The Book of Crowns on the Kings of Himyar explained

Kitāb al-Tījāni (Arabic: كتاب التيجان) also known more commonly as The Book of Crowns on the Kings of Himyar, is a historical and biographical work by the Yemeni historian Wahb ibn Munabbih,^[1] an 8th AD century Israʼiliyyat author.^[2] The book is also known as Kitāb al-Tījān li ma'rifati muluk al-zamān fi akhbar Qahtān (The Book of Crowns, on the kings of yesteryear in the accounts of the Qahtānites).

The book later transmitted by Ibn Hisham who also worked on the As-Sīrah an-Nabawiyyah.^{[3] [4]} Ibn Hisham reported that he acquired the book's narratives from 'Abd al-Mun'im ibn Idris.^[5]

Content

The book focuses on biographies, as well as the genealogy and ancestry of the rulers of the Himyarite Kingdom.^{[6] [7] [8]}

Included in the book is a study of the genealogy of the descendants of Ham, son of Biblical Noah, which the book describe as progenitor of Habesha peoples or Ethiopian peoples.^[9] In this topic, Wahb also narrated the story of how the South Arabian king Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan had fought against the presence of Habesha peoples in the Arabian peninsula since the 6th century AD.^[10]

The book also discusses the identity of Dhu al-Qarnayn, whom is identified as being of Byzantine ancestry.^[11] However, Ibn Hisham also gives his own personal commentary stating that Dhu al-Qarnayn was one of the Tababi'ah (plural of Tubba', the ruling title of the Himyarites), with the name of Sa'b ibn al-Harith.^[12] Dhu al-Qarnayn is also attributed with the action of conquering parts of the Iberian Peninsula.

Commentaries

Ibn Hisham, who authored the commentaries of this book, also gave his own analysis that the name of Yemen were given from their primordial founder, Ya'rub ibn Qahtan,^{[13] [14]} who is also known by his other name, "Yaman".^[15]

Modern historian Jan Retsö has suggested that the commentaries of Ibn Hisham have shown that there was interest from Muslim orthodoxy in his era to preserve the historiography of Yemeni tradition.^[16]

Modern historians have said that some entries and stories in the book, are, however, legendary in nature and may not reflect reality.

List of kings mentioned in the book

The book structures mainly examines the descendants of South Arabian patriarch Qahtan. Below is a list of kings mentioned in the book, in order:

1. Malik al-Himyar, the son of Sheba
2. Wa'il ibn Himyar
3. Saksak ibn Wa'il
4. Ya'fur ibn Saksak
5. 'Amir Dhu Ra'ish
6. Al-Ma'afir ibn Ya'fur
7. Shaddad ibn Aad
8. Luqman ibn Aad
9. Dhu Shaddad al-Himaal ibn Aad
10. Al-Harith ibn al-Himaal
11. Dhul Qarnayn
    1. Dhu'l Manar Abrahah 'Abd ibn Abrahah ibn Ra'ish
12. 'Amr ibn Abrahah ibn Ra'ish
13. Shurahil
14. Al-Hudhad ibn Shurahil
15. Queen of Sheba
16. Rehoboam
17. Malik ibn 'Amr ibn Ya'fur
18. Shammar Yahri'sh
19. Safi' ibn Shammar, the king of the Nabataeans
20. 'Amr ibn 'Amr Mazikiyah
21. The first king of the Ghassanids
22. Rabia ibn Nasr
23. Abu Karib
24. Hassan Yuha'min
25. Sharhabil Yafar (known here as 'Amr ibn Tubba' al-As'ad)
26. 'Abd-Kulal
27. Sharhabil Yakkuf (known here as Tubba' bin Hassan)
    1. Rabia, son of Marthad ibn 'Abd-Kulal Hassan ibn 'Amr ibn Tubba'
28. Abraha, son of Al-Sabbah (not Abraha al-Ashram)
29. Dhu Shanatir
30. Dhu Nuwas
31. Abraha
32. Yaksum ibn Abraha
33. Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan

See also

• Book of the Himyarites, a Syriac Christian biographical work about the Himyarite Kingdom and its adoption of Judaism
• Tarikh al-Tabari
• Al-Bidayah wan Nihayah
• Siyar A'lam al-Nubala

References

Sources

Notes and References

1. Web site: Gorgias Press . 2024-04-26 . www.gorgiaspress.com.
2. Book: Maaike Zimmerman . Stelios Panayotakis . Wytse Keulen . The Ancient Novel and Beyond . 2017 . Brill . 9789047402114 . 11 . 27 April 2024 . En . ebook.
3. Sezgin, Fuat (1967). Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums. Vol. 1. Leiden: Brill.
4. Book: Marmaduke William Pickthall . Marmaduke Pickthall . Muhammad Asad . Islamic Culture Volume 2 . 1928 . Islamic Culture Board . 56 . 27 April 2024 . En.
5. Book: Abd Al-Aziz Duri . Donner . Fred . Conrad . Lawrence I. . Fred Donner . The Rise of Historical Writing Among the Arabs . 2014 . Princeton University Press . 9781400853885 . 130 . 27 April 2024 . En.
6. Web site: 2017-06-12 . التيجان في ملوك حمير • الموقع الرسمي للمكتبة الشاملة . 2024-04-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170612065305/http://shamela.ws/index.php/book/37473 . 2017-06-12 .
7. Web site: The Book of Crowns on the Kings of Himyar . 2024-04-26 . Gorgias Press LLC . en.
8. Book: Al-Munabbih, Wahb bin . The Book of Crowns on the Kings of Himyar . 2009 . Gorgias Press, LLC . 978-1-59333-515-1 . ar.
9. Book: Zvi Ben-Dor Benite . The Ten Lost Tribes A World History . 2013 . OUP USA . 9780199324538 . 93–4 . 27 April 2024 . En.
10. Book: Helen Blatherwick . Prophets, Gods and Kings in Sīrat Sayf Ibn Dhī Yazan An Intertextual Reading of an Egyptian Popular Epic . 2016 . Brill . 9789004314801 . 17 . 27 April 2024 . En.
11. Book: Brannon M. Wheeler . Prophets in the Quran An Introduction to the Quran and Muslim Exegesis . 2002 . Bloomsbury Academic . 9780826449573 . 228 . 27 April 2024 . En . Paperback.
12. Book: Reyhan Durmaz . Stories Between Christianity and Islam Saints, Memory, and Cultural Exchange in Late Antiquity and Beyond . 2022 . University of California Press . 9780520386464 . 101 . 27 April 2024 . En . Hardcover.
13. https://al-maktaba.org/book/492/40#p1 الإيناس بعلم الأنساب - المغربي - ج١ - الصفحة 41.
14. • Book: Islamic desk reference. registration. 483. ya'rub arab.. E. J.. van Donzel. Illustrated. BRILL. 1994. 9789004097384.
15. Book: C.H.M. Versteegh . Ditters . Everhard . Motzki . Harald . Approaches to Arabic Linguistics Presented to Kees Versteegh on the Occasion of His Sixtieth Birthday . 2007 . Brill . 9789004160156 . 203 . 27 April 2024 . En.
16. Book: jan retsö . Eisenstadt . Shmuel Noah . Árnason . Jóhann Páll . Wittrock . Björn . Shmuel Eisenstadt . Axial Civilizations and World History . 2005 . Brill . 9789004139558 . 27 April 2024 . En.