Ilīsharaḥ Yaḥḍub was a king of
Saba'
Sheba, or Saba, was an ancient South Arabian kingdom that existed in Yemen from to . Its inhabitants were the Sabaeans, who, as a people, were indissociable from the kingdom itself for much of the 1st millennium BCE. Modern historians agree th ...
who reigned from 120 till 130 CE. At the very beginning of the second century CE, the territory of Sabaʾ was under the control of the
Ḥimyarite king ʿAmdān Bayyin Yuhaqbiḍ. In the meantime, Ilīsharaḥ Yaḥḍub prince (qayl) of the tribe of dhū-Shibāmum, fraction of
Bakil
The Bakil (, Musnad: 𐩨𐩫𐩺𐩡) federation is the largest tribal federation in Yemen. The tribe consists of more than 10 million men and women they are the sister tribe of Hashid(4 million) whose leader was Abdullah Bin Hussein Alahmar. The ...
(CIH 140), rose up against the kingdoms of
Qatabān, Ḥimyar,
Ḥaḍramawt, and the principality of
Radmān and claimed the title of “King of Sabaʾ and dhū-Raydān”. He ruled over a newly independent Sabaean kingdom, with the support of families belonging to the old Sabaean aristocracy of Maʾrib (Ir 3, RES 4150) and tribes from the western highlands: Dhamarī (Ja 568), Maʾdhinum (Fa 94 + 95, Gar Ḍulaʿ 1),
Ḥāshidum (Gr 184), dhū-Hagarum (Ja 413).
In Arabian folklore
Ilīsharaḥ Yaḥḍub, also known as Shurahil al-Hudhad ibn Dhi Jadan in Arabian legend, and is believed to be the father of the
Queen of Sheba
The Queen of Sheba, also known as Bilqis in Arabic and as Makeda in Geʽez, is a figure first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In the original story, she brings a caravan of valuable gifts for Solomon, the fourth King of Israel and Judah. This a ...
. He is described as being a noble king whom refused to enter into a marriage with local women; subsequently he then married and impregnated a woman from the
Jinn
Jinn or djinn (), alternatively genies, are supernatural beings in pre-Islamic Arabian religion and Islam.
Their existence is generally defined as parallel to humans, as they have free will, are accountable for their deeds, and can be either ...
named Rayhana who gave birth to his daughter.
[A. Jamme (2003), "SABA (SHEBA)", '']New Catholic Encyclopedia
The ''New Catholic Encyclopedia'' (NCE) is a multi-volume reference work on Catholic Church, Roman Catholic history and belief edited by the faculty of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. The NCE was originally published in 196 ...
'', vol. 12 (2nd ed.), Gale, pp. 450–451
See also
*
Karib'il Watar
Karibʾīl Watār Yahanʾm ( Sabaean: , romanized: ; 7th century BCE), sometimes distinguished as was probably the most important ruler of the early days of the Sabaean Kingdom. He is sometimes regarded as the founder of the kingdom proper, as ...
*
List of rulers of Saba and Himyar
This is a list of rulers of Saba' and Himyar, ancient Arab kingdoms which are now part of present-day Yemen. The kingdom of Saba' became part of the Himyarite Kingdom in the late 3rd century CE.
The title Mukarrib (Old South Arabian: , romanize ...
Notes
References
{{Authority control
2nd-century monarchs in the Middle East
Middle Eastern kings
Kings of Saba