Judaism was the first monotheistic religion practiced in pre-Islamic Arabia, predating the Common Era. Arabian Jews were linguistically diverse, and communities spoke: Greek, Aramaic, Arabic and Sabaic. The centers of Arabian Judaism were in the Northwest and South of the Arabian Peninsula, and political leadership by Arabian Jews is attested over South Arabia during the time of the Kingdom of Himyar from the late fourth to the early sixth centuries, and in some Hejazi oasis cities in northwestern Arabia whose populations were largely composed of the Jewish tribes of Arabia.
The origins of Arabian Judaism is not well understood. While no evidence exists to support any theory, some have speculated that these communities arose as a means of fleeing persecution and oppression during Babylonian, Roman, and other periods. The practice and diversity of Arabian Judaism is also not well understood. Pre-Islamic translations of Jewish scriptures into Arabian languages have not yet been found, suggesting that their religious culture was largely oral.
South Arabia
Polytheistic background Polytheistic religion in South Arabia prior to the fourth century was regionally organized and closely tied to individual kingdoms, tribes, and urban centers. In the Sabaean heartland of the Yemeni highlands, religious life was dominated by the worship of Almaqah, the principal god of the Sabaeans, who functioned as a dynastic and national deity. Major cult centers dedicated to Almaqah were located at Marib and Sirwah, where monumental temples and inscriptions attest to his central role, such as at the Temple of Awwam. Alongside Almaqah, other deities such as 'Athtar, a widely venerated astral god associated with rain, fertility, and warfare, were worshipped across multiple South Arabian polities, including Sabaʾ, Qataban and Hadhramaut, though often with locally specific epithets reflecting the affiliations of the tribe or region.
Distinct political entities maintained their own primary cults, reflecting a link between religion and territorial identity. In Qataban, centered in the Wadi Bayhan, the chief deity was ʿAmm, regarded as a protective ancestral god tied to kinship and social order, while Anbay and Hawbas appear as secondary deities in inscriptions. The Hadhramaut kingdom venerated Sayin, whose cult was concentrated in Shabwa and associated with royal legitimacy and judicial authority. In the southwest coastal regions and later in the Himyarite sphere, earlier polytheistic traditions included the worship of Shams, a solar goddess.
Judaism before the fourth century Evidence for Judaism in South Arabia before the fourth century is sparse. According to Josephus in his Antiquities of the Jews, Herod the Great, the king of Judea in the 1st century BC, contributed 500 men to the personal guard of the Roman governor Aelius Gallus to aid his invasion of South Arabia around 25/24 BC, which was ultimately unsuccessful.
Conversion in the fourth century By 300 AD, the Himyarite Kingdom vanquished competing states (including Saba, Qataban and Hadrawat) to become the sole ruling power of South Arabia, uniting the region for the first time since the time of Karib'il Watar (c. early 7th c. BC). In the second half of the fourth century, the traditional pantheon was abandoned and the ruling elite of Himyar adopted Judaism. Explicitly Jewish inscriptions by the elite are not common, and most present a neutral monotheism. The reason why is not exactly known, but possibilities include a superficial use of Judaism or the reliance on a more general cult of one God as a more reliable way to maintain unity among the diverse constituents of the Himyarite Kingdom.
Literary sources, such as the Book of the Himyarites and the Ecclessiastical History of Philostorgius say that the reason for the adoption of Judaism was to further distance themselves from attempts by the Byzantine Empire to convert them to Christianity. Islamic sources attribute the conversion to Abu Karib (r. c. 400–445), but contemporary inscriptions show that it had taken place earlier, during the reign of his father, Malkīkarib Yuha’min (r. c. 375–400).
The conversion of the fourth century resulted in the disappearance of polytheistic invocations from inscriptions. By the end of the century, the only god that continues to be named is the one god Rahmanan. One Sabaic inscription, Ja 856 (= Fa 60), describes the replacement of a polytheistic temple dedicated to the god al-Maqah with a mikrāb (meaning either the local version of a synagogue, or an original form of Jewish organization in Himyar). The evidence suggests a sharp break with polytheism coinciding with the appearance in texts of Jewish and Aramaic loanwords (‘ālam/world, baraka/bless, haymanōt/guarantee, kanīsat/meeting hall) and names (Yṣḥq/Isaac, Yhwd’/Juda, Yws’f/Joseph).
When monotheistic inscriptions begin to be found in Himyar in this time, the one new God is commonly named as "Lord of Heaven" and "Lord of Heaven and Earth". They also use synonymous names for Rahmanan, like Il, Ilān, and Ilāhān. These sources have been found spanning the whole of kingdom, from the highlands north of Sanaa to the southern highlands. The diffusion of Judaism throughout Himyar was therefore well underway in the fourth century, and it is possible that this process began earlier. By comparison, a presence of Christians in Himyar is rarely documented by local texts before the sixth century. Despite the rapid spread of the worship of the one god, it is likely that the worship of local cults survived was not immediately wiped out from private circles.
It is not known exactly how the Judaism of Himyar was practiced or interpreted. In the early period, the Judaism of the ruling elite was infrequently advertised or promoted.
Locally practiced Judaism Judaism was also practiced by the locals, not only the elites, although attestation for this is not as strong. "Israel" is named in four inscriptions, replacing the word shaʿb/community found in pre-Jewish inscriptions. Inscriptions use phrases like "God of Israel" and "God of the Jews", announce the construction of a Jewish cemetery (MAFRAY-Ḥaṣī 1), and one (DJE 23), written in Hebrew and found 15 km east of Sanaa, names all twenty-four Priestly families (and their place of residence in Galilee) appointed to the protection of Solomon's Temple based on 1 Chronicles 24. It was written using biblical (instead of Aramaic) orthography.
Local inscriptions mention synagogues (mkrb) in the cities of Zafar, Marib, Rayda, Naʿd, Najr, Dulaʿ, and Tanʿim, implying a formal organization of South Arabian Judaism. The phrase hagios topos, which usually means a synagogue, has also been found from a 6th-century Greek inscription from the port of Qāniʾ in Bi'r Ali, and an earlier 4th-century Sabaic inscription. However, the interpretation of the former inscription and its building from Qani have been disputed. A Torah ark was found on a seal stone in a cemetery from the city of Zafar.Yule, Paul. "Zafar: The Capital of the Ancient Himyarite Empire Rediscovered." Jemen Report 36.1 (2005): 22-29. Additional evidence is also known.
Christian Julien Robin argues that the epigraphic evidence argues against viewing the Judaism of Himyar as rabbinic. This is based on the absence of belief in the afterlife (shared by the Sadducees), the predominant use of a local language (Sabaic) as opposed to Hebrew, and the priestly emphasis of DJE 23, Himyarite Judaism may have been more "Priestly" than "Rabbinic". However, Iwona Gajda interprets DJE 23 as evidence for the presence of rabbinic Judaism, and further points to evidence that the loanwords present in Ḥasī 1 indicate that its author was strongly familiar with Jewish law.
Jewish symbols A small, but important number of artifacts have been found engraved with Jewish symbolism. Two artifacts have been found with menorahs. One of them has several menorahs inscribed, accompanied by an inscription that presents the authors as Jews (yhd). A drawing of a Torah shrine, accompanied by the name "Isaac son of Ḥanînah" (written in Jewish Aramaic), has been found from a seal in Zafar, the capital of Himyar. The Torah shrine symbol has also been found in Hima, north of Najran, dating to 523 AD. At one Jewish cemetery, a gezerah (a protective or prohibitive measure) has been found, composed by a Jew who must have known Jewish law competent in Hebrew and Aramaic.
Conversion from Judaism to Christianity Around 500, the Kingdom of Aksum invaded the peninsula, overthrowing the Himyarite king and installing in his place the hardline Christian king Ma'dikarib Ya'fur . His successor, Dhu Nuwas (reigned 517–530) went on to try combatting the Christianizing influence from the Kingdom of Aksum militarily and massacred the Christian community of Najran, which is in part documented by an inscription made by S²rḥʾl Yqbl (Yusuf's army commander), Ja 1028, which describes the burning of a church and slaughtering of Abyssinians (Ethiopian Christians), claiming thousands of deaths and prisoners. These events are also discussed in several contemporary Christian sources; in the writings of: Procopius, Cosmas Indicopleustes, John Malalas and Jacob of Serugh. Soon afterwards, John of Ephesus (d. 588) related a letter from another contemporary, Mar Simeon, directed to Abbot von Gabula about the events. In addition, an anonymous author produced the Book of the Himyarites, a sixth-century Syriac chronicle of the persecution and martyrdom of the Christians of Najran. This event to a significant counterattack by the Ethiopian kingdom, leading to the conquest of Himyar in 525 and the end of the Jewish leadership of southern Arabia.
Western Arabia
Islamic literature characterizes the Hejaz as hosting large Jewish populations. A document from the lifetime of Muhammad, the Constitution of Medina, is a pact between Muhammad's polity of believers and many Medinan Jewish tribes. The three major Jewish tribes of Medina, according to this literature, were the Banu Qaynuqa, the Banu Nadir, and the Banu Qurayza. A Jewish-Hebrew religious school, the bayt al-midrās, is said to have existed in Medina by Ibn Hisham, visited on occasion by both Muhammad and some of his followers. Some of Muhammad's followers are said to have been former rabbinical scholars. Beyond Medina, Islamic literature attests Jewish tribes in other major oases of the northern Hejaz, such as at Khaybar, Fadak and Tayma.
The Quran, a religious scripture and an early seventh century source from West Arabia, regularly mentions Jews and their beliefs, in both Meccan surahs and Medinan surahs. They are mentioned 23 times by the root hwd, 43 times as part of the "Children of Israel", and 32 as part of the "People of the Book". In its latest layers, the Quran repeatedly and directly engages with the Mishnah, likely reflecting a growing awareness and interaction with the Jewish scholarly elite.
Some contemporary, non-Islamic literary evidence also points to a Jewish presence. The Midrash Rabba says that two third-century rabbis believed it beneficial to travel to Hegra (Madāʾin Ṣālih) to improve their Aramaic. Procopius, a 6th-century Byzantine historian, when commenting about the Tiran Island, says that the "Hebrews had lived from of old in autonomy, but in the reign of this Justinian they have become subject to the Romans."
Some pre-Islamic inscriptions also mention Jews and Judaism. One, from 203 AD, indicates a Jewish headman of the oasis of Tayma named Isaiah (whose father and brother also have biblical names). Jewish headmen of both Hegra and Dedan are also indicated by inscriptions from the mid-4th century. One Dedanite inscription mentions a rabbi. A Jewish presence in Western Arabia is also known from the inscription UJadhNab 538.