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The date of appearance and the origins of the South Arabian kingdom of Ma‘īn are still debated among scholars. In this paper we propose an outline of Ma‘īn’s ancient history, between the VIII and the VI centuries BC, providing arguments in favour of the hypothesis of its endogenous formation, contemporaneous with the other political entities of the Jawf. We will analyse historical dynamics and events from Ma‘īn’s first attestations as a city-state in the documentary sources, through a period of expansion of its control over the Jawf, until the confederation with the tribe of Yathill, which started Ma‘īn’s hegemony in the valley. This led to the take-over of international trade from South Arabia, marked by clashes with Saba’. An essay of chronological reconstruction of the royal sequence is provided, with references to all significant texts. Among these, two new inscriptions attesting ancient kings’ names are published: Ma‘īn 112 and 113. The first is probably the most archaic Minaic text known to date. |
