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Najran
Najran (Arabic: نجران Najrān; IPA: [nad͡ʒ.raːn]), is a city in southwestern Saudi Arabia. It is the capital of Najran Province. Today, the city of Najran is one of the fastest-growing cities in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As of the 2022 census, the city population was 381,431, with the population of the governorate of Najran being 592,300. Today, the population is primarily Ismaili with a Sunni minority.
The ancient city of Najran is now largely in ruins, the archaeological site Al-Okhdood, located south-east of the present-day city. In ancient times, this Najran was a major urban, agriculture, industrial (cloth, leather), and trade (incense) center, located in the midst of a fertile wadi (valley), called the Wadi Najran. Najran was also located at the intersection of two main caravan routes: one running from Hadhramaut, to the Hejaz, to the Eastern Mediterranean, and another running from the northeast through Al-Yamama and into Mesopotamia. Its pre-Islamic history is notable for its Christian community, including its central role in South Arabian Christianity and the massacre of this community by the king Dhu Nuwas.
According to the Martyrdom of Arethas, Najran derives from a Hebrew term meaning both "thundering city" or "invincible lock". According to Christian J. Robin, this source is well-informed but not exact: in ancient times, the oasis was called both Najran and Rgmt, with the latter deriving from the Hebrew Raʿma, meaning "thundering city", while the Arabic najrān means "invincible lock". The "lock" etymology is based on to Najran's place in travel and trade on the peninsula, as Najran acts as the "lock" that gives access to Yemen. The Hebrew name for the site is used in the Old Testament (Genesis 10:7, 1 Chronicles 1:9, Ezekiel 27:22), where it is associated with the South Arabian kingdom of Sheba.
The name Najran is used by local Sabaic inscriptions, as well as Greek, Latin, Nabataean, and Ge'ez sources. Minaean and Jawf inscriptions prefer Ragmatum (Rgmtm), which appears to derive from the name of an old royal residence. In the second-third centuries, the main settlement of the oasis briefly came to be called either Najran or Ẓirbān, before the name returned to just Najran by the sixth century. Najran, however, always remained the name of the oasis as a whole.
The Najran oasis stands 4,500 feet above sea-level. Its tallest point is 2,000 feet high in the oasis, or 6,500 feet above sea-level. The length and width of the oasis is 15 and 2 miles, respectively. The oasis has a layer of sandstone lying above igneous rocks (basalt and granite). This sandstone belt stretches over a considerable area across the oasis and has historically facilitated the movement of peoples through Najran (compared with the surrounding granite mountains), enabling both trade and invasion. Many trade routes cross through this area, where many graffiti have been found. In the middle of an arid environment, it hosts rich soil and abundant water resources, and it is an obligatory passageway to reach Yemen when entering from the Hejaz or the Arabian Gulf.
In the early 1st millennium BC, Najran was controlled by a commune called Muhamirum, which in alliance with other communes, especially Amirum, formed a federation. The great Sabaean mukarrib Karib'il Watar conquered this federation in the early 7th century BC as part of a series of conquests that he described in a lengthy Sabaic inscription that commemorated the achievements of his reign. The federation survived under the tutelage Sabaean domination, and an inscription from the late 7th century BC describes its failed attempt to break away from the kingdom. The major role already played by Najran in trade in this time is reflected by a passage mentioning it in the biblical Book of Ezekiel (27:20–23):
Dedan [today al-Ula in the Hijaz] traded in saddlecloths with you. Arabia and all the princes of Qedar [today al-Jawf in the north of Arabia] were your favoured dealers in lambs, rams and goats. In these they did business with you. The merchants of Sheba [Saba’ in Yemen] and Ra‘mah [Najran] traded with you; for your wares they exchanged the finest of all kinds of spices and precious stones, and gold. Haran, Kanne and Eden traded with you, and merchants of Assur and Media traded with you.
In this time, the inhabitants of Najran likely spoke some variant of North Arabic, while the inscriptions are in the Sabaic script (and more rarely, in Minaic). Three centuries later, another inscription shows continuing Sabaean rule over Najran. As the dominance of Sheba in the region waned, Najran entered into an alliance of small, trade-focused kingdoms under the leadership of the Kingdom of Ma'in. By the 2nd century BC, Amirum eclipsed Ma'in in the Jawf area and took control of Najran. During this period of time, the considerable role played by Najran in the caravan trade led to the great god, Dhu Samawi, being adopted across Yemen, including by the earlier Ma'in kingdom. The only other gods affiliated with Najran in this time are Athtar and the "Master of Mkntn". In later periods, some longer deity lists enumerate all the gods of Najran.
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Najran AI simulator
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Najran
Najran (Arabic: نجران Najrān; IPA: [nad͡ʒ.raːn]), is a city in southwestern Saudi Arabia. It is the capital of Najran Province. Today, the city of Najran is one of the fastest-growing cities in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As of the 2022 census, the city population was 381,431, with the population of the governorate of Najran being 592,300. Today, the population is primarily Ismaili with a Sunni minority.
The ancient city of Najran is now largely in ruins, the archaeological site Al-Okhdood, located south-east of the present-day city. In ancient times, this Najran was a major urban, agriculture, industrial (cloth, leather), and trade (incense) center, located in the midst of a fertile wadi (valley), called the Wadi Najran. Najran was also located at the intersection of two main caravan routes: one running from Hadhramaut, to the Hejaz, to the Eastern Mediterranean, and another running from the northeast through Al-Yamama and into Mesopotamia. Its pre-Islamic history is notable for its Christian community, including its central role in South Arabian Christianity and the massacre of this community by the king Dhu Nuwas.
According to the Martyrdom of Arethas, Najran derives from a Hebrew term meaning both "thundering city" or "invincible lock". According to Christian J. Robin, this source is well-informed but not exact: in ancient times, the oasis was called both Najran and Rgmt, with the latter deriving from the Hebrew Raʿma, meaning "thundering city", while the Arabic najrān means "invincible lock". The "lock" etymology is based on to Najran's place in travel and trade on the peninsula, as Najran acts as the "lock" that gives access to Yemen. The Hebrew name for the site is used in the Old Testament (Genesis 10:7, 1 Chronicles 1:9, Ezekiel 27:22), where it is associated with the South Arabian kingdom of Sheba.
The name Najran is used by local Sabaic inscriptions, as well as Greek, Latin, Nabataean, and Ge'ez sources. Minaean and Jawf inscriptions prefer Ragmatum (Rgmtm), which appears to derive from the name of an old royal residence. In the second-third centuries, the main settlement of the oasis briefly came to be called either Najran or Ẓirbān, before the name returned to just Najran by the sixth century. Najran, however, always remained the name of the oasis as a whole.
The Najran oasis stands 4,500 feet above sea-level. Its tallest point is 2,000 feet high in the oasis, or 6,500 feet above sea-level. The length and width of the oasis is 15 and 2 miles, respectively. The oasis has a layer of sandstone lying above igneous rocks (basalt and granite). This sandstone belt stretches over a considerable area across the oasis and has historically facilitated the movement of peoples through Najran (compared with the surrounding granite mountains), enabling both trade and invasion. Many trade routes cross through this area, where many graffiti have been found. In the middle of an arid environment, it hosts rich soil and abundant water resources, and it is an obligatory passageway to reach Yemen when entering from the Hejaz or the Arabian Gulf.
In the early 1st millennium BC, Najran was controlled by a commune called Muhamirum, which in alliance with other communes, especially Amirum, formed a federation. The great Sabaean mukarrib Karib'il Watar conquered this federation in the early 7th century BC as part of a series of conquests that he described in a lengthy Sabaic inscription that commemorated the achievements of his reign. The federation survived under the tutelage Sabaean domination, and an inscription from the late 7th century BC describes its failed attempt to break away from the kingdom. The major role already played by Najran in trade in this time is reflected by a passage mentioning it in the biblical Book of Ezekiel (27:20–23):
Dedan [today al-Ula in the Hijaz] traded in saddlecloths with you. Arabia and all the princes of Qedar [today al-Jawf in the north of Arabia] were your favoured dealers in lambs, rams and goats. In these they did business with you. The merchants of Sheba [Saba’ in Yemen] and Ra‘mah [Najran] traded with you; for your wares they exchanged the finest of all kinds of spices and precious stones, and gold. Haran, Kanne and Eden traded with you, and merchants of Assur and Media traded with you.
In this time, the inhabitants of Najran likely spoke some variant of North Arabic, while the inscriptions are in the Sabaic script (and more rarely, in Minaic). Three centuries later, another inscription shows continuing Sabaean rule over Najran. As the dominance of Sheba in the region waned, Najran entered into an alliance of small, trade-focused kingdoms under the leadership of the Kingdom of Ma'in. By the 2nd century BC, Amirum eclipsed Ma'in in the Jawf area and took control of Najran. During this period of time, the considerable role played by Najran in the caravan trade led to the great god, Dhu Samawi, being adopted across Yemen, including by the earlier Ma'in kingdom. The only other gods affiliated with Najran in this time are Athtar and the "Master of Mkntn". In later periods, some longer deity lists enumerate all the gods of Najran.