Fictitious “laws” of a people in this region are related in a work by Gregentius, who supposedly served one of its cities as archbishop. In this region, the Austrian archaeologist Eduard Glaser (“GLAH-zer”) collected thousands of inscriptions. Control of trade in this region was contested by the Minaean Kingdom and the Qatabān (“KA-tuh-ban”) Kingdom. The foreign guide Syllaeus was blamed for a disastrous Augustan-era expedition to this region commanded by Aelius Gallus. According to legend, an invasion by a self-declared ruler of this region failed when seabirds each dropped three stones on his soldiers’ heads. The Jewish king Dhu Nuwas (“doo noo-WOSS”) ruled the Himyarite Kingdom in this region, whose city of Mar’ib was the capital of the Sabaeans. Part of this region had a reputation for fertility for bearing plants like myrrh, leading the Romans to call it “Felix (“FAY-leeks”).” For 10 points, name this peninsula whose pagan tribes became the core supporters of Muhammad’s Islamic movement. ■END■
ANSWER: Arabia [accept Arabia Felix; accept Arabian Peninsula or Shibhu l-jazīrati l-‘arabiyyah; accept South Arabia; accept Yemen; accept Himyarite Kingdom until read; prompt on Aksumite Kingdom or Aksumite Empire by asking “what region that was, at one time, controlled in part by Aksum?”; prompt on Western Asia or Middle East or MENA; reject “Ethiopia” or “Horn of Africa”] (The self-declared ruler was Abraha, during his invasion of Mecca in the Year of the Elephant.)
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= Average correct buzz position