Sabaeans
The Sabians ( assyr. Sabảajja; Greek Σαβαĩοι, Sabaioi; . Sabaei Latin ) were an ancient Semitic people in the south west of the Arabian Peninsula in what is now Yemen.
Historical Sources
In the annals of the Assyrians, the Sabeans are mentioned already 730 BC.
In the Old Testament, they are mainly mentioned as incense dealer, as in Jer 6,20 EU, and Isaiah 60.6 EU. The memory of the Jews in Saba can be seen in Gen. 25.1-6 EU and Joel 4.8 EU.
→ See also: Queen of Sheba
Even the Greeks were known primarily as distributors of incense and myrrh, the Sabeans. Strabo mentions their capital Marib ( by some authors, as well as the kingdom of Saba called ). The Romans hold for the wealthiest people in Arabia, because they provide the coveted frankincense.
The Qur'an mentions the historical fact of the dam break to Marib in the kingdom of Saba in 572 AD. Yet the resident " Sabians " not identical with the mentioned in Sura 2.62 (see below) Sabi ʾ ūn (to differentiate mostly with " Sabians " translated).
Religion of the Sabians
Originally, the Sabeans worshiped astral gods like moon, sun and Venus. After South Arabia 575 AD, came under Persian influence, converted 628 of the last Persian governor to Islam.
The Quran in Sura 2.62 recognizes a community of Sabians (Arabic صابئون, DMG Sabi ʾ ūn ) as a religion of the book (not to be confused with the sura 34.15, so -called people of Saba ):
It is unclear, however, how this relates religious community. The Sabians of Harran took over 830 this designation to be recognized as a religion of the book. In contrast, the Mandaeans are referred to merely by their neighbors as " Sabians ", but use the denomination does not itself show the name refers to the repeated immersion in running water, which corresponds to the Arab صاب ( pour ).
Language
The common language of Himyarites and Sabians was the Sabaean, a dialect of Old South Arabian. It was spoken until the 10th century in the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula and is very well documented with about 6,000 inscriptions found.