“The Owner of the Sky, God of Israel” in a new Jewish Ḥimyaritic Inscription Dating from the Fifth Century CE

Abstract

Abstract A Ḥimyaritic inscription, unfortunately fragmentary, discovered in 2017, reveals several interesting details. Its authors, of whom one is called Joseph, are probably Ḥimyarites converted to Judaism. They invoke the only God whom they give a title that had not been attested previously: « […] the owner of the sky, God of Isra[el] ». The publication of this text, dated to the 5th century CE, is accompanied by a list of the various appellations of God and a study on the uses of the term Israel in the Ḥimyaritic inscriptions.