‘The Campaign of the Elephant’ in the Context of the History of Arabia in the Sixth Century

Abstract

The goal of this article is to present an analysis of extant information on the ‘Campaign of the Elephant’ against Mecca with due regard to the overall historical context. The date of that event still remains as an object of a scholarly discussion, making this study opportune. The position of the scholars who reject the traditional dating of the campaign (around 570–571) and put it back to earlier times does not appear to be well-founded. Historical sources show that Emperor Justin II of Byzantium (565–574), who needed allies for his struggle against the Sasanians in the late 560’s and the early 570’s, called on the Ethiopian Negus and the latter’s half-independent governor of Yemen. The governor, probably, made a campaign to the North around the 570–571, and that appears to be remembered by the Arabs as ‘The Campaign of the Elephant’. Sasanid king Khusraw I Anushirwan (531–579) in 572 attacked and conquered Yemen. That came as a counter measure to the Ethiopian advance to the North, because the Sasanid king considered that activity to be a threat to his empire.