The Mahdi Times The Mahdi Times July 2014 | Page 42

Yemen is still heavily influenced by the
ancient African Semito/Cushitic (i.e.
South Arabian) languages.
The two groups maintain disparate
genealogies and historical traditions
concerning their roles and origins: The
northern Yemenis trace their ancestry
to Ismail (Ishmael) through his
descendant ‘Adnan, whereas their
southern countrymen claim descent
from Qahtan (the biblical Joktan).” As
has been amply demonstrated, a branch
of the Cushitic Ethiopian people whom
later historians named the Sabeans
settled South Yemen. They are a kindred
nation of the Ethiopian Amharas,
Tigreyans, and Eriterians (with possible
addition from the Oromos) sharing a
similar language, culture, architecture,
religion, literature and written scripts.
Migrating from Ethiopia Kush, those
Africans first settled in extreme
southern west of the Peninsula. They
then spread northward and eastward
over Yemen, Hadramaut and Oman.
Those Black Africans were later called
the Himyarites after the name of one of
their more famous states. The word
Himyar is a synonym for dark or dusky,
indicating the racial origin of these
ruling peoples of early Arabia.

The Black Ethiopians were renowned
international maritime traders of the
ancient times. In the 1st century BC the
coastal Himyarites, with control of the
sea routes, established their dominion
over Saba, and over the other south
Arab kingdoms during the 1st century
AD. They effectively monopolized
supply of both indigenous resins
(frankincense and myrrh sought after
by every temple of the ancient world)
and imports of spice, textiles and ivory
from India and East Africa.

The Ethio-Yemenite/Himyarites
were a highly cultured people,
masters of engineering and
architecture. They were also a
highly literate society that
exhibited a great love for
literature and written records.
The Himyaritic language had a written
script which for the most part is lost, but
the few discovered fragments of the
script suggests that it is African in origin
and character. Its grammar is almost