Rahmanism

The term refers to Rahmanismus (of altsüdarabisch RhMn -n " the Merciful " ) one or more monotheistic religions n since the 4th century BC displaced the Old South Arabian polytheistic religion. Since the only feature of the Rahmanismus is the mention of a monotheistic God, can not determine whether the Rahmanismus was a uniform religion and whether it can then be identified with any other monotheistic religion.

Since the second half of the 4th century, in South Arabian inscriptions increasingly " the Merciful " ( altsüdarabisch RhMn -n) and "the Lord of heaven and earth " called. Some inscriptions and archaeological proven synagogues show that since the 4th century Judaism in South Arabia played an important role, but it is not clear whether all rahmanistischen inscriptions of this period are to be interpreted as Jewish; it is also conceivable that the Rahmanismus also included its own indigenous monotheistic religion. Clear instructions on Christians in southern Arabia, are found at the beginning of the 6th century, when a Christian community in the city of Najran was the victim of a well- politically motivated persecution of the Jewish king Yusuf As ʾ ʾ ar ar Yath. Then marched the Christian Aksumite kingdom in southern Arabia and sat by Christianity as the official religion until it was replaced by 632 Islam. Until the 13th century is in Najran and on Socotra, a Christian community is still in the 16th century; Jewish communities still exist today (see Judaism in Yemen ).