Letter on the Himyarite Martyrs

The Letter on the Himyarite Martyrs by Simeon of Beth Arsham was written in response to the massacre of the Christian community of Najran by the Jewish Himyarite king, Dhu Nuwas, addressed to a certain Bishop Simeon of Gabbula. It was one of many Christian writings produced during the international outrage over the massacre. The letter talks about the attempt by the Himyarite king to forcefully convert the Christians of Najran to Judaism, his execution of hundreds of Ethiopian Christians and his burning down of churches with the clergy and laity still inside, and emphasizes noble acts of defiance against the king by some of his Christian subjects. The letter has a detailed transmission and is extant in multiple sources. It was quoted, in full, by John of Ephesus (d. 586), it was copied into the Chronicle of Zuqnin, and it was copied into the Ecclesiastical History of Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor around 569.

In the 1970s, Irfan Shahid found and published two more letters attributed to Simeon on the topic of the Christians of Najran in the aftermath of their massacre. The original, main text is sometimes known as "Letter C", whereas Shahid's two new texts are called "Letter 1" and "Letter 2". Only "Letter C" may have any historical utility, and the authorship of the other two letters is disputed.

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