Page:Muhammad Diyab al-Itlidi - Historical Tales and Anecdotes of the Time of the Early Khalîfahs - Alice Frere - 1873.djvu/208

Rh in el-Yémen. Unable to do so himself on account of the troubled state of his own dominions, he however wrote to the King of Abyssinia, begging him to send troops into el-Yémen for the punishment of Zhu-Nawwás. The King of Abyssinia, who was a Christian, acquiesced, and sent an army under a general named Aryát to invade Arabia; a battle ensued on the sea-coast, in which the Himyarites were entirely defeated. Aryát then penetrated into el-Yémen, and in a very short time subdued the greater part of the country. Zhu-Nawwás at the first engagement fled from the field, but being closely pursued and hemmed in by his enemies, he leaped his horse into the sea and was drowned. Thus was el-Yémen conquered by the Abyssinians, and thus terminated the Himyarite dynasty, which had ruled there for two thousand years.

The reign of Abrahá, the second Abyssinian viceroy of el-Yémen, was favourable to Christianity. A bishop, who is reckoned as Saint Gregentius in the Roman calendar, was sent there by the Patriarch of Alexandria. The unbelievers were challenged to public disputations with him in the royal hall in the city of Dzafár, the viceroy and his nobles were present, and a learned Rabbi named Herbanus was chosen to advocate the cause of Judaism. The dispute lasted three days, and resulted in the conversion of Herbanus and many of his followers to Christianity. Abrahá, who was a zealous Christian, is said to have built a church at Sanaʾa which was the wonder of the age. The Emperor of Rome and the King of Abyssinia supplied marble for its construction, and Nowairi states that when completed, a pearl was placed on the altar of such brilliancy that on the darkest nights objects were clearly seen by its light. Abrahá, deeply grieved to see the multitudes who still performed idol-worship in the Kaʾabah at Mekkah, endeavoured to substitute chapel, from whom they made inquiries. The monk said, "Describe him to me;" and when they had