The
Minaean people were the inhabitants of the
kingdom of Ma'in (
Old South Arabian mʿn, vocalized
Maʿīn; modern Arabic معين
Maʿīn) in modern day
Yemen, dating back to the 6th century BCE-150 BCE It was located along the strip of
desert called
Ṣayhad by
medieval Arab geographers, which is now known as Ramlat Dehem The Minaean people were one of four ancient Yemeni groups mentioned by
Eratosthenes. The others were the
Sabaeans,
Ḥaḑramites and
Qatabānians. Each of these had regional kingdoms in ancient Yemen, with the Minaeans in the north-west (in
Wādī al-Jawf), the Sabaeans to the south-east of them, the Qatabānians to the south-east of the Sabaeans, and the Ḥaḑramites east of them. The miners lived in the goveroranate in Aljauf northern Yemen. A majority of the Dhu Hussayn tribe consider themselves grandchildren of the mineans along with Dhu Hussayns sister tribe Dhu Mohamed. The leaders of these two tribes of Dhu Hussayn the Alshaif clan or family they are also the Sheiks or leaders of
Daham the federation of the two tribes bani nauf and Dhu Hussayn.