Early Christianity in Arabia/Section 7

by Thomas Wright

SECTION VII.

The reign of Abrahah was favourable to the extension of Christianity over the kingdom of Hamyar; and, whilst the Abyssinian power was preserved by his moderation and justice, the church flourished under the care of St. Gregentius, the pious bishop of Taphar. The vindictive measures which had been enforced against the enemies of the Christian faith were succeeded by a milder spirit. The unbelieving Jews were challenged to a public dispute with St. Gregentius; after an appointed period of forty days, they met in the royal hall in the city of Taphar,^[1] in the presence of the king and his nobles; and Herban, a rabbi learned in the law and the prophets, was chosen to advocate the cause of Judaism. The dispute was continued with obstinacy during three successive days, till at length the Jews, vanquished but not convinced, were obliged to retreat from the place of contest; while the good bishop fell on his knees, and in presence of the king and his assembled subjects, offered thanks to heaven for his success. As he concluded, we are told, loud peals of thunder were heard from the east, the heavens opened, and the figure of their Redeemer appeared in the clouds, approving his zeal. The Jews were suddenly struck with blindness, and received their sight only by the holy operation of Christian baptism. Herban, after becoming a Christian, gained the esteem of the king by his learning and merit, and was advanced to the highest honours in his kingdom.

The existence and history of St. Gregentius appear to be well authenticated by the Menæa and Martyrologies, but the particulars of his dispute with Herban, and its miraculous termination, were probably invented by some pious monks years after the time when they occurred.^[2] Gregentius was long the friend and adviser of Abrahah, who is universally allowed to have been a zealous Christian, and a just king, charitable to those who were in necessity, and generous in advocating the cause of the unfortunate.^[3] With the assistance of his pious counsellor, he framed a code of laws for the government of Hamyar, which is still extant, and is divided into three-and-twenty titles.^[4]

The last event of the reign of Abrahah was his disastrous expedition against the tribe of Koreish. The city of Mecca, which was in the possession of this tribe, was the Eleusis of ancient Arabia. It is situated in a very narrow valley, between two ranges of lofty mountains, whose mean breadth does not much exceed nine hundred feet.^[5] The Kaaba, or temple of Mecca, had been from time immemorial the most sacred resort of the Arabian idolaters. It had been several times enriched by the munificence of the tobbaas of Hamyar, and the power of the gods was said to have been more than once exerted in its defence. Around it were deposited the various idols of the different tribes. On the last month of the year a multitude of devotees assembled from all parts of Arabia. After having cast off their garments, they thrice made the circuit of the Kaaba, and kissed the sacred stone. When they had drunk of the holy well of Zemzem, they proceeded to the mountains, and seven times, in as many successive days, hurled stones against the evil genius in the valley of Mina. The ceremonies were finished by a sacrifice of sheep and camels.

Tbe Christian king of Hamyar beheld with grief the multitudes of pilgrims who went to pay their superstitious devotions to the deities of the Kaaba, and resolved, by building a magnificent church at Sanaa, which appears to have been sometimes the capital of Yaman, to draw the curiosity and the worship of the Arabs to another object. The edifice was completed, and far surpassed in the splendour of its ornaments the object of their idolatrous reverence. But the Arabs were not easily persuaded to desert the old object of their superstitions. A proclamation was therefore issued, that the pilgrims must relinquish their former route for the shorter and more convenient journey to the Christian church of Sanaa.^[6] The Koreish, who found the number of votaries, and consequently the profits which they derived from them, decrease, did all in their power to cry it down.^[7] Finding, however, that their endeavours had not so much effect as they expected, they had recourse to a more certain method of turning the respect of the Arabs from this new object of their devotion. The Arab tribes have been ever celebrated for their frequent ablutions, and for their peculiar abhorrence of any thing that is considered impure or polluted. One of the tribe of Kenanah, who was bribed by the guardians of the Kaaba, had been admitted to perform some of the duties appertaining to the church of Sanaa. Seizing an opportunity during the preparations for an extraordinary festival, he entered the church by night, and strewed it with dung; and then immediately fled from the town, spreading everywhere in his flight the news of the profanation of the Christian church.^[8]

The profanation of the church of Sanaa was a signal of revolt to the idolatrous tribes of the north. Many of the Arab chiefs were bound by the ties of friendship and gratitude to the service of Abrahah. To Muhammed Ibn Chozaa he had given the sceptre of the Modarites. Muhammed and his brother Kais proceeded to the land of Kenanah, to further the object of Abrahah, by compelling the devotees of the Kaaba to turn their steps to Sanaa; but the people of the Tehama rose against them, and Muhammed was slain with an arrow by Orwa Ibn Hiads Almalatsi. Kais fled to the court of Hamyar.^[9]

The wrath of the king of Hamyar was doubly inflamed by the profanation of his church, and by the death of the king of Modar, and he vowed to take exemplary vengeance by the reduction of the tribe of Kenanah, and the entire demolition of the temple at Mecca.^[10] At the head of an army, accompanied by numerous elephants, Abrahah marched towards Hedjaz, himself seated on one of these animals which was named Mahmoud, and was distinguished by its bulk and its skin of pure white.^[11] The progress of the invader was opposed by Dzu Nepher, Ibn Habib, and other chiefs, at the head of the tribes of Hamedan and Chethamah, and their allies; but they were soon defeated, their leaders taken, and the army of Hamyar experienced little opposition, till it approached the neighbourhood of Mecca.

The chief of the tribe of Koreish, and the guardian of the Kaaba, was at this time the venerable Abdolmotalleb Ibn Hasjemi, the grandfather of Muhammed. When the Koreish were informed of the approach of Abrahah, the reports of the numbers of his army and the terrible animals on which they were carried, struck them with consternation, and all hope of resistance vanished. In the negotiations which preceded his advance to the city, a third part of the wealth of Hedjaz was offered as a ransom for the Kaaba, but the king was still inflexible. Abdolmotalleb desired an audience of Abrahah, and was admitted to his presence, and treated with all the respect his age, his beauty, and his dignity deserved. Abrahah descended from his throne, and seated himself by his side. But the prince of Mecca came only to solicit the return of his camels, which had been taken among the plunder collected by the Christian soldiers. Abrahah expressed his surprise that the guardian of Mecca should think of his private property, amidst the evils that threatened his city. "The temple of Mecca, O king," answered Abdolmotalleb, "has its own lord, who will doubtlessly defend it, as he has defended it before. But I alone am the lord of my own camels." His camels were restored to him.^[12]

On the nearer approach of Abrahah, the Koreish, and all the inhabitants of Mecca, led by Abdolmotalleb, unable to defend their city, took refuge on the neighbouring mountains, which overhung the narrow pass through which the enemy must march. Abrahah now approached the city, and had entered the narrow valley which led to it; not knowing, apparently, that the Koreish occupied the heights; but the army of Hamyar, which had hitherto overcome all resistance, fell beneath the shower of masses of rock and other missiles, incessantly poured on them by their assailants. The combat was continued till evening, when Abrahah was obliged to make his retreat. The remains of his army were almost annihilated by the attacks of their victorious enemies, and the king returned a fugitive to Sanaa, where he died soon after of vexation as much as of his wounds.^[13]

The Arabian writers, not less skilful in such compositions than the Christian monks, have invented a fable, to account for the miraculous defeat of the Hamyaritic army. The elephants of the Christians, they tell us, awestruck at the sight of the holy building, resisted every attempt to proceed, till towards evening, when an immense flock of birds of a kind which were called ababeel, rose like a cloud from the sea, and took their course towards the camp of Abrahah. These birds were about the size of a swallow, with green plumage and yellow beaks; each carried three pebbles, one in its beak, and one in each claw, and each of these stones had inscribed upon it the name of him whom it was to strike. They fell with such violence on the soldiers of Abrahah, as to pierce through their helmets and bodies, and even the animals on which they rode.^[14]

1. Taphar, or Dhafar (Aphar in Diod. Sic.) became the second capital on the death of Hamyar, when the family of Kahlan ascended the throne.
2. The tract which bears the title of "Gregentii Tephrensis episcopi disputatio cum Herbano Judæo," was edited in Greek and Latin by Gulerius (8vo. Lut. 1603), and an edition is given in the Magna Bibliotheca Veterum Patrum, vol. xi. Lambecius (Bibl. Cæs. lib. v. p. 277) imagines it to have been the work of Nonnosus, but with small show of probability. St. Gregentius is celebrated in the Menæa on the nineteenth day of December.
3. Both Greek, Syrian, and Mohammedan agree in praising the character of Abrahah. The tract cited in the foregoing note calls Abrahah ὁ ευσεβεστατος βασιλευς. (S. Gregent. disput. p. 201.) Metaphrastes speaks of him asvirum pium et Christi nomine gloriantem. Johan. As. Ep. observes that he was a zealous Christian (p. 43). In like manner he is described by the Arabian writers as "a man small of body, fleshy, intelligent, and zealous in his Christianity"—وكان رجلل قصيرا لحيما حارا في دين النصرانية‎ Abu Gjafar Muhammed Ibn Jezyd, Taberita, p. 108. This historian has preserved an incident which will illustrate the character of the king, and the ideas of honour that were entertained among the Arabians of the time. In the conflict which placed Abrahah on the throne, his servant Abûda saved his life, and slew his enemy Aryat. The king in gratitude promised to grant him his desire, whatever it might be. Abûda demanded that no bride in Yaman should be conducted to her bridegroom until he had first enjoyed her. The king considered himself bound by the sanctity of his word, and the request was granted. Abûda was at length killed by an Arabian bridegroom whom he had insulted. "When the account of his death was carried to Abrahah, who was kind, generous, and pious in his Christianity, he said, I see, men of Yaman, that there are still some of you whose hearts are brave enough to disdain to suffer an indignity. I take God to witness, that had I known when I promised him his desire, what he intended to ask, I would never have promised it him, nor did I grant willingly his request; but I have no desire of revenging him, for by his death I am not displeased." p. 110, 112.
4. A work bearing the title of Νομοθεσιοι του ἁγιου Γρηγεντιου ὡς εκ προσωπου του ευσεβεστατου βασιλεως Αβραμιου, is contained in a MS. of the dispute with Herban in the Bibl. Cæs. Lambecius, lib. v. p. 182-3.
5. Modern Traveller, Arabia, p. 254.
6. Nuweir, p. 84. Tabeir, p. 112. D'Herbelot in Abrahah.
7. D'Herbelot.
8. Id. Some Arabian historians endeavour to throw the blame off the Koreish.
9. Tabeir, p. 114.
10. Nuweir, p. 86. Tabeir, p. 111. D'Herbelot.
11. Nuweir, pp. 86 and 90. Tabeir, ib.
12. Nuweir, p. 88. Tabeir, p. 122.
13. The manner of Abrahah's defeat, as here told, is only a conjecture. Others have endeavoured to account for it by supposing his army to have been destroyed by the small-pox, or some epidemic disease. The situation, the traditional fables of the Arabs, which all say that the Christians were destroyed by stones that fell from the air, and the position of the Koreish, all favour the supposition which is here adopted.
14. Besides the authorities already cited for the history of this expedition, may be consulted Gagnier, pref. in Abulfed. Hist. Moham. p. xx.