ASUTA
The Journal for the Study and Research into the
Mandaean Culture, Religion, and Language.

       Volume 5                                  Special Issue                                           Online edition

Sabians,
Sabaeans, or Sabeans

       RESEARCH DONE BY AJAE                                                              COPYRIGHT 2000

Sabeans of the Old Testament

In the Old Testament we come across a few references to a group of people called Sabeans:

"And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee." (11)

"Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God. "(12)

"And a voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the wilderness, which put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads." (13)

"And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD hath spoken it." (14)

It is believed that these Sabeans came from Southern Arabia in what now is Yemen.  They were also called the Himyarites or the Yemenites. The Sabaeans were a Semitic people who, at an unknown date, entered Southern Arabia from the north. Sabaean civilization began as early as the 10th-12th century BC.  The Sabaean rulers are mentioned in Assyrian annals of the late 8th and early 7th centuries BC, but Sabaean inscriptions are dated to the 6th century BC.

Figure #2
Sabean Inscriptions

South Arabia was a collection of small kingdoms. The kingdom of Saba with its capital at Marib was the most powerful, at times dominating all of the South Arabia. (15) At Marib there exists an ancient dam, about 1,800 feet (550 m) long and pyramidal in cross section.  The dam was of stone-and-masonry construction, with sluice gates to control the flow of water. It irrigated more than 4,000 acres (1,600 hectares) and supported a densely settled agricultural region, dependent on careful water conservation. (16)

The Sabaeans were known as successful traders, they had a monopoly on “
"exotic” goods. With the domestication of the camel (1400 BC) large Sabaean caravans moved north along the edge of the desert. (17) The trade route, which was protected by the kingdoms along the way, became famous as the "Gold and Incense Road". Among the luxury goods supplied by Sabaean merchants were spices, ebony, silk, Indian textile, rare woods, feathers, animal skins, and gold from East Africa. (18)

For centuries they controlled Bab el-Mandeb, the straits leading into the Red Sea.

Figure #3
Marib

They also established many colonies on the African shores, which may account for the African Sheba. The fact that Abyssinia (Ethiopia) was peopled from South Arabia has been proved linguistically.  The difference between the Sabaean and Ethiopian languages implies that the original settlement was very early in history with many centuries of separation between the two.  During these separations the Abyssinians were exposed to foreign influences. New Sabaean colonies did appear in some parts of the African coast as late as the 1st century BC. (19)

Figure #4
Marib

Sabaean rulers of the early period employed a regnal style consisting of two names, a style that would be repeated over and over again. The rulers used the title mukarrib, thought to mean “unifier” when describing the royal self.  Persons other than the rulers never used this title in their texts but referred to the rulers with their two names or simply as the “King of Marib”. In later history the title mukarrib fell out of use and the rulers referred to themselves, and were referred to by their subjects, as "king of Saba'." (20)

At the end of the second century AD, a new power emerged in south Arabia : the Himyarites . They eventually conquered Saba and established their rule over all Yemen. Negligence caused the final destruction of the great Marib Dam in 570 AD In 530 AD a joint Himyarite and Persian army cooperated to free Yemen from Ethiopian colonists. The Persians remained in power until the arrival of Islam in 628 AD

The religion of the Saba appears to be based on a national god called Almaqah (or Ilmuqah). Until recently Almaqah was considered to be a moon god, but the symbols of the bull's head and the vine motif that are associated with him are usually associated with a solar god. (21)

Figure #5
Sabean Temple

The True Sabians

The Sabaean Religious Order

The Sabian Assembly

The Sabeans of the Old Testament

The Sabaeans of the Bahai Writings

The Sabaeans of Harran

The Sabaeans of the Moses Maimonides writings

The Sabians of the Koran

Final Thought

References

Figures