kingdom, Yusuf dzu Nowaz, a Jewish zealot, attacked the Christian province of Najran, and, having conquered it, gave its inhabitants the choice between Judaism and death. On their preferring death, he caused a long ditch to be dug for them, where he had some of them burned, and the rest slain with the sword, till about 20,000 of their number were killed, amongst them Abd Allah Ibn Thamir, their chief and priest. Thus we are given to understand that whilst Mecca and Medina were signally preserved from the cruelty and cupidity of Himyar, Christian Najran was delivered up to become an easy prey.

This Jewish atrocity became the cause of the conquest of Yemen by the Abyssinians and of their subsequent rule in Arabia. For one of the doomed Christians, Dauz dzu Thalaban by name, escaped into the desert on so fleet a horse that the Jews could not overtake him. He went straight to the Emperor of Constantinople to tell him what misfortune had befallen the Christians of Najran and to supplicate help against Dzu Nowaz. The Emperor replied 'Your country is far from mine; but I will give you a letter to the king of Abyssinia who is also of our Faith and nearer to your home.' Accordingly he wrote to the Nejashi or king of Abyssinia, requesting him to help and avenge the Christians. When Dauz had delivered the Emperor's letter, the king placed 70,000 Abyssinians at his disposal, under the command of Aryat. The army was conveyed across the sea to Yemen in many hundred vessels, and the opposing Himyarites, with their allies, were totally defeated. The king Dzu Nowaz sought his death in the sea, and the Abyssinians took possession of his country.

After some years, the command of the army of occupation passed from the hands of Aryat into those of Abraha, whom Ibn Ishak describes as 'a good Christian.' He built so magnificent a cathedral in the capital, Sana, that nothing like it could be seen anywhere. When he informed the king of this, he also expressed his determination not to rest till he had turned the course of the pilgrimages of the Arabs from their temple in Mecca to this cathedral. The Arabs, on hearing of this resolve, were much irritated; and one of them, connected with the national sanctuary, went to Sana and polluted the grand Christian church. Abraha was highly

offended by this act of contempt and swore he would in retaliation level the temple of Mecca to the ground. He at once ordered an expedition for this purpose which he commanded in person, being mounted upon an elephant.

On the route he encountered a hostile army of confederate Arab tribes, under Dzu Nefr, which he defeated, and further on another under Nufeil, which he likewise routed, and finally encamped at Moghammas, whence he despatched horsemen to plunder the tribes of Mecca. By Abd ul Mottaleb's advice the whole population of Mecca left the threatened city and took refuge in the mountains, to await what further steps would be taken by Abraha. But on the following morning, when the army was ready to enter the city, his elephant lay down and would not move a step in that direction. Then, according to Ibn Ishak's further account, God sent against them, from the sea, birds like swallows, each of which carried three pebbles as large as a pea, one in the beak and two between the claws; and any person on whom these pebbles were dropped, died immediately. The warriors fell down on every side and perished in every path. Those who were not hit, precipitately fled by the way they had come. They carried Abraha along with them, who had likewise been hit. His limbs fell from him, one after another, so that on reaching Sana he looked like an unfledged bird, and ere he died his chest and heart had become dissolved. But immediately after the close of this dreadful story Ibn Ishak adds a remark which far better accounts for the hasty retreat of the Abyssinian army, saying, 'Yakub Ibn Otba told me that in the same year smallpox had for the first time been seen in Arabia.'

This disastrous expedition against Mecca which happened A.D. 570, the very year of Mohammed's birth, and generally known as 'the year of the elephant,' on account of the elephants employed by Abraha, greatly damaged the Abyssinian power in Arabia and revived the patriotic hopes of the native tribes. But it was not till nearly the end of the century. that the Abyssinians were finally expelled from Arabia, by the help obtained from Persia. Ibn Ishak says 'The dominion of the Abyssinians in Yemen lasted seventy-two years, under the four princes, Aryat, Abraha, Yaksum, and Masruk.'