A Journey through the Yemen and some General Remarks Upon that Country by Walter Harris

THE YEMEN BEFORE THE HEJIRA.

Having in the last chapter briefly sketched the principal geographical features of the Yemen, it remains now to make mention of its history. The same remarks as were made as to the geography are applicable here, that with the exception of certain periods which have been made the study of archeologists and orientalists, there is but very little known of the history of the Yemen, and there are long periods existing between the times of which something has been written or translated that are almost blanks. Nor is it on this account alone that the task of compiling in two chapters so many centuries of historical matter is a difficult one, for many of the times and dynasties of which there exists some trustworthy account are all but unimportant in treating of the country in general, what knowledge we possess in very many cases being simply the genealogies of local princes and rulers. However, it is only by a study of these shreds of history that we are able to gain any facts concerning the condition of the country during the early centuries after the introduction of Islam, for instance; and if they in themselves appeal almost solely to the student of things oriental, they yet tend to throw more light upon the inner life of the people than it would be possible to gather elsewhere.

But the history of the Yemen is by no means confined to such a brief period as that which has passed between the birth of Islam and to-day. There exists a far more ancient and more wonderful history, of which, unhappily, we know as yet but little, but which, should it even be possible to make thorough examination of its monuments and records, may prove that many of the existing civilisations sprang from the Yemen and Hadramaut, and that the ancient Egyptians themselves, owed the foundations of their arts and learning to the inhabitants of Southern Arabia. Some light has been thrown lately upon the old civilisation of Southern Arabia by the successful excavations carried on by Mr Theodore Bent in Mashonaland, which have proved most clearly that the Arabs of Southern Arabia were in touch with that distant quarter of Africa, and not only in touch, but even so firmly rooted there as to erect forts and temples, to build and to decorate, and to work the mines of that country.

At present scientific exploration of the Yemen and the other divisions of Southern Arabia has been, for many reasons, so seldom undertaken that there remains to be discovered there more than is probably to be found in any part of the world. How rich the country is in archeological remains may be judged from the quantity of inscriptions, &c., brought back by the enterprising and scholarly Austrian Dr Glaser, to whom we owe nearly all that is known of the earlier periods of Yemenite history. It was through the extensive researches of this _savant_ that any conclusive data have been given not only to individual sovereigns but to whole dynasties, with the result that although far from perfect knowledge, very considerable light has been thrown upon the early days of the Yemen.

Before, however, entering into any precise account of the historical records of the Yemen, it may be as well to briefly mention a few well-founded traditions generally accepted amongst the natives and believed by themselves to be undisputable. In this they are, no doubt, mainly right in the origin; but in attempting to trace their descent, through periods later than those of the earliest times, they have to some extent become confused. This is most apparent in the cases of the two great divisions, or nations, which inhabited the Yemen, the weaker of which, at times, finding similarity between names, claimed descent from a common ancestor with the stronger, until by force of time no clear line of division was possible in many cases.

Although there can be little doubt of a prehistoric and almost pretraditional race inhabiting Southern Arabia, the only record worthy of acceptance from native sources of their existence is their mention in the Koran. No traditions exist as to them amongst the people to-day, or even amongst those Arab historians of the middle ages who made special studies of the subject.

The inhabitants of Southern Arabia may be divided into two great stems, to which the names of Yemenite and Ishmaelite tribes have been very properly given.

The Yemenite nation are the direct descendants of Kahtan, generally identified with Joktan of the Jewish Scriptures, of the line of Shem, the son of Noah, another of whose descendants, Hazarmaveth, gave his name to what is to-day known as Hadramaut.

The second great division into which the inhabitants of the Yemen may be divided are the descendants of Adnan, who was of the family of Ishmael, son of Abraham: although unfortunately the connecting links are absent, yet in spite of this there can be no doubt as to the fact. This Adnan is said to have been the contemporary of Bukht Nasser, in other words Nebuchadnezzar; [11] and it was the fierce wars waged by this monarch, tradition relates, that drove the Ishmaelite tribes to seek refuge amongst the Yemenite peoples. If this be the case, it is a marvellous fact that two nations inhabiting the same country for such an enormous period of time, and for the last twelve or thirteen hundred years united in religious ideas, are able to-day to speak with any certainty as to which branch they belong. Yet such is the case, with the exception of certain Arab tribes who claim descent from Kahtan, the mistake arising through certain similarities of names to be found amongst his descendants and those of Adnan.