indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Meaning & History
From the name Ẓafār (Arabic: ظفار), also Romanized Dhafar or Dhofar, is an ancient Himyarite site situated in Yemen, some 130 km south-south-east of today's capital, Sana'a (Arabic: صَنْعَاء). Zafar was the capital of the Himyarites (110 BCE – 525 CE), which, at its peak, ruled most of the Arabian Peninsula. The city was home to Jewish communities, and Jews dominated politically until 525. The ring-stone of Yiṣḥaq bar Ḥanina (a common Jewish name written in Aramaic; this exact name is attested coevally in the Talmud) is the earliest possible evidence for Jews in South Arabia.