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Yemen's Historical Vocation in the Red Sea, and the Periplus of the Red Sea

[ Posted On: 2008-03-21 ]

To envision present and future potentialities, it is essential to delve first into the Yemenite past. The 'Periplus of the Red Sea', an Ancient Greek text written by an Alexandrian Egyptian of the times of the Roman Emperor Nero, refers to the Yemenite coast from al Mokha to Aden, and to Perim Island, constituting therefore a major point of historical reference.

History is the best foundation of arguments and considerations pertaining to the geo-strategic potentialities of a country. In the wider strategic area of the Bab al Mandeb straits, at the southern end of the Red Sea, many countries contributed to the formation of the present socioeconomic and political realities. Turkey's predecessor, the Ottoman Empire, controlled the area for almost four centuries, as the rightful inheritor of the Islamic Caliphates.

Under colonial control, Egypt was used by England to some extent in the second half of the 19th century in order to control Muslim populations on the Eastern African coast down to the Horn of Africa. England opposed Italy as, among the European colonial rivals, these two countries expanded their zones of influence and control in Eastern Africa. Contrarily, France was able to clutch only a relatively small territory (Djibouti) but for longer duration. Only England (or rather the East India Company) got a foothold on the opposite landmass of the Arabian peninsula (in 1839), namely Aden (which became crown colony in 1937).

Almost all the countries involved in the area are colonial constructions, reflecting no genuine nation-building; exceptions in this regard are Somalia and Yemen that are the real, historical nations in the Bab el Mandeb straits and the Horn of Africa area.

Colonial Fabrications and Historical Nations in the Red Sea Area

Sudan is a colonial fabrication where numerous nations have been tyrannized in diverse ways; the purpose of the colonial machination of Pan-Arabism targeted the existence of the Nubians in the North, the Bejas along Sudan's Red Sea coast, the Furis of Darfur, and many other nations, notably the Anuak (Anyuak), the Nuer, and the Dinka.

Saudi Arabia is another colonial construction that owes its existence to the British anti-Ottoman plans and infiltration. The southern part of the Wahhabite terrorist kingdom belongs to Yemen whereas the northwestern and the eastern coastlands are inhabited by islamized and linguistically arabized Aramaeans. Arabs lived historically in Hedjaz.

Abyssinia represents another colonial structure mobilized and used by the British against their main rival in the area, Italy. The British plans failed for the period of Italian occupation of Abyssinia, which is the only period some infrastructure development took place in that country where a tiny ethno-religious minority, the Amhara and Tigray Abyssinians of Monophysitic (heretic) faith, imposed a most inhumane tyranny over ca. 84% of the entire population.

Eritrea: a Model Apart

Eritrea is a postcolonial effort to build a multicultural society on the Eastern African shore and as such it represents a truly new dimension of politics and state-building in the area.

All the secessionist fabrications on Somali territory are colonial of inspiration, as they reflect Neo-Nazi Abyssinian policies of Hatred and Revenge (against the Somali Nation for events that took place before …. 500 years).

However, there are more things to unite than divide the main coastal Red Sea countries, namely Eritrea, Yemen and Somalia. The first unifying aspect is geography itself: the existence of the straits themselves.

History proved that instead of separating, the Bab al Mandeb Straits bring one close to another all around the two coasts. A good example is given by the 1st century CE Greek text that an anonymous Egyptian Alexandrian captain and merchant wrote about navigation and trade throughout the seas of the south, from Egypt to Indonesia.

The Yemenite coast from al Mokha to Aden in the 'Periplus of the Red Sea'

1. Mouza (today's al Mokha) Administration

After giving a brief description of Mouza in paragraph 21, the author of the Periplus of the Red Sea gives topographical details about the Himyarite kingdom of which part was Mouza. This is presented in two short paragraphs of the text, 22 and 23. The text reads as follows:

"After three days inland trip, we reach Savve, the capital of Mofar Province, which extended all around. There, lives and has his palace the local administrator, Kholaibos.

And after another nine days trip in the inland, we reach Safar, the capital of the entire country, where by law reigns Kharibael joining under his scepter the two peoples, the Himyarites and the nearby Sabaeans. He is a friend to the Roman emperors, thanks to the continuously exchanged embassies and presents".

2. Sabaa and Himyar kingdoms merged

It is noteworthy that for the author of the Periplus of the Red Sea, who writes around 70 CE, the two kingdoms, Sabaa and Himyar, had merged to form just one state. Even more interesting is that the author refers not to two states but to two peoples, namely the 'Sabaeites' and the 'Homerites'. He testifies to an insightful understanding of the reality that there were several Yemenite peoples, not just one people divided into two (or more) states.

In this regard, it is necessary to bear in mind that it was very common for Ancient Greek authors to moderately hellenize foreign names of all sorts (from toponymics to ethnic and personal names) in a way that they allude to a reminiscence of the Greek cultural heritage environment. Consequently, the noun 'Himyarites' become 'Homerites', alluding to Homer, without however becoming absolutely the same as the adjective 'homericos', which derives from the name of the Greek epic poet.

3. Yemenite – Roman relationship

The reference to Kharibael exchanging embassies with the Roman Empire is another piece of valuable information coming out of the present passage; it testifies to the establishment and pursuance of regular interstate relationships. Most probably, Rome was the furthermost (and northernmost) capital ancient Yemenite diplomats were appointed in. The fact also shows that the famous naval expedition of Aelius Gallus that took place around 26 BCE, a few years after Octavian Augustus, invaded Alexandria, had had some results.

Through Roman sources we know that the Aelius Gallus expedition did not end up in a real success. Roman soldiers got all sorts of sicknesses, whereas navigation was felt as too long! Well, 1900 km distance is something, when you begin sailing at the very edge of your country, i.e. the northern part of Egypt's Red Sea coast! Furthermore, a real Yemenite capital city was not found, since probably the Romans had difficulty to advance much in the mountainous Yemenite inland, being already so far from their homes, and stricken by – previously unknown to them – tropical diseases.

In addition, a real battle was not engaged; probably the Sabaeans and the Himyarites practiced retreat tactics, trying through skirmishes to make Romans realize that they spent too much time in such a faraway place without any concrete gain!

But, as we already said, this passage of the 'Periplus of the Red Sea' proves that the Augustan expedition had some impact. Further on, in another passage we will attest another reference to the event of the Roman expedition against Yemen that – quite impressively – happened 100 years before the author of this text wrote these details! We can deduce that, although the attack did not end in a major battle victory or in the destruction of a capital city, it did leave an impact, since it was truly unprecedented. Never before had Yemen been attacked by any country…

4. Sabaa – Himyar under Kharibael: a Constitutional Monarchy?

The legitimacy and the righteous character of Kharibael's rule are also important. Using the adjective 'enthesmos' for the Yemenite king, the author employs a term that means not only compliance with an old legislation, and enthronement according all the traditional protocol, but also a degree of constitutional monarchy, of a balance of power existing among the king and the council of the Old Mukkarib, as well as of justice prevailing throughout the country, guaranteed by Kharibael.

5. Mouza (al Mokha) Market

Then, the author returns to the main subject, the description of trade and navigation throughout the Red Sea, and narrates in detail the trade at Mouza, in paragraph 24.

"The port of Mouza is not facilitated by a natural harbour, but there is an embankment, and in addition a ship can anchor easily thanks to the sandy shores all around. In the market we do find purple textile and yard goods of either exceptional or ordinary quality; we also find Yemenite clothes with long sleeves, clothes embellished with a lot of decorative motifs, clothes of common type, clothes woven with golden yard, clothes in rectangular designs, all sorts of clothing, coats and fleeces, bed coverings, blankets either without decoration, or with the traditional decoration, belts in dark coloured strips, currency in cash, safran, cyperus (cyperus longus), vast quantities of myrrh, but not much wine and wheat, since the country produces little wine, and even less wheat. To the king and the administrator are offered horses and mules along with their respective saddles, as well as golden-, silverware, and copperware, and in addition, exquisite clothes. From Mouza all the aforementioned is exported to Adulis on the opposite coast, and so is white marble, as well as all types of myrrh, namely the best quality myrrh, the common type that is called stakte ('liquified'), the abeirian type, and Minyan myrrh. The travel is undertaken under best meteorological conditions, if we sail from Egypt in September, that is Thot month, but however nothing prohibits us to sail earlier".

In this excerpt, beyond the detailed information about the merchandises and the taxes ("To the king and the administrator are offered…"), we get significant information about various subjects. Mouza seems to be the export center of Yemen for all the products transported to Egypt, Meroe (Sudan), Axum (Abyssinia), Africa, and (through Egypt) Rome. This means that the bulk of the Yemenite merchandises was exported via sea routes, whereas the land route (through Arabia to Petra) was rather limited for exports to Syria, Mesopotamia and Anatolia.

6. Mouza and Adulis: a Comparison

Through the references of the Periplus of the Red Sea, it becomes clear that in the area we call today the Red Sea, Adulis on the western coast and Mouza on the eastern coast were the richest, biggest and most active ports. If we compare the references, we certainly notice that the text for Adulis is lengthier but the text for Mouza refers to more luxurious, valuable and expensive commodities.

The state involvement is more obvious in Mouza, the port is more closely controlled by the capital Safar and the king Kharibael, through means of intermediate control by the Savve administrator Kholaibos. This suggest superior administration and better organized society.

Although the distance between Adulis and Axumites (8 days trip) seems smaller than the distance between Mouza and Safar (12 days trip), Zoscales (King of Axum) seems not to levy from the Adulis port and market the taxes that Kharibael (King of Sheba and Himyar) was able to impose on the Mouza trade treasures.

The country of the Sabaeans and the Himyarites is presented as definitely bigger, larger, and stronger than the realm of Zoscales for which the text states only the capital's, not the country's, name.

On the other hand, the diffusion of Greek as international language was certainly greater in the western coast, since Zoscales was speaking Greek, whereas nothing similar is said for Kharibael. Knowing earlier (Achaemenid) and later (Sassanid) phases of Iranian history and involvement in the area, we assume that Aramaic and Ancient Persian were the two foreign languages that were principally studied, written and spoken in Sabaean and Himyarite Yemen.

Through the excerpts of the 'Periplus of the Red Sea' that we analyzed, we realize that Yemen's commercial interaction with the Axumite kingdom on the Eastern coast of Africa was due to the common ethno-linguistic and religious background, and to the mutual understanding of the need for the best exploitation of the Red Sea's geophysical and meteorological traits.

Article Source: http://www.afroarticles.com/article-dashboard

About The Author: Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis - is Orientalist, Assyriologist, Egyptologist, Iranologist, Islamologist, Historian and Political Scientist. Dr. Megalommatis, 51, is the author of 12 books, dozens of scholarly articles, hundreds of encyclopedia entries, and thousands of articles. He speaks, reads and writes more than 15, modern and ancient, languages.

| View Profile & All Articles By: Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis |

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