sabaeanroots-blog

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Bronze statuette of Heracles, Qaryat al-Faw, 1st–3rd century A.D.

The Greek hero Heracles/Hercules is identifiable by the skin of the Nemean Lion and the olivewood club. Originally, he would have held a drinking vessel in his right hand, an attribute of Hercules Bibax or the drinking Heracles. This form of Heracles was associated with Dionysus, the Greek god of banqueting and wine, whose cult was popular in Qaryat al-Faw.

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Sabaean calcite-alabaster funerary stela. 1st century B.C. - 1st century A.D.

The inscription in Sabaic reads: Image of Ghalilat daughter of Mafaddat and may Athtar destroy him who breaks it.

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Processional plaque, Saba, 5th century B.C., National Museum of Sana'a.

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A Griffon from the royal palace of Shaqir at Shabwa, the capital city of Hadhramaut. Possibly carved at the time of the palace’s reconstruction in the 230s AD (National Museum of Aden).

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Lady Bar'at.

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Crowned Man Zafar, Yemen.

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^ Can you NOT do that to any of my posts? Don't remove the text. Thanks.

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South Arabian bronze bust representing Athena. The goddess wears the helmet and a tunic decorated with the classic motifs of the shield: the snakes and a head of Gorgon. Jabal Al-Awd, Yemen.

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South Arabian Bronze statuette representing a sphinx. Jabal Al-Awd, Yemen.

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Bronze statuette of a woman. Jabal Al-Awd, Yemen.

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South Arabian bronze winged sphinx. With cold-worked details, walking on a ground line to the left, his right front paw raised. C. 2nd-1st Century BC.

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First Pharaonic inscription discovered in Saudi Arabia. The cartouche of Pharaoh Ramses III, on a mountain face.

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Covered with a layer of ash from the fire that destroyed the city of Timna in the first century CE, the two bronze lions and their boyish riders were the most important discovery made by the expedition. The sophisticated modeling and treatment of the sculptures attest to the advanced bronze casting tradition in Arabia as well as to the familiarity of local artists with the technical and artistic language of the Greeks. The iconography of the pair might relate to the cult of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, who was also a popular figure in ancient Arabia. The lions and their riders were cast separately using the lost wax technique. Each one rests on a base with an inscription that reads, "Thuwayb and Aqrab dhu-Muhasni placed [these figures] at Yafash. Thuwayb and Aqrab of the Muhasni family decorated the house called Yafash." The lions and their inscriptions play a critical role in establishing a chronology for the Qataban civilization and fixing its apogee in the first century CE.

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This unique object combines a dedicatory plaque with an outstretched hand holding a flat dish, or phiale, that originally served as an oil lamp. It was found in the House Hadath, a two-story private residence with its plaster walls and floor still intact. The inscription reads: Hamat’amm Dharhan of the tribe of Dharhan offered to his god and lord, the master of Yaghil, a hand which is illuminated with an oil lamp and a dedication, conforming to that which is promised and assured him. He committed to the master of Yaghil his faculties, his powers, and his offerings against anyone who changes its place. By Amm, Anbay, dhat-Himyam, and with the master of Salban.

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This exceptional gold necklace confirms the advanced skill of Qataban goldsmiths. A center pendant, executed in the repoussé technique, depicts a woman’s face. The inscription "protection of Lat, be upon Far‘iat" identifies the original owner as a woman named Far‘iat.

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"Professor A. M. Honeyman holding the beautifully formed head of a young woman carved in translucent alabaster, dating from approximately the first century. It was named ‘Miriam’ by the Arab workmen who dug it out of the Timna cemetery." Phillips continued, "Miriam brought luck to the workers at the graveyard, for that site began to yield more finds than had been expected. The day after Miriam’s rebirth from a two-thousand-year burial, the workmen found some oxidized cloth and wood, fragments of pottery, chips of alabaster, and a small yellow object glistening through the sand. It was a beautiful gold necklace, pendant and chain."

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In 1950 and 1951, Wendell Phillips and his team succeeded in excavating several important sites at Timna. These include its South Gate, several private residences, a large structure that the team identified as a temple complex to Athtar (Venus), and the cemetery, locally known as Haid bin Aqil, just outside the city walls. Wendell Phillips observed that these alabaster objects were "standing exactly as they were before excavation in the antechamber to a tomb at the Timna cemetery. A few minutes before this picture was taken these unsuspected objects were completely covered by the debris of two thousand years."