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Chapter 9 - Judaism in Pre-Islamic Arabia

from B. - Regional Surveys

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 August 2021

By
Christian Julien Robin  and
Jason Harris
Edited by
Phillip I. Lieberman
Phillip I. Lieberman
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University, Tennessee
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Summary

According to chroniclers and Byzantine hagiographers, the kingdom of Ḥimyar, whose capital was located in Yemen but whose territory encompassed the majority of the Arabian Peninsula, was Jewish at the beginning of the sixth century ce. The Islamic scholarly tradition confirms this fact and notes that Judaism was introduced to Yemen by an ancient king. The same sources also mention influential Jewish communities in northwestern Arabia.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge History of Judaism , pp. 294 - 331
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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