Dhu Nuwas was deposed and killed, prompting Kaleb to appoint a Christian Himyarite, Sumyafa Ashwa (Esimiphaios), as his viceroy.

[1][2] Abraha sought to promote Christianity in the predominantly Jewish kingdom while also attempting to antagonise the Kaaba in Mecca, a major religious centre for the adherents of Arab polytheism.

Historian Procopius records that an envoy was dispatched to Abraha during the reign of emperor Justinian I, placing the construction of the church between 527 and the late 560s.

Chroniclers make no reference to figurative representations, a style commonly encountered in the aniconic Syrian and Palestinian mosaic traditions.

[6] In 685, the pretender to the throne of the Umayyad Caliphate Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, removed three columns along with a number of mosaics from the church, with intention of using them in the redecoration of the Great Mosque of Mecca.