The 570s decade ran from January 1, 570, to December 31, 579.
Year 570 (DLXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 570 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
The Himyarite Kingdom or Himyar, historically referred to as the Homerite Kingdom by the Greeks and the Romans, was a polity in the southern highlands of Yemen, as well as the name of the region which it claimed. Until 110 BCE, it was integrated into the Qatabanian kingdom, afterwards being recognized as an independent kingdom. According to classical sources, their capital was the ancient city of Zafar, relatively near the modern-day city of Sana'a. Himyarite power eventually shifted to Sana'a as the population increased in the fifth century. After the establishment of their kingdom, it was ruled by kings from dhū-Raydān tribe. The kingdom was named Raydān.
Dhū Nuwās,, real name "Yūsuf Asʾar Yathʾar", "Yosef Nu'as", or "Yūsuf ibn Sharhabīl", also known as "Masruq" in Syriac, and Dounaas (Δουναας) in Medieval Greek, was a Jewish king of Himyar between 517 and 525–527 AD, who came to renown on account of his persecutions of peoples of other religions, notably Christians, living in his kingdom.
The ʿām al-fīl is the name in Islamic history for the year approximately equating to 570–571 CE. According to Islamic resources, it was in this year that Muhammad was born. The name is derived from an event said to have occurred at Mecca: Abraha, the Abyssinian, Christian ruler of Aksum marched upon the Ka‘bah in Mecca with a large army, which included war elephants, intending to demolish it. However, the lead elephant, known as 'Mahmud', is said to have stopped at the boundary around Mecca, and refused to enter. It has been mentioned in the Quran that the army was destroyed by small birds that carried pebbles that destroyed the entire army and Abraha perished. Surah Fil in Quran illustrates the incident clearly. The year came to be known as the Year of the Elephant, beginning a trend for reckoning the years in the Arabian Peninsula. This reckoning was used until it was replaced with the Islamic calendar during the times of ‘Umar.
Abraha, also known as Abrahah al-Ashram, was an Aksumite general, then the viceroy of South Arabia for the Kingdom of Aksum, and later declared himself an independent King of Himyar, even though he ruled much as a viceroy, relied heavily upon Axumite backing, and ran his kingdom with Axumite customs and religion. Abraha ruled parts of southern Arabia including much of what is now Yemen from around 531–547 CE to around 555–570 CE.
Wahrez was a Sasanian general of Daylamite origin, first mentioned in the prelude to the Iberian War and then during the Aksumite–Persian wars.
The ancient history of Yemen is especially important because Yemen is one of the oldest centers of civilization in the Near East. Its relatively fertile land and adequate rainfall in a moister climate helped sustain a stable population, a feature recognized by the ancient Greek geographer Ptolemy, who described Yemen as Eudaimon Arabia meaning Fortunate Arabia or Happy Arabia. Between the eighth century BCE and the sixth century CE, it was dominated by six main states which rivaled each other, or were allied with each other and controlled the lucrative spice trade: Saba', Ma'īn, Qatabān, Hadhramaut, Kingdom of Awsan, and the Himyarite Kingdom. Islam arrived in 630 CE and Yemen became part of the Muslim realm.
Abū Murra Sayf bin Dhī Yazan al-Ḥimyarī was a semi-legendary Himyarite king of Yemen who lived between 516 and 578 CE, known for ending Axumite rule over Southern Arabia with the help of the Sassanid Empire.
The Kingdom of Aksum, also known as the Kingdom of Axum, the City-State of Axum, or the Aksumite Empire, was centered in East Africa and South Arabia from Classical antiquity to the Middle Ages. Based primarily in what is now northern Ethiopia, and spanning modern-day Eritrea, Djibouti and Sudan, it extended at its height into much of Southern Arabia during the reign of Kaleb, King of Axum.
The existence of a Christian community in the city of Najran is attested by several historical sources of the Arabian peninsula, where it recorded as having been created in the 5th century AD or perhaps a century earlier. According to the Arab Muslim historian Ibn Ishaq, Najran was the first place where Christianity took root in South Arabia.
Amr III ibn al-Mundhir, more commonly known by the matronymic Amr ibn Hind, was the king of the Lakhmid Arabs in 554–569/570. He was a client of the Sasanian Empire. In around 550 AD he clashed with Aksumite Empire over southern Arabia and was instrumental in the downfall of Aksumite power in southern Arabia. He was famous for his bellicosity and his patronage of poets. He was killed over an insult to Amru ibn kulthum's mother the chief of the taghlib tribe.
Amr ibn Ma'adi Yakrib al-Zubaīdi al-Madḥ'hijī was an Arabian cavalry commander of the Zubaid clan in Yemen, part of the Madhhij tribe confederation who developed a reputation as a legendary warrior. He is said to have battled against legendary figures like Amir ibn Tufail, Antarah ibn Shaddad and Dorayd bin Al Soma. He was also a leading figure in Arabic poetry. Werner Daum called Amr the most famous and Arabian hero.
The Aksumite–Persian wars were a protracted series of armed engagements between the Sasanian Persian Empire and the Aksumite Empire for control over South Arabia in the 6th century CE. After a decisive victory at the Battle of Hadhramaut in 570, the Sasanian military marched on and besieged Sana'a, following which the Aksumites were largely expelled from the Arabian Peninsula, however they still had direct control of Najran. The Persians instated the former Himyarite king Sayf ibn Dhī Yazan as the governor of the new Sasanian province of Yemen. However, Yazan was murdered by his Ethiopian servants four years into his reign, after which the Aksumites re-established their power in the region. Following the death of Yazan, the Sasanian army mounted a second invasion and re-conquered Yemen by 575–578, marking the end of Axumite rule in Arabia. After Sasanian control was firmly established in the region, the Persian military general Wahrez was installed as the direct governor of Yemen.
Zuhayr ibn Janab ibn Hubal al-Kalbi was a chieftain of the Banu Kalb tribe and a pre-Islamic Arabic warrior poet. Much of his biography relies on semi-legendary accounts, but it is apparent that he lived in the early 6th century. He led not only the Kalb, but the entire Quda'a tribal confederation. During his one-time alliance with the Aksumite viceroy Abraha, Zuhayr quelled a revolt by the Taghlib and Bakr tribes, capturing their chieftains, including Kulayb ibn Rabi'a. Later, he destroyed the pagan sanctuary of the Ghatafan tribe, which rivaled the Ka'aba in Mecca. Traditional Arab sources noted that Zuhayr lived an extremely long life, and finally died by suicide after he was disobeyed. His descendants, particularly those belonging to the family of Bahdal ibn Unayf, would later hold high positions under the Umayyad Caliphate.
The Al-Qalis Church was a Miaphysite Christian church constructed sometime between 527 and the late 560s in the city of Sanaa in modern-day Yemen. The church's lavish decorations made it an important place of pilgrimage, placing it in competition with Kaaba in Mecca. According to the National Museum of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, Abraha built Al-Qullays in Sana'a. He also built a similar one in Najran for Bani Al-Harith, the House of Allat in Taif for the tribe of Thaqeef, the House of Yareem and the House of Ghamdan in Yemen.
Yemen was a province of the Sasanian Empire in Late Antiquity in southwestern Arabia.
Khath'am was an ancient and medieval Arab tribe which traditionally dwelt in southwestern Arabia. They took part either in cooperation or opposition to the 6th-century expedition of the Aksumite ruler Abraha against Mecca. After initial hostility, they embraced Islam and a played a role in the early Muslim conquests of the 630s. The tribe of Shahran in Yemen and Saudi Arabia is a principal clan of the Khath'am.
Masrūq ibn Abraha was the Ethiopian ruler of Yemen under the Axumite Empire, as recorded in Arabic and Islamic traditions. He succeeded his father, Abraha. In 570, he was killed in the Battle of Hadhramaut in the Yemeni campaign of Wahriz, reportedly by an arrow shot by Wahriz himself. There are contradictory reports for the year of his death.
Qays ibn Makshuh al-Muradi Arabic: قيس بن المكشوح المرادي, or also known as Qays ibn Hubayrah was a Companions of the Prophet Muhammad. He converted to Islam during the life of Muhammad. However, he later rebelled during Ridda Wars after the killing of Al-Aswad al-Ansi, only to be defeated by Ikrima ibn Abi Jahl. Qays pardoned by caliph Abu Bakr and participated in the Muslim conquest of Persia and Muslim conquest of the Levant.
