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Arabian Peninsula: Minaean Kingdom
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The better-watered, higher portions of the extreme south-west portion of the Arabian Peninsula supported three early kingdoms. The first, the Minaean, was centred in the interior of what is now Yemen, but probably embraced most of southern Arabia. Although dating is difficult, it is generally believed that the Minaean Kingdom existed from 1200 to 650
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The South Arabian alphabet was used primarily in the Sabaean and Minaean kingoms in the Southern edge of the Arabian Peninsula. It is thought to have diverged from the Proto-Sinaitic alphabet as early as 1300 BCE, and a developing form appeared in Babylonia and near Elath of the Gulf of Aqaba around the 8th/7th centuries BCE. The South Arabian proper appears around 500 BCE, and continued to be used until around 600 CE (at which time, of course, the entire Arabian Peninsula was converted to Islam and Arabic became the most important language).
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The south-western part of the Arabian peninsula gets more rain than the north or the east, and so people began farming there more than in the other areas. Even in this area, there isn't very much water, and so people built huge earthen dams across the streams to store up water for irrigation. We know that they ... built big palaces, though not very much is left of their palaces now. The Queen of Sheba who is mentioned in the Bible as having visited King Solomon in the 900's BC was probably the ruler of a kingdom in this area.
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Minaean Kingdom