Saint Kaléb

Kaleb (Ge'ez: ካሌብ, Latin: Caleb), also known as Elesbaan (Ge'ez: እለ አጽብሐ, Koine Greek: Ἐλεσβαᾶς), Ella Asbeha, or Hellestheaios, was King of Aksum, which was situated in what is now Ethiopia and Eritrea. Procopius calls him "Hellestheaeus," a variant of the Greek version of his regnal name, Ge'ez: እለ አጽብሐ, romanized: ʾƎllä ʾAṣbəḥa (Histories, 1.20). Variants of his name are Hellesthaeus, Hellestheaios, Ellestheaeus, Eleshaah, Ellesboas, Elesbaan, and Elesboam. At Aksum, in inscription RIE 191, his name is rendered in unvocalized Gə‘əz as /* start https://en.wikipedia.org/ */ .mw-parser-output span.smallcaps{font-variant:small-caps}.mw-parser-output span.smallcaps-smaller{font-size:85%} /* end https://en.wikipedia.org/ */ klb ’l ’ṣbḥ wld tzn "Kaleb ʾElla ʾAṣbeḥa, son of Tazena". In vocalized Gə‘əz, it is ካሌብ እለ አጽብሐ (Kaleb ʾƎllä ʾÄṣbəḥä). Kaleb, a name derived from the Biblical character Caleb, was his given name. On both his coins and inscriptions he left at Axum, as well as Ethiopian hagiographical sources and king lists, he refers to himself as the son of Tazena. Procopius, John of Ephesus, and other contemporary historians recount Kaleb's invasion of Yemen around 520, against the Himyarite king Yūsuf As'ar Yath'ar, known as Dhu Nuwas, a Jewish convert who was persecuting the Christian community of Najran. After much fighting, Kaleb's soldiers eventually routed Yusuf's forces. They killed the king, allowing Kaleb to appoint Sumyafa Ashwa, a native Christian (named Esimiphaios by Procopius), as his viceroy of Himyar. As a result of his protection of the Christians, Kaleb is known as Saint Elesbaan after the sixteenth-century Cardinal Caesar Baronius added him to his edition of the Roman Martyrology. Aksumite control of Arabia Felix continued until c. 525 when Sumyafa Ashwa was deposed by Abraha, who made himself king.