Fig. 1 – Arabia on the eve of Islam, with the illustration of two ÿimyarite campaigns known from inscriptions, those of kings Maÿdÿkarib Yaÿfur (521, continuous line) and Abraha (552, broken line).
Another very important document (Murayghÿn 1 = Ry 506) commemorates a “fourth” expedition of Abraha into desert Arabia. The king had it engraved in September 552 at the wells of Murayghÿn, 230 km north of Najrÿn, to celebrate a first victory in central Arabia.
The inscription is not dated, but there is little doubt that it completes the previous one; it is also assured that it is before the summer of 554, the date on which prince ÿAmr succeeded his father on the throne of al-ÿÿra.
This inscription incidentally mentions the date 559-560. The author of this text – whose name is lost – is probably King Abraha himself: the quality of the text and the nature of the work suggest this; moreover, at this time, almost all the inscriptions are royal.
Elephant Inscriptions:
There is little doubt that the engravings represent an elephant which passed through the region and aroused intense curiosity. Although it is absolutely certain that it is Abraha’s elephant63, such a hypothesis appears very likely. Najr were those of the Sassanid Persians and the Aksyumites, at the end of the sixth century of the Christian era for the former and in the third and sixth centuries of the Christian era for the latter. We can certainly exclude the Sÿsÿnids because Tradition, relatively well informed for late Antiquity, does not retain that they used the elephant in Arabia. The rock elephant of Najrÿn is therefore Aksÿmite. Undoubtedly it can date from the occupation of Najrÿn by the Aksÿmites in the 3rd century, but the reign of Abraha in the 6th century seems preferable since Tradition has preserved the memory of the passage of an elephant in Najrân at this time. It is very likely that sura 105 refers to the expedition of Abraham, which remained memorable thanks to his elephant: the “Companions of the Elephant” would therefore be Abraha and his army.
