[German version]

(Μιναῖοι; Minaîoi). Eratosthenes mentions the M., who lived beside the Erythraean Sea, as the first of the four nations of South Arabia (Strabo 16,768). According to Plin. HN 6,157 the Minaei were descendants of Minos, king of Crete. Ptol. 6,7,23 still presents the M. as an important nation. In Ancient South Arabian inscriptions the people and the kingdom of M. were called mn or mnm, Maīn or Maīnum. The heartland of the M. was the large oasis of the River Maḏāb, which extended north-west of Mārib ( Mariaba) and since the Islamic period has been called al-Ǧauf.

The kingdom…