Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy最新文献

The aim of this article is to republish, reread and interpret an Arabic inscription from the Black Desert, north-eastern Jordan, to shed light on the practice of the dating system used before the Umayyad era, in which the dating of the inscription is linked to a specific event. The inscription was re-discovered by the present authors during the 2019 Badia Epigraphic Survey. It dates to the death of Hishām, who, as can be assumed, is the Umayyad caliph Hishām b. ʿAbd al-Malik (r. 724–743CE). In addition, this paper argues that according to the epigraphic records, when a caliph died, his title was removed.

The present contribution aims to provide an overview of the large collection of soft stone vessels and lids coming from the collective tomb Long Collective Grave 1 in the Dibbā al-Bayah funerary complex, along with a brief description and evaluation of the tomb itself. The corpus of material here discussed has been recovered during the 2012 season, and it mainly encompasses the chronological span between the second and first millennium BC. The findings are classified and organised in tables according to their chronological phase, and successively on the basis of their morphology and decorative patterns to which a major focus is addressed. Given the outstanding manufacturing of the materials, the finely incised and even plastic decorations, and their state of preservation, an assessment of such remarkable corpus, although partial, contributes significantly to the study of the diffusion and production of stone vessels in South-East Arabia.

A comprehensive remote sensing survey of AlUla County in north-west Saudi Arabia has revealed 32 examples of the ancient, stone-built animal traps known as ‘kites’. Noting that most (27) are located on the Ḥarrat ʿUwayriḍ, a satellite survey of parts of that lavafield outside of AlUla County was undertaken, identifying a further 175 kites. These show commonalities with ‘V-shaped’ kites previously identified in mountainous areas along the western extents of the Arabian Shield in the Sinai Peninsula, Negev Desert and south-west Saudi Arabia. A study of the form and placement of these kites in their ecological and geological contexts suggests that they are representative of a distinct complex, exhibiting sophisticated morphological adaptations to target specific games over similar terrain.

Ongoing excavations at Tell Abraq (Emirate of Umm al-Quwain, U.A.E.) are revealing new aspects of this multiperiod site, which was occupied from c. 2500 BC to 300 AD. Together with substantial architecture dated to the 2nd and 1st millennia BC, relevant assemblages of archaeological materials are being collected and dated to different phases of the site’s life. Among this material, exceptional is the discovery of two jars bearing the impression of two different cylinder seals, which will be presented here. Seal impressions on any media are extremely rare in the whole of south-eastern Arabia and strongly indicate a foreign provenance for the jars. Their iconographic study, the fabric and morphological parallels for the jars, and probable chronology will be discussed, as this can highlight transmarine connections during the late 2nd-first half of the 1st millennium BC, as well as provide new data to address chronological issues in south-eastern Iran itself.

The aim of this paper is to bring to light and edit two Byzantine funerary inscriptions from El-ʿAynūn (Kerak Governorate; Southern Jordan). The first one is perhaps dated in the year 485–486 AD [year 380 EPA]; the second one, although not dated, probably belongs to the same period, ranging between the fifth and the sixth century AD.

Imported ceramics from Early Bronze Age contexts in southeast Arabia illustrate a complex multidirectional network of material and social interactions at this time. Significant socioeconomic changes that occurred in the Hafit (3200–2800 B.C.) and Umm an-Nar (2800–2000 B.C.) periods have been linked to external demand for copper, which is argued to have stimulated a change in subsistence patterns. Similarly, disruption to long-distance exchange networks by external factors has been cited as driving change at the end of the Umm an-Nar period. Archaeological evidence from the region suggests a shift in the direction of exchange from Mesopotamia to the Indus occurred around the middle of the third millennium B.C. However, a recent analysis of Mesopotamian historical sources has highlighted the scale of state-organised textile production for export to the lower Gulf in the later third millennium B.C. The site of Kalba 4 has a stratified sequence of occupation deposits dating from the Umm an-Nar and Iron Age (1300–300 B.C.). In this study, a typological analysis of imported ceramics is used to locate the Kalba in the chronological framework of the region and discuss the changing networks of long-distance exchange that were operating. The imported pottery at Kalba 4 indicates that the inhabitants of the site were exchanging goods with a range of polities, including southern Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley (Meluhha), southeast Iran (Marhashi) and Bahrain (Dilmun). A significant quantity of Late Akkadian ceramics at the site suggests it became an important location for Mesopotamian trade at this time.

This paper reports the results of excavation at Mugharat al-Kahf (WTN01) in Wādī Tanūf, North-central Oman. It also provides information on the nonmortuary and nonsedentary activities in central Oman during the Wādī Sūq period (2000–1600 BCE), as the subsistence and social arrangements of this period are the subject of much debate. Previous surveys had discovered a substantial amount of Wādī Sūq pottery at the site. This project took forward the excavation for further exploration. The excavation at Test Pit 1 identified Layers Ia and Ib, wherein pottery sherds, charred date stones and other samples for radiocarbon dating were discovered. These prove the cave's occupation during the early third millennium BCE, early second millennium BCE and the Islamic period. The analysis of artefacts and floral remains provided insights into the sojourn, storage and consumption of dates in the cave, and the mobile lifestyle in central Oman.

The discovery of numerous cat remains, including many kittens, in various buildings (i.e., domestic house, cistern, mosque) of the ancient harbour of Qalhāt in Oman is unique among faunal assemblages in the medieval Arabian Peninsula. In this study, a zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis (ageing, skeletal element distribution, pathologies) is conducted to understand the origin of the cats and to deepen our understanding of human–cat relations. Thus, concerning the cats found in Qalhāt, two hypotheses may explain their presence: they took refuge in one of the buildings and died in situ before the complete destruction of the structures, or the corpses may have been dumped in the structures during a phase of their abandonment, very likely for health reasons.

This paper presents two new Nabataean inscriptions found by the authors in Shkārat el-Faras, north of Petra. The paper includes a commentary on the vocabulary and the proper names attested in these two undated inscriptions and sheds light on the different interpretations of the disputed word ptwrʾ, a professional title possibly meaning ‘diviner, augur’, which is attested in both texts.