Karib'il Watar

The name Karibʾīl ({{lang|xsa|𐩫𐩧𐩨𐩱𐩡}}, {{sc|krbʾl}}), variously transliterated,{{efn|See "Charibael" for a list of the ways various sources have rendered the name.}} is probably Sabaean for "blessed by God",{{sfnp|McClure & al.|1897|pp=[https://archive.org/details/ancienthebrewtra00homm/page/84 84–5]}}{{sfnp|Beeston & al.|1982|p=[https://archive.org/stream/mo3sab/Sabaic.Dictionary-pages-OCR#page/n121/mode/2up 79]}} in the case of the early Sabaeans it could referring to the idol Almaqah. It may also mean "obedient to God" or "obedient to the god".{{sfnp|Beeston & al.|1982|p=[https://archive.org/stream/mo3sab/Sabaic.Dictionary-pages-OCR#page/n121/mode/2up 78]}}

The name Watar ({{lang|xsa|𐩥𐩩𐩧}}, {{sc|wtr}}) is of uncertain meaning{{sfnp|Beeston & al.|1982|p=[https://archive.org/details/mo3sab/page/n207 165]}} but appears in numerous regnal names in the area.

{{anchor|History|Biography}}

File:Karib'il Watar map1.svg

Karib'il Watar, the son of Dhamar El Yanuf III who reigned in the early 7th century BCE, changed his title from Mukarrib to Malik. He is mentioned in one of the longest and most important Sabaean inscriptions which is located on the Great Temple of Almaqah in Sirwah 40 kilometers west of Marib.{{cite book |last1=McLaughlin |first1=Daniel |title=Yemen - the Bradt Travel Guide |publisher=The Globe Pequot Press |date=2007 |isbn=978-1841622125}}

The inscription in Sirwah which is composed of twenty lines describes the military campaigns led by Karib'il Watar. From the first line of the inscription, it seems the author was dazzled by his numerous extensive victories.

Karib'il started his campaigns by attacking western lands of Ma'rib, killing and capturing thousands of his enemies. Then he focused his attention on conquering of south-western sea ports and lands in order to weaken the Kingdom of Awsan.

He continued his advance to reach the lands of Awsan, which was controlling the southern regions up to shores of the Red Sea. Karib'il ordered his soldiers to shed their swords on Awsan's people, kill and capture thousands of them, and burn all their cities all the way to the sea.

Minaeans pose the next dangerous opponent. Therefore, he attacked their cities such as "Nestum"{{efn|Nestum was separately mentioned by PlinyPliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, VI, 32, 160 in the mid-1st century.}} (Nasha'an) and burned them. Afterwards, he besieged the city of "Nescus"{{efn|Nescus was separately mentioned by Strabo in his description of Aelius Gallus's expedition to Arabia Felix.{{where?|date=February 2019}}}} (Nashaq) for three years. The result of the siege was a humiliating defeat for Minaeans and the annexation of all their arable lands and dams, and a tribute have been imposed to their idol Almaqah.

The last ever campaign was to north of Al Jawf near Najran. The outcome of the aggression was a landslide in which Karib'il killed five thousand, enslaved twelve thousand children, and seized more than two hundred thousand cattle.{{cite book |last1=Magee|first1=Peter|title=The Archaeology of Prehistoric Arabia: Adaptation and Social Formation from the Neolithic to the Iron Age |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2014 |isbn=978-1139991636}}

A number of smaller inscriptions tell us about Karib'il Watar include:Alfred Felix Landon Beeston: Sabaean Inscriptions, Oxford 1937 (Behandlung des Tatenberichtes: p. 59–71).

• building inscriptions in the city walls of 'Araratum (today al-Asahil) and KatalumInschriften Philby 16, Philby 25, Glaser 1550, Glaser A 776, Glaser A 775 ?, Glaser A 777 50 km west-northwest of Marib,
• a showpiece from a temple on Jabal al-Laudh on the northeast edge of the Dschauf.Ryckmans 586
• a stele, which marked Karib'ils property at fields near Marib.Albert Jamme: Inscriptions de alentours de Mâreb, in: Cahiers de Byrsa 5, 1955, S. 271 ff., Nr. 541 (zitiert als: Ja 541)
• two long reports (quoted as RES 3945 and RES 3946), which are located in the courtyard of Yada'il Dharih I built Almaqah Temple in Sirwah.
• The first text reports the construction of irrigation systems and military campaigns,
• the second of construction works and land acquired. Thus they give important insights both in Karib'il's politics and in the political situation in southern Arabia at that time.

• List of rulers of Saba and Himyar

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{{reflist|30em}}

• {{citation |last=Beeston |first=Alfred Felix Landon |author2=Mahmud 'Ali al-Ghul |author3=Walter Wilhelm Müller |author4=Jacques Ryckmans |display-authors=1 |ref={{harvid|Beeston & al.|1982}} |url=https://archive.org/details/mo3sab/page/n1 |title=Sabaic Dictionary |location=Beirut |publisher=Lebanese Library |date=1982 }}.
• {{citation |last=Hommel |first=Fritz |title=The Ancient Hebrew Tradition as Illustrated by the Monuments |url=https://archive.org/details/ancienthebrewtra00homm/page/n7 |editor-last=McClure |editor-first=Edmund |editor2=Leonard Crosslé |display-editors=1 |ref={{harvid|McClure & al.|1897}} |date=1897 |location=New York |publisher=E. & J.B. Young & Co. }}

• An inscription that describes military campaigns led by Karib'il Watar [http://dasi.cnr.it/index.php?id=dasi_prj_epi&prjId=1&corId=0&colId=0&navId=377878639&recId=7349&vM=yes RES 3945], [http://dasi.cnr.it/index.php?id=dasi_prj_epi&prjId=1&corId=0&colId=0&navId=377878639&recId=7356 RES 3946].

Category:Date of birth unknown

Category:Date of death unknown

Category:7th-century BC monarchs in Asia

Category:Sabaeans

Category:Mukaribs of Saba

Category:Kings of Saba