A GLIMPSE OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES IN SOUTHERN PART OF THE REPUBLIC OF YEMEN [Archives:2000/10/Culture]

Rahmat Elahi
Archaeologist
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
A study of the period of history before Islam in South Arabia has for many years relied on the interpretation of the carved inscriptions recorded by early travellers. There have also been allusions to the pre-Islamic period in the accounts of later historian and in the Holy Quran. The trading fleets of Solomon are mentioned in the Bible, where his meeting with the Queen of SHEBA is also described, when she visited Jerusalem “With a very great company, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones”. It was, however, Their rich merchandise that first brought the ancient south Arabian kingdoms to the notice of the outside world.
The overland Routes may have come into use when the camel was first employed as a beast of burden, probably about the 11th century B.C., when it was possible for Camel Cravens to Carry merchandise from the Indian Ocean as for as Gaza on the Mediterranean. They became the middlemen in a great commercial industry, which attracted the attention of the civilizations from the Euphrates to the Nile, and Cultural influence from passing down the trade routes resulted in the growth of fine cities and temples, and vast irrigation schemes to help feed the expanding population. Thus the history of the kingdoms and supporting tribes mentioned in the Inscriptions is most often one of conflict and conquest. Surprisingly, The Continual struggle for ascendancy does not appear to have affected trade, and this seems to indicate the existence of a very stable organization.
INSCRIPTIONS REVEALED THE FOLLOWING FACTS:
Inscriptions in South Arabian epigraph has increased our knowledge by revealing the names of the ancient kingdoms and tribes, the relationship of relaying families, the deities worshiped and the prevailing customs, but the chronology ( giving dates) of events often remains amateur for conjecture; but the work of Archaeologists and historians often considerably hoped when an external event with a verified date coincides with an internal incident. Such was the visit of the Roman legion in 24 B.C. which at the command of Augustus, penetrated the fabled southern kingdoms where, strobe states, Illusory defected Mariaba ( Marib) against the soldiers of aelius Gallus. Ilasaros has since been Identified as Ilsarah Yahdud, King of Saba and Dhuraydan, whose name appears in inscriptions discovered at Marib (Mariaba). Similarly, the certain dating of the periplus will do much to settle the disputed chronology of south Arabian dynasties by fixing a date for the regions of Charibael, king of the Sabaens and Homerites, and of Eleazos, king of the country of sabbatha. Both these Monarchs are mentioned in this manuscript and they have been identified with Karib’il Water Yuhanim, king of Saba and Dhu-Raydan, and Ilazz Yalut II, king of the Hadramaut.
Important Excavations at sites in south Arabian.
Excavations at sites in South Arabia have added our knowledge and understanding of the past.C.Rathjens, who excavated the temple at Huqqa, north of Sana’a in the Yemen, in 1932.G.Caton Thompson, who excavated the Moon Temple and Tombs at Hureidah, in the Hadramaut, in 1937 and the American Foundation for the study of Man, which in 1950-2 excavated a portion of Timna ‘in Beihan, the ancient capital of the kingdom of Qataban, together with several other nearby sites.
The results of such excavations have done much to enlighten us regarding the way of life in ancient south Arabia. We know the types of pottery vessels used for cooking and drinking, the methods of constructing roads, mountain passes and dwellings, and the design of public and private buildings. It has been possible to trace vast irrigation systems and to study the development of works of art in bronze and in precious metals and stones, and to relate the design motifs and architectural features. Many of the architectural refinements and the trabeated from of Construction reflect.
Mediterranean Workmanship and the later artistry as portrayed by religious carvings,votive offerings, and so on, mirrors unmistakable hellenistic or Roman originals.
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