Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy最新文献

Since Halévy first published the Jār al-Labbā texts (CIH 460–466), their difficult terminology combined with the poor quality of the text copies has inhibited scholarly consensus and no systematic study of them has been undertaken since Beeston’s 1949 treatment. Here, I provide an up-to-date study of these inscriptions, including CIH 970 and the recently published FB-Jawf 1, which also come from the same site. I propose that Jār al-Labbā was an oracular sanctuary known as “the domain of ʿAṯtar” from where several oracular stick inscriptions claim to originate. I further connect the enigmatic √ḎQṬ-ritual in the Jār al-Labbā texts with Syriac zqt “to goad, direct”, the etymology which denotes an ongoing oracular relationship with the god ʿAṯtar from whom the individuals “receive direction.” This ritual seems to have involved sacrifice and the manipulation of liquids (probably blood) to produce oracles, a practice attested elsewhere in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean.

The four new inscriptions tackled here were written by four persons, three from the same social group ʾl ʾty, a hitherto sparsely attested group. They came to Birak al-Wisād most probably seeking water and pasture for their animals and might have settled there from early summer until late summer. They designated the source of water they came to as nhy. After considering the epigraphic, linguistic and archaeological information, the paper confirms that this word should be understood as “pool”. In addition, the four inscriptions delivered two so far unattested personal names, Wrṯn and Ḫmrt. For the first time in Safaitic inscriptions, one of the inscriptions introduced the expression w wrd h-ʾwl ʾns¹ “And he went down to the water as the first of (all) people”.

In order to understand the role of water resources in the establishment and long-term evolution of settlements investigated by the French Archaeological Mission in the UAE in the oasis of Masāfī, wells and springs of all periods, identified at the surface and in stratified contexts, were mapped and studied thanks to a multidisciplinary approach combining archaeology, geomorphology, geoarchaeology and ethnography. Our study demonstrates that:

Our study also stresses the importance of well and spring irrigation in the development of the sedentary settlements in south-eastern Arabia, technologies that have often been neglected in the regional archaeological literature in favour of the qanāt.

Seals of Dilmun type from Bahrain and Failaka island (Kuwait) in 18 cases have depictions of boats. Contrary to previous studies, it is argued here that these vessels represent a distinct class of single-masted sail boats and further that this boat type probably is synonymous with the “Dilmun boats” mentioned in Babylonian textual sources as a specific long-distance vessel type native to Dilmun. The prow of the Dilmun boats typically exhibit a characteristic “figurehead” with two horns, large jaws and two forward-projecting “prongs”. Based on comparatively similar looking serpent/dragon representations in Dilmun’s glyptic art and the mythological information that can be understood from the scene in which they appear, the horned figureheads of the Dilmun boats are identified as a possible Dilmunite goddess of the primordial sea, somehow comparable to the Babylonian Tiamat. Following analysis of this serpent/dragon on the seals, it is argued that there existed a Dilmunite version of the near omnipresent conflict myth. This myth and its distinct topos are discussed, and it is concluded that in Dilmun it played a role in royal ideology and the legitimisation of kingship.

This paper examines a new Qatabanian inscription, of a construction nature, that was found at Hajar al-ʿĀdī in Wādī Ḥarīb, the site of the ancient town of Maryamah. This inscription is particularly important because its history dates back to the reign of a King Shammar Yuharʿish dhū-Raydān, considered to be Shammar Yuharʿish, the king of Sabaʾ and dhū-Raydān who ruled at the end of the third century CE. The inscription mentions the town of Ẓafār, the capital of Ḥimyar, and provides us with important data on the history of the kingdom of Qatabān, the history of the town of Maryamah, and the relationship of its people to the cities of the western and southern highlands during that important stage in the history of ancient Yemen. The hypothesis that the Shammar Yuharʿish dhū-Raydān mentioned in the inscriptions from Maryamah is the same Shammar dhū-Raydān from the inscription RES 4336 (to be dated 50–20 BC), as recently adopted by Christian Robin, will be discussed.

Two inscriptions that shed more light on the history of contacts between Hellenistic Egypt, the Roman Empire and the South Arabian kingdoms between the second century BCE and the mid-second century CE are in the focus of this research. One inscription mentions foreign gifts for King Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II Tryphon; the other ‒ a Greek inscription from Ẓafār ‒ seems to be the gift for either the king of Ḥimyar or the Roman colony in Ẓafār. The first inscription points to the existence of direct diplomatic contacts between these regions in the second century BCE. The second inscription is linked with the Latin text from the Farasān archipelago by viewing the reference in the first line to legio II Traiana.

This paper introduces the first results of the joint Omani-Italian archaeological project at Wādī Banī Ḫālid (northern Šarqiyyah governorate, eastern al-Ḥaǧar), where a dense Iron Age and ancient Islamic occupation was detected. The aim of the project is the definition of the Iron Age settlement patterns along the eastern al-Ḥaǧar landscape and its relationship with both the coastal areas and the al-Ḥaǧar inner piedmont sites of central Oman. In fact, this project follows previous studies of the coastal environment between Muscat and Raʾs al-Ḥadd, where several seasonal fishermen villages were investigated, and their connections with inner permanent sites, such as Lizq, recognised during the Early Iron Age II (1300–600 BCE). Therefore, Wādī Banī Ḫālid stands as a peculiar case of an Iron Age territorial unit, a natural scenario made of a narrow alluvial valley which provided natural conditions for the development of a complex culture. Moreover, the material culture emerged after a first excavation campaign proved that the main occupational phase of the imposing fortified settlement WBK1 is the Late Iron Age (late first millennium BCE to third–fourth centuries CE), thus hopefully allowing new questions to be posed for the definition of Late Iron Age cultures and the chronology in central Oman, which is mostly known based on the excavation of funerary evidence. For this reason, the first part of the paper focuses on the results of the first season in Wādī Banī Ḫālid, and the second part discusses the links between Wādī Banī Ḫālid and the south-eastern Arabia general framework during the Late Iron Age.

We conducted rock varnish measurements at four rock art sites in north-western Saudi Arabia, including Kilwa and the Camel Site near Sakaka. We determined the areal densities of Mn and Fe in rock varnish that had accumulated on petroglyph surfaces since their creation, complemented by a detailed analysis of varnish samples. We inferred varnish accumulation rates by relating the Mn areal density on inscriptions to their ages estimated based on the type of script used. Applying these rates to the varnish densities on the rock art indicated that the art was produced during two distinct periods, corresponding to the Pre-Pottery/Late Neolithic and the Bronze/Iron Age, respectively, with different artistic traditions, reflecting distinct socioeconomic and ecological conditions. Our dating approach, while admittedly burdened with substantial uncertainties, yields ages consistent with archaeological and historical evidence and it provides a unique quantitative tool to obtain at least rough ages for otherwise undatable rock art.

The systematic survey of petroglyphs in the area of the ancient oasis of Salūt, in central Oman, highlighted a rich repertoire of representations that are here discussed against the background of Arabian rock art in general. The region displays an extremely rich number of engravings along the slopes of the Jabal Hammah, north of the main site of Salūt. The majority of the petroglyphs find abundant fitting comparisons in the region. The notable exception of the motif of the “man with halberd” is presented, as it appears to be significantly rare and underlines interpretative issues concerning the so-called T-shaped signs, ubiquitous in Arabian rock art. One of its occurrences was radiocarbon dated to before the mid-first millennium BCE. This and other, relative hints for reconstructing the chronological context of the petroglyphs are discussed, indicating that engravings can be broadly dated from the second millennium BCE onwards.

Interest in the built environment of Early Bronze Age (EBA) Eastern Arabia is rapidly increasing with the emergence of new field data from the excavation of settlement sites. However, little is known about architectural planning and spatial patterns in the region. This article explores non-monumental architecture throughout the third millennium BCE. A series of methods (Pythagorean triples, modular grids, interception of circles) were used to assess the geometric and metric characteristics of buildings, and to stress regularities and variation in the long term. The results of these analyses suggest the application of specific techniques in layout and construction works: the intersection of circles during the Hafit occupations, and more sophisticated techniques, combining the properties of circles and triangles, during the Umm an-Nar period. The diachronic approach allowed by the temporal span of the occupations highlights a firm progression of architectural paradigms and building crafts throughout the EBA. The evidence hints at the existence of a specialised workforce since the dawn of the Bronze Age, and reveals a sharp increase of technicity and standardisation towards the end of the third millennium.