has oeen learnt about their lines of kings, the extent of their territory, and their wars and alliances. To the Eng. travellers Wtllsted &nd Cruttenden belongs the merit of having first called attention to the existence of the ruined cities in South A., whence the most important of these docu- ments have been brought. Of the nations thus rescued from oblivion the most important were the Mina?ans (the d-ju'O of the Heb. records) and Saba'ans, Avliose dialects ditl'ered in certain par- ticulars, while both had more in common with Heb. than with Arabic. A third monarchy, of which the indigenous name was Libyan, has left traces of its existence and its language in North A., but far less distinct in their nature than those of the former two.
The chief towns of the MlnBans were Ms'tn. Kamau, and Vatit, all of them in South A. ; 3"et the presence of .Min:tHin inscripLioua at El-Xia in North A. would seem to show that their |)Ower was not contlne<l to the S. of the peninsula, and some scnolara would extend it as far N. as Gaza. While U. H. Muller would make the Miniean empire himultaneous with the .Siiliajan, ar^j^u* meiits are adduced by Gia^er and Hommel which make it prob- able that the latter State was one of several that sprang out of the ruins of the .Miniean empire. Of these ar^ments, besides the greater antiquity of the Mina^n character and dialect, may be noticed the fact that most of the names occurring in the -Minffian inscriptions are prehistorical. wliile those in the Sabsan inscriptions can fretiuently be identified ; that the ^lina^ns are not mentioned in the Assyr. inscriptions, and must tlierelore have been powerful at an epoch prior lo the inter- vention of the Assyrians in the affairs of A. ; that whereas Saba is mentioned in some Miniean inscriptions, the .Min^ans are never mentioned in those of Saba. It is urced, on the other hand, that the acquaintance with the Minujans shown by Gr. writcru and in late parts of the Hible (1 Ch i", Job 2" LXX) is inconsistent with the hoary antiauity assij^ned them ; to which the answer j.'iven by Glaser, that the classical writere are acquainted with them as a nation but not as an empire, is per- haps insulHcient. The MinaMLii rule of Kl-'L'la is thoui^ht to have exterideii over at least nine genemtions (Hommel, Au/nnUf, p. 27); and the statement in .Ik- W" (cf. 2 Ch 20'), that the Israelites before they had kin^rs hail been saved from the MinasanB, implies thai their power exu-nded far north. Like other Oriental Slates, it is probable that the power of Ma'in varied greatly with the cap,acitv of particular rulers ; for, while from the Inscr. Haltvy 50i it might appear that the Minnan king Waqah-ii Vatha' waa a vasjiat of the king of Kataban, his sod Il'Vafa-Yathar was a great conqueror, who extended his rule over tlie whole region S. of Jauf from E. to W. Lastly, we may notice an of great historical interest the Inscr. HalCvy 635, which tells us of their successful resistance of an invajiion of Saba and Haulan, and how their god Atthar saved them from trouble in a war that broke out between the king of the N. and the king of the 8. This invasion of Salia was. If Olaaer's theory be correct, one of a series of attackji continued (or a period of 200 vears, during which the princea of Saba were endeavouring to iindermine the Minsan power,— an end achieved (according to the same scholar's reckoning) about 820 B.C. Both the inscrip- tions and the Bible tell us more of Saba, the trilie whose kings were the cliief power in the south of A., till aliout i.e. SOO they gave wav to the Abvssinians. Their capital was Marib (Mariaba of the classics), some 45 miles E. of San a, famous for the great dkm, the breaking of which was regarded by the Arab chroni- clers aa the immediate cause of tlie declme of the Sabaian empire (Shelm, Saba). The 8ab»an empire was, without doubt, simultaneous with monarchies of Kataban, lladraniaut (with it» chief town Sabata), Raidan, and Habashah, all of which are mentioned as included in a treaty In an Interesting Inscrip- tion commented on by Olaser (/>i< Abi/tnni<rr in ArtUiim, p. 68 ff.), and aasi^rned by him to the 2nd cent. B.o. Ilabashah, corresiwnding with the region now known •» Mahra, was, according to the same author's calculations, absorbetl by Iladramaut about i.D. 46; the Katabanian state («ith Timna for it*t capitAl) was ruined at some time in the 2nd cent. B.C. ; and from an inscription of extraordinary Interest, published on p. 118 of the work last quoted, we Icam how the prince of Raiilati and Hiinyar was defcale<l by the king of 8at>a in sjiite of th. former's alliance with Hubashah, and from that time (B.C. ll.'iri the kings of Saba style theliiselves kings of Saba and of Raidan. When the Kataltariians disjipiiear from the ins-riptions, the Himyar (the Honierit« of the classical authors) come into proniinence ; ati'l at the roniiiiencement of our era the south ol A. was shared bv three motmrchs, of Himyar, Iladramaut. and Saha with Ralilan. Aided by the Siissanians, the llimyars presently became all-powerful In South A. ; in the middle of the 4th cent, the monument of Adnlis telbt us that the Sabaian iKiwer ha/l been overthrown, and the Abyssinians tHt-anie rulers of Yemen ; In 378 the Aralw hwl made hewl against the Abxssinians, and indeed conllne<l them to the Tihatnab, but In 625 tile Abyssinians, with the countenance of the Hyiantine empire, in a vicuirious campaign killed the king of the Uimyars.