a stele, which marked Karib'ils property at fields near Marib.Albert Jamme: Inscriptions de alentours de Mâreb, in: Cahiers de Byrsa 5, 1955, S. 271 ff., Nr. 541 (zitiert als: Ja 541) *two long reports (quoted as RES 3945 and RES 3946), which are located in the courtyard of Yada'il Dharih I built Almaqah Temple in Sirwah. **The first text reports the construction of irrigation systems and military campaigns, **the second of construction works and land acquired. Thus they give important insights both in Karib'il's politics and in the political situation in southern Arabia at that time.


See also

*
List of rulers of Saba and Himyar This is a list of rulers of Saba and Himyar. Mukarrib (Mukrab, Karab), a religious title that means "near to God", was used by rulers of Saba' until Karib'il Watar changed his title to ''Malik'' at the time of the kingdom of Saba' and Dhu Rayda ...


Notes


External links

*An inscription that describes military campaigns led by Karib'il Wata
RES 3945RES 3946


References


Citations


Bibliography

* . * {{citation , last=Hommel , first=Fritz , title=The Ancient Hebrew Tradition as Illustrated by the Monuments , url=https://archive.org/details/ancienthebrewtra00homm/page/n7 , editor-last=McClure , editor-first=Edmund , editor2=Leonard Crosslé , display-editors=1 , ref={{harvid, McClure & al., 1897 , date=1897 , location=New York , publisher=E. & J.B. Young & Co. Date of birth unknown Date of death unknown 7th-century BC Yemeni people Sabaeans Mukaribs of Saba Kings of Saba