Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy最新文献

This article is a tribute to Muṭahhar al-Iryānī and Yūsuf ‘Abdullāh—two of the most outstanding Yemeni savants of all times. Sadly, both are no longer with us. Muṭahhar passed away in 2016, and Yūsuf in 2021. In what follows, I present—through my renderings—their last scholarly achievements. They concern a well-known Sabaean inscription found in 1951 in Mārib. The text is written consecutively and was therefore not recognisable as a poem. In 2005, Muṭahhar al-Iryānī published the first convincing presentation of this hymn, revealing its poetic structure. His final take on the subject is the strophe and verse arrangement offered in the present article. Yūsuf ‘Abdullāh is the discoverer of another rhymed Sabaean hymn. Both authors are convinced that these are the antecedents of the poetry of the Arabs. Substance-wise, the two scholars hold different views. In al-Iryānī's opinion, the hymn describes a battle of the Sabaean army. Victory is achieved through the intervention of the Sabaean high god Almaqah. On the other hand, Yūsuf ‘Abdullāh interprets the hymn as a rain rogation myth. He parallels it with the traditional rain processions of the Yemeni countryside, which he sees as a ritual survival from pre-Islamic times. If accepted, a central element of the pre-Islamic religion has been brought to light.

Very few cylinder seals are reported from South-East Arabia. This paper reports on two cylinder seals that were found as heirlooms at Mleiha, UAE. The first is a Neo-Assyrian seal with a ritual scene: kneeling worshippers around a tree of life. The second is a seal of local manufacture. The positioning of its image, a human figure holding an Arabian horned viper, is turned 90°, questioning whether it was ever used as a seal or rather worn as an amulet or bead. Local seal production and seal use are discussed. Seals from the Iron Age II suggest that the object is of local production, as does the iconography that can be linked to Iron Age snake cults in South-East Arabia. Comparable snake representations are, however, occasionally still found in the Mleiha/PIR period.

Bahra 1 is a large site in the north of the Arabian Peninsula that provided an assemblage of nearly 100,000 lithic artefacts. The whole lithic industry of Bahra 1 represents a set of well-thought-out flint, quartz and stone tools for the mass production of shell jewellery, with only a small share of typical household tools. They mostly relate to the Ubaid tradition with Arabian Neolithic influences. However, limited excavations of the oldest occupational layers of the site also revealed an Epipalaeolithic Zarzian tradition. This paper presents a techno-typological, functional and cultural characteristic of the whole Bahra 1 chipped and ground stone industry identified during the excavations at the site in 2009–2019.

This paper presents some of the new Safaitic inscriptions that were found in 2022 in one of the branches of Wādī al-Khuḍarī, which is in al-Ḥarrah approximately 35 km to the northwest of al-Ruwayshed (H4). Two of these inscriptions bear an attestation for the verb ṣlb, meaning ‘to crucify’. This is the fourth appearance of that verb in Safaitic inscriptions. The verb is thoroughly discussed in this study since the topic of crucifixion in the context of Safaitic epigraphy is of particular interest and has been the subject of scholarly dispute. The present research also provides an explanation for some geographical terms that are used by local residents and researchers to refer to the locations of the inscriptions. Apart from the philological analysis of these selected texts, the paper presents an overview of the ‘Badia Epigraphic Surveys’ (BES) project, which was launched by Michael C. A. Macdonald and Ali Al-Manaser in 2015, and aims to redocument the inscriptions and rock art from the Jordanian Ḥarrah region. As a part of this project, five survey seasons have been conducted so far. During these surveys, nearly 400,000 images from the Jordanian Badia were photographed. These include images of the inscriptions and images of the sites where the texts were found. Some of these images are a redocumentation of inscriptions that were previously reported by various researchers, and some of the images contain new inscriptions that will be added to the ‘Online Corpus of the Inscriptions of Ancient North Arabia’ (OCIANA) database. It is important to note that soon after the launch of the BES project, interest in the Jordanian Badia region began to increase, and many epigraphic and archaeological surveys have been conducted in this region. Furthermore, the Jordanian government has recently registered the Jordanian Ḥarrah region on the Tentative List of World Heritage.

Four copper-base figurines recently discovered at the site of Tell Abraq (Umm al-Quwain, UAE) illustrate the circulation of allochthonous artistic motifs across the Arabian Peninsula during the late pre-Islamic period (broadly, 300 bc–300 ad). It is argued that these motifs were adopted by the local communities even in the absence of a full understanding of their genuine meaning and consequently, possibly adapted for the representation of local deities or elite members. These derivative artefacts travelled alongside high-quality local products, both kinds of objects being witnessed at Tell Abraq. There, a unique figurine of a standing naked man additionally fosters some considerations about the diffusion of Herakles’ iconography in the region. The finds presented here might be generally indicative of the presence of high-rank burials extensively looted in antiquity, while so far, the presence of other structures to which they could be related has to be discarded.

This paper represents a study of archaeological fish remains retrieved from the excavations conducted by C. S. Phillips between 1993 and 2001 at Kalbāʾ 4 (Emirate of Sharjah, UAE). Kalbāʾ 4 is a major coastal site that was continuously occupied from the Umm an-Nar period to the Iron Age (c. 2700–600 BCE). The site is of particular interest regarding monumental architecture, pottery studies and exchange networks across Arabia and its neighbouring regions from the Bronze Age onwards. A corpus of about 5500 fish remains provides information on fishing economies during the entire occupation of the site. Data regarding fish complement results previously obtained from the study of other fauna including marine molluscs, sea turtles, terrestrial and marine mammals. They allow us to document a fishing-based economy at Kalbāʾ 4. The results highlight the exploitation of a quite limited range of fish taxa associated mostly with reef areas (groupers, trevallies, snappers, spangled emperors, King soldierbreams), brackish waters (mullets) and the open sea (scombrids). The techniques seem to have mainly involved the use of baited lines from boats, fishing nets and possibly cage traps. The discussion includes comparisons with the other main fish studies conducted for the Bronze Age and the Iron Age in Eastern Arabia.

Two well-known texts on altars from Delos (RES 3952; M 349) dating to the period after 167 BC attest to contacts between the Aegean and Ancient Yemen. Reexamining these two important inscriptions, this article argues that both were set up by Minaeans. As for the altar bearing inscription M 349, we interpret the Greek inscriptions as later additions, the purpose of which was to inform readers who were unfamiliar with the Old South Arabian script of the deity venerated.

The Qumayrah microregion lies in the mountains of northern Oman, roughly halfway between two large oasis settlements—Bat and Hili. It is situated at the crossing of routes leading from the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman into the interior. Results of a previous archaeological excavation and survey confirmed the presence of sites from prehistoric times to the Islamic period in the area. In light of both the continuity of settlement and the location of the microregion, its survey became an essential undertaking. The project has a multidisciplinary character, combining traditional archaeological survey methods with geological prospection. The aim of the pedestrian survey is to identify settlement points, which could link the Qumayrah microregion with Hili Oasis, while the geological prospection is tasked with collecting information on the raw material resources in the region that could have influenced settlement activity in the area.

Mudbrick settlements are a common sight in central Oman and are often attributed to the Yaʿariba and al-Busaydī periods. They have been the subject of study of different projects in the past, providing a good basis for understanding the settlements. This paper will review how the mudbrick settlements have been studied since the beginning of this century and discuss approaches for future research. A specific focus of this study is the interpretation and analysis of the material culture of the mudbrick settlements. Previous ceramic studies are analysed and this paper aims to refine the ceramic chronology of the Late Islamic period in central Oman. This outcome provides a first comprehensive study on the ceramics of this time period and region. In doing so, one of the goals is to establish a baseline for future studies on this period so that it can provide a reference for other archaeologists who find similar material and settlements, to re(dis)cover subrecent times in Oman.

The Al-Mudhaybi Regional Survey uses different methods to reconstruct the diachronic development of the archaeological landscape within a 930 km² area. This article evaluates the different outcomes of remote sensing, ground-truthing and systematic field-walking of transects regarding the type and chronological range of structures found. Additionally, it considers the impact of the geological background on the presence/absence of structures and finds. Through these surveys, it will be demonstrated that, first, while above-ground, solid constructions like Early Bronze Age tombs are easily spotted during remote sensing, smaller, often below-ground tombs of other periods and domestic architecture of any (pre-Late Islamic) date were only identified in the field. Second, Umm an-Nar and Iron Age structures and finds tend to be clustered in a few spots, while remains of other periods, especially the Hafit, are more dispersed. Third, there are different location choices over time regarding the geological background of structures.