518–528 invasion of Himyarite Kingdom by Aksumite Empire
Aksumite invasion of Himyar Part of Roman–Persian Wars The Himyarite Kingdom in 525 AD, just before King Kaleb's conquestBelligerents
Commanders and leaders
Yūsuf Dhū Nuwās † Strength
70 ships during the invasion of 525
100,000 troops
Roman reinforcements
120,000 soldiers at the Siege of Najran Casualties and losses
12,500-14,000 killed 11,000 prisoners [ 4]
UnknownMassacre of Christians in Najran
The Aksumite invasion of Himyar consisted of a series of two invasions from 518 to 525 fought between the Christian Kingdom of Aksum and the Jewish Himyarite Kingdom . The wars functioned as proxy wars waged by the former on behalf of the Roman Empire during the Roman-Persian Wars with the ultimate goal of establishing an anti-Sasanid bloc in Arabia Felix .[ 5]
^ D. W. Phillipson (2012). Foundations of an African Civilisation: Aksum and the Northern Horn, 1000 BC – 1300 AD. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. p. 204.
^ P. Yule (2013). "A Late Antique Christian king from Ḥimyar, southern Arabia, Antiquity, 87". Antiquity Bulletin. Antiquity Publications: 1134.
^ Rukuni, Rugare (2020). "Religious statecraft: Constantinianism in the figure of Nagashi Kaleb" . Theological Studies . 76 (4): 5. doi :10.4102/hts.v76i4.5885 . S2CID 225161400 .
^ Jacques Ryckmans, La persécution des chrétiens himyarites au sixième siècle, Nederlands Historisch-Archaeologisch Inst. in het Nabije Oosten, 1956 pp. 1–24; A. Jamme, W.F., Sabaean and Ḥasaean Inscriptions from Saudi Arabia, Instituto di Studi del Vicino Oriente: Università di Roma, Rome 1966, p. 40
^ Hatke, George (2011), Africans in Arabia Felix: Aksumite Relations with Himyar in the Sixth Century C.E. Vol. 1 , p. 4