A Hytothesie on the Identity of the Tubba' Dynasty: A Historical Interpretation of the Relationship between Ḥimyar and Aksum

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  • ヒムヤル王国トゥッバァ朝の実体に関する一仮説：後世から見た3～6世紀の南アラビア・エチオピア関係
  • ヒムヤル オウコク トゥッバァ チョウ ノ ジッタイ ニ カンスル イチ カセツ コウセイ カラ ミタ 3 6セイキ ノ ミナミアラビア エチオピア カンケイ

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According to a number of traditions among the Arabs, the kingdom of Ḥimyar in southern Arabia was under the rule of powerful rulers called Tubbaʻ (pl. Tabābi‘a) from the third/fourth century up to the fifth or the beginning of the sixth century. However, there is no consensus among these traditions nor even among modern scholars as to whether a Tubba‘ was self-styled, who was the first ruler assuming or given this title, and what were the origin and the meaning of it. Moreover, it remains unexplained as to why later generations called them Tubba‘, despite the fact that in the ancient inscriptions they themselves or others used the term Malik instead of Tubba‘ when referring to them. Given this situation, the present article examines the identity of Tubba‘ and their dynasty based on the southern Arabian epigraphical evidence and also the Tubba‘ tradition handed down by al-Hamdānī, Nashwān (including the commentator of his Qaṣīda) and Ibn Hishām.To begin with, the author proposes the hypothesis that the Tubba‘ Dynasty was not a legendary adaptation of the historical dynasty of Ḥimyar, but was rather conjured up by later generation scholars as a sort of fictional lineage to explain the political relationship between Ḥimyar and Aksum of Ethiopia. In order to prove this hypothesis, the author compares the names of Tabābi‘a from the third to the fourth century, which are not identifiable with the actual Ḥimyarite kings, with the names of contemporary Aksumite kings and princes. As a result, he makes clear 1) that the former are Arabic translations of the latter (originally in Ethiopic) and 2) that these rulers were of the royal family of Aksum, which strongly influenced Ḥimyar during that time.Moreover, a new hypothesis about the term Tubba‘ can be proposed as a result of examining its etymology. The term, which originally designated a Ḥimyarite king as a deputy of an Aksumite king in southern Arabia, came to apply to the royal family of Aksum, since their Arabicized names had been incorporated into the royal lineage of Ḥimyar. Then the term began to be accepted as a royal title of Ḥimyar.

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