Najran

Najran (al-Ukhdud), Saudi ArabiaLevant and ArabiaAlso: Nagran, Nagrin, Negrana

Oasis town in south-western Arabia, on the northern edge of the old kingdom of Himyar, with a Christian community and a bishop in the early sixth century. The Himyarite king Yusuf attacked it, and Syriac writers record the deaths of its Christians.

Najran is an oasis in the south-west of modern Saudi Arabia, near the border with Yemen; the ancient town is identified with the ruin field of al-Ukhdud. The letter of Simeon of Beth Arsham calls it “Nagrin”, says that it had a church and had had a bishop named Paul, and says that it held out against the Himyarite king until its chiefs came out under oath (Zachariah, Chronicle 8.3 (letter of Simeon of Beth Arsham)). An inscription of one of the king’s commanders records that he was posted against Najran with tribesmen and nomads during the same war (Ja 1028 lines 4–7). See the Martyrs of Najran.

What happened here

The Martyrs of Najran

Yusuf, the Jewish king of Himyar in south Arabia, makes war on the Christian town of Najran. Syriac writers report that he put its leading men, with their chief Harith (Arethas), and many women to death. Kaleb, king of Aksum, then crosses the sea and overthrows him.

Primary sources

The Syriac Chronicle Known as That of Zachariah of Mitylene

Zachariah the Rhetor, in an anonymous Syriac compilation · Greek original between AD 491 and 518; Syriac compilation completed AD 569 · Syriac, from a lost Greek original

Zachariah, Chronicle 8.3 (letter of Simeon of Beth Arsham)tertullian.org

Inscription of Sharah’il Yaqbal at Bir Hima (Ja 1028)

Set up by Sharah’il Yaqbal dhu-Yaz’an, an officer of King Yusuf As’ar Yath’ar · Dated dhu-Madhra'an 633 of the Himyarite era: July AD 523, or 518 on another reckoning · Sabaic · Rock face near the well of Bir Hima, Saudi Arabia (in situ)

Ja 1028 lines 4–7web.archive.org