Arabia Felix, Himyarites 1St Century (Ngc Slab)(Vf)

Himyar was a tribe that occupied the coastal region of modern-day Yemen—what the Romans called Arabia Felix, or ”Fertile Arabia.“ The Himyarites coalesced into a kingdom by 110 BCE. In the first century AD, when this silver drachm was struck, the Himyar had conquered much of the surrounding area and established a capital in the city of Zafar. The Himyarites were one of the few ancient Arab peoples to convert to Judaism. After 380 CE, the Himyarite Kingdom was a Jewish monarchy. The Himyar fell to the Abyssinians in 525, after more than six centuries of rule.