The Jews as such were better educated than the Arabs, and may have taught them writing, and were altogether looked up to as the intellectual superiors of the Arabs. Far from interfering with the religion of the Jews, the Arabs were rather prepared to take the position of disciples. They adopted some Jewish rites and accepted their calendar; moreover, the Jewish teaching exercised a salutary influence on their character. Many converts came to Judaism unsought, and when a Sheik accepted Judaism, the clan followed. Naturally, under such favorable auspices the Arabian Jews lived up to their religion with ardor and zeal, that is, as best as they understood it. They were students of Jewish law and turned for guidance probably both to Judea and Babylonia. They had their school too at Yathrib, later called Medina--north of Mecca, near the Red Sea. But the Bible was taught in Midrashic paraphrase, rather than in the original Hebrew text. Jussuf the Proselyte. The most important convert to Judaism was Jussuf, the powerful king of Yemen, in the southwestern quarter of the Peninsula--about the year 500 A. C. E. The Jewish sages were invited to teach Judaism to the people at large. The enthusiastic but unwise King Jussuf, hearing that Jews were persecuted in the Byzantine Empire (p. 281), put to death some of its merchants. This only paralyzed trade and brought on war. So the Jews were hardly fortunate in their ally, for he did not grasp the spirit of Judaism and tried to impose it by force--i.e., by the sword. This recalls the forced conversions of John Hyrcanus (p. 78). Yussuf stirred up enemies against himself and the Jews in many surrounding lands; his foes at last completely crushed him. Thus ended the ill-starred Jewish kingdom. Israel might well exclaim, "heaven save us from our friends." No, Judaism was not destined to spread in that way. "Not by force, not by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord." Samuel the Chivalrous. Like the Arabs, the Jews cultivated poetry and held it in high esteem. Most renowned of these Jewish poets was Samuel Ibn Adiya. His life is perhaps more interesting than his poetry, for it shows how this stimulating environment at its best encouraged a fine spirit of chivalry among the Jews.