Kaminahu

Kaminahu (Old South Arabic kmnhw; modern Kamna) is the name of an ancient South Arabian city in the northern al-Jawf region of present day Yemen, 107 km north-east of Sana'a at about 1100 meters above sea level.

In early times Kaminahu like other towns in al-Jawf such as Ḥaram and Nashan, was an independent city state. In about 715 BCE Kaminahu was conquered by Yitha’amar Watar I of Saba', after which it annexed Nashan and the neighbouring town of Manhiyat. In the war against Nashan led by Karab El Watar. (ca. 685 BCE) and probably in the one against Awsān, Ilsamaʿ from Kaminhau along with Yadhmurmalik from Ḥaram supported the Sabaeans; as a reward Kamninahu was allotted an irrigation canal conquered from Nashan. It seems that Kaminahu was flourishing at this time, because Ilsamaʿ is mentioned in many inscriptions. Building inscriptions also relate that Ilsamaʿ Nabaṭ of Kaminahu built the city fortifications of Nashq. Various dedicatory inscriptions from this period allow us to surmise that in Kaminahu, apart from Athtar Hagar, a special form of the god Athtar, there were local gods Nabʿal and Mdhww were also worshiped. After the founding of the Kingdom of Ma'īn, in the 6th century BCE, Kaminahu lost its importance.