Final answer:
Both Aksum and Himyar shared similarities in the way that their distinctive religious identities shaped their cultures and governance. They both used religious imagery in inscriptions and monuments, establishing powerful religious motivations that influenced their policies and inter-empire relations. Religious devotion was a key unifying factor within both kingdoms but also presented the potential for division.
Step-by-step explanation:
The similarities that Aksum and Himyar shared in Late Antiquity were informed by distinctive religious identities that influenced their governments and cultures. Both kingdoms participated in long-distance trade with Asia and had cultural contacts with the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires. Aksum, located in northeastern Africa, became a Christian kingdom following the conversion of King Ezana in the fourth century, which spurred significant religious changes and even influenced the military campaigns of the time. Himyar, situated in southern Arabia, unified various local groups into a state that adopted Judaism in the fifth century CE. While these two empires embraced different faiths, both used religious imagery in inscriptions and monumental architecture, a reflection of how religion was intertwined with the state running.
Aksumite and Himyarite leaders publicly expressed their religious devotion by creating inscriptions and building monuments dedicated to their faiths. The elite of both empires converted to these new religions in large numbers, although within each community, there was still a religious diversity amongst the general populace. In both Aksum and Himyar, religious beliefs not only unified different groups under the state religion but also had the potential to create divisions within or between societies.