South Arabia

Southern Arabia is inhabited almost entirely by Arabs with long tribal and cultural affinities to the region. Most are native speakers of Arabic while the unrelated minority, Modern South Arabian languages are also present. Both however belong to the Semitic language family.

Etymology

The term Yamnat was mentioned in Old South Arabian inscriptions on the title of one of the kings of the second Himyarite Kingdom known as Shammar Yahri'sh. The term was probably referring to the southwestern coastline of the Arabian peninsula and the southern coastline between Aden and Hadramout. One etymology derives Yemen from ymnt, meaning "South", and significantly plays on the notion of the land to the right (𐩺𐩣𐩬). Other sources claim that Yemen is related to yamn or yumn, meaning "felicity" or "blessed", as much of the country is fertile. The Romans called it Arabia Felix (fertile Arabia), as opposed to Arabia Deserta (deserted Arabia). Classical Latin and Greek writers used the name "India" to refer to South Arabia (ancient Yemen). The use of the term "India" arose from the fact that the Persians called the Abyssinians with whom they came into contact in South Arabia by the name of the Cushitic people who lived next to them, i.e., Indians. Southern Arabia was part of Indian Ocean trade routes for millennia. With the advent of the Omani Empire, ties were strengthened between India and the Eastern Coast of Africa and Madagascar.