Minaeans

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Kingdom of Ma’in مملكة معين
600 BCE–150 BCE[1][2]
Capital	Qarnawu
Common languages	Minaean language
Religion	Pre-Islamic Arabian religions
Demonym(s)	Minaean(s)
Government	Monarchy
History
• Established	600 BCE
• Disestablished	150 BCE[1][2]

Part of a series on the
History of Yemen
Timeline
Ancient history Kingdom of Awsan (c. 800 – c. 700 BC) Kingdom of Saba' (c. 1200 – c. 275 CE) Kingdom of Ḥaḑramawt (c. 1000 – c. 290 BCE) Kingdom of Qatabān (c. 1000 – c. 200 AD) Kingdom of Ma'in (c. 600 – c. 150 BCE) Kingdom of Ḥimyar (c. 110 – c. 525 CE) Axumite Yemen (c. 517 – c. 570 ) Sasanian Yemen (c. 570 – c. 630 )
Islamic history First Islamic State (c. 622 – c. 632) Rashidun Caliphate Umayyad Caliphate Abbasid Caliphate Ziyadid dynasty Najahid dynasty Sulayhid dynasty Ayyubid dynasty Rasulid dynasty
Modern history Ottoman Eyalet Qasimid state Aden Protectorate Ottoman vilayet Mutawakkilite Kingdom Unified Yemen (1990-present)
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The Kingdom of Ma'in (Minaean: 𐩣𐩲𐩬; Arabic: معين, romanized: Maʿīn) is an ancient south Arabian kingdom in modern-day Yemen, dating back to the 6th century BCE.^[a] It was located along the strip of desert called Ṣayhad by medieval Arab geographers, which is now known as Ramlat al-Sab'atayn. Wadd was the national god of Ma'in.

The Minaean people were one of four ancient Yemeni groups mentioned by Eratosthenes. The others were the Sabaeans, Ḥaḑramites and Qatabānians. Each of these had regional kingdoms in ancient Yemen, with the Minaeans in the north-west (in Wādī al-Jawf), the Sabaeans to the south-east of them, the Qatabānians to the south-east of the Sabaeans, and the Ḥaḑramites further east still.

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