Book of the Himyarites

The Book of the Himyarites (Ktābā da-ḥmirāye)[1] is an anonymous Syriac account of the persecution and martyrdom of the Christian community of Najran in the Kingdom of Himyar around 523 AD and the ensuing Aksumite interventions.

[4] The scribe of the manuscript was named Stephanos, and he worked in the church of Saint Thomas in the city of Qaryathen.

[13] Ignazio Guidi suggested that the Acta of the martyr Arethas were either written by a certain Sergius, bishop of Rūṣafa, or else dependent on him as a source.

Sergius, whose name is also given as George, was served alongside Simeon of Beth Arsham as an envoy of Emperor Justinian I to King Al-Mundhir III of Ḥirtā.

[16] It was most likely written closer to the earlier date and is, with the letter of Simeon of Beth Arsham, one of the two earliest sources for the martyrdoms.

Although he "derive[d] from the events he related the moral that could serve to edify his co-religionists", the anonymous author's "principal aim was to give a full historical record of what had happened.

"[18] Compared to the other sources for the martyrs of Najran, the Book is chronologically broader, covering the rise of Christianity and Judaism in Himyar and the aftermath of the persecution.

[19] From the titles of the first three chapters it seems that they dealt with the paganism of the Himyarites, the adoption of Judaism by the ruling class and the arrival of Christianity.