The Sabaean Presence in Jawf in the Eighth - Seventh Centuries BC

2012

Harrassowitz Verlag . Wiesbaden

Leggo!

Studies Presented to Frederick Mario Fales

on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday

Edited by

Giovanni B. Lanfranchi, Daniele Morandi Bonacossi,

Cinzia Pappi, and Simonetta Ponchia

The Sabaean Presence in Jawf in the Eighth Seventh Centuries BC

Notes on the Oldest Phase of Ancient South Arabian Culture and Its Relationship with Mesopotamia

Alessandra Avanzini

The history of Jawf is of fundamental importance in studying both the beginning of overland trade between the Sabaeans and the Near East, and also the genesis of an-cient south Arabian (ASA) culture.

The region of Jawf (Fig. 1) is located in the westernmost part of the area of ASA culture in southern Arabia. The main kingdoms of Jawf in the eighth century BC were Nashshan, Kamna, and Haram; their respective territories did not extend much beyond the boundaries of the cities themselves. One important factor to be remem-bered is that similarly to the Syro-Palestinian area, the name of a kingdom in south Arabia was normally that of the tribe (king of Israel, king of Aram, parallel to king of Saba , king of Qatab n, etc.) and not that of the capital city. In the kingdoms of Jawf the name of the tribe coincided with that of the capital city (king of Nashshan, king of Haram, king of Kamna).1 This might be the mark of a transition from an urban-based organisation of the state, to be set in an as yet hypothetical Bronze Age in Jawf, towards a “national” type of organisation.2

The linguistic and political situation in Jawf in the period we are examining was multi-faceted; epigraphic Minaic (MIN)3 documentation is attested in Nashshan,

1 A further example of a king of a city and not of his tribe appears in the eight century BC in the

SAB inscription DAI irwah 2005-50 that I shall come back to later. In the text, king Nw m, who was an enemy of the Sabaean king, was called king of Timna and not of Qatab n. (The text of the inscription is published in part only. My thanks to N. Nebes for the information given to me).

2 Liverani 1996. 3 The kingdom of Ma n a major figure in the history of Jawf from the late seventh early sixth

Century was based on the alliance among a number of cities, the principal ones of which were Ma n (Qrnw) and Bar qish (Y l). In the eighth century it only included the territory of the city of Ma n. When Robin suggested replacing the term “Minaean” with “Madhabaean”, less was known about the history of Ma n than today; the Minaean kingdom was not thought to have become established before the fifth century (de Maigret & Robin 1989). As I have stated else-where (Avanzini 1995: 29 30), I prefer keeping Minaic for the language of the eighth early seventh century inscriptions of Jawf; indeed this documentation already contains some of the linguistic traits of successive inscriptions of the Minaean kingdom. The term Madhabaean sug-gested by Robin is appropriate for the earliest cultural phase of Jawf.

Alessandra Avanzini 38

Fig. 1: Yemen and the region of Jawf.

Kamna, Haram. Epigraphic documentation in other cities of the region under Sa-baean control are in Sabaic (SAB).4 SAB documentation is attested in the earliest phase in the history of Bar qish5 and the textual typology of these ancient inscrip-tions is by now quite complex. They contain matters regulating the distribution of water; these are expressed in a specialised legal terminology within a sophisticated textual-syntactic structure. The Sabaeans built the westernmost city of Jawf, izma Ab Thawr, the ancient Mnytm; the name of a Sabaean king6 seems to have been added to the toponym Mnytm in the eighth century.

This phase of the history of the cities of Jawf had certain distinguishing cultural traits that were no longer to be found in the successive period, one of the most evi-dent being the divine onomastic. At that time, the pantheon of Jawf contained the pan-ASA god Athtar whose name was followed by various epithets, the Semitic god Wadd, and other gods who had unusual names not found elsewhere in southern Arabia nor in the rest of the Near East. In Nashshan the main god was called Aran-

4 Avanzini 1996a. 5 Gnoli & Robin 1992. 6 MAFRAY Ab Thawr 2 1: hgrn Mnytm l-Y mr, “the city of Mnytm ‘for Y mr’ ” (Robin

1986: 188f.) and MAFRAY Ab Thawr 3 1: hgrn l-Y mr, “the city of ‘for Y mr’ ” (Robin 1986: 189f.). Robin’s hypothesis that l-Y mr is part of the toponym and in some cases replaces it is likely. Many centuries later in the third century BC there is another example in ASA his-tory of a city with the name of a king, Sumhuram (Avanzini 2002: 21f.). Both are neo-founda-tions that a king was very eager to establish in far-off territories.

The Sabaean Presence in Jawf in the Eighth Seventh Centuries BC 39

yada 7 ( rnyd ), in Haram Yada sumhu (Yd s1mhw), and in Kamna Naba l (Nb l). This singular formation of divine names composed of elements of marked Semitic origin, but with no direct comparison with any other Semitic pantheon is also at-tested in the name of the main Sabaean god Almaqah ( lmqh).

Some recently published SAB texts, and a discovery made during an archaeo-logical survey in the intra-muros temple of the city of Nashshan have shed more light on the history of the cities of Jawf and their links with the kingdom of Saba . By one of those coincidences that sometimes happens in studies, Yatha amar Watar, son of Yakrubmalik (Y mr Wtr bn Ykrbmlk), a king of Saba who played an impor-tant part in the history of south Arabia in the eighth century and in the relations be-tween Saba and Jawf, is attested for the first time in two inscriptions that were pub-lished almost contemporarily a few years ago.

It is known that two Sabaean kings, Ita amra and Karibilu, are attested in Assyr-ian sources.8 For many years most scholars of south Arabia accepted J. Pirenne’s hy-pothesis that denied the obvious Sabaean-Assyrian synchronism, and hypothesised a Sabaean royalty (strongly characterised by an exclusively royal onomastic) prior to the existence of a kingdom of Saba in south Arabia.9 When a chronology was re-established in the 1990s, acknowledging that ASA kingdoms were formed in the early first millennium, Karibilu king of Saba was hypothetically (but with a fair de-gree of certainty) identified as Karibil Watar (Krb l Wtr), author of the two monu-mental texts of irw (RES 3945, RES 3946).10

The two royal inscriptions of irw commemorate the exploits of the Sabaean king involved in major building works on the hydraulic system of the oasis of the Sabaean capital and in military enterprises over much of the territory of southern Arabia. The identification of king Ita amra in the Sargon inscription, however, was still purely hypothetical.11 Today, though, identifying Ita amra as king Yatha amar Watar, son of Yakrubmalik has become highly credible.12 There are many interesting traits in both texts, commissioned by Yatha amar Watar, son of Yakrubmalik. The first text is engraved on a bronze altar.

7 The vocalisation of the onomastic is the fruit of pure imagination on the part of scholars. I seek

to simplify it and, essentially not to “arabize” it too much. 8 Galter 1993. 9 Garbini 1993; as opposed to Avanzini 1993. 10 Robin 1996: 1119. 11 H. von Wissmann (von Wissmann 1982: 103 108) suggested to identify him as the Sabaean

king Yatha amar Bayyin son of Sumhu ali. 12 We could imagine that this very Sabaean king was the founder of izma Ab Thawr (see n. 6),

and that he added his name to its toponym.


AO 31929, Translation (Fig. 2)13 1. Yatha amar Watar, son of Yakrubmalik mukarrib14 of Saba dedicated to Aran-

yada 2. the Patron when he brought Aranyada back from Kamna to Nashshan,15 at the

time of Yatha - 3. amar and when he assigned the territories of Aranyada and Nashshan and he

avenged 4. Nashshan against Kamna, because Nashshan had maintained the alliance of

Almaqah and Aranyada and Yatha - 5. amar and Malikwaqah (Mlkwqh) and with Saba and with Nashshan,16 founded

on the god and the patron and the pact and the alliance.17

Fig. 2: The bronze altar AO 31929.

13 Caubet & Gajda 2003: 1225 1233. 14 On the title of mukarrib borne by certain kings in southern Arabia in the first millennium BC

see Robin 1996: 1150 1156. For a critique on some of Robin’s historical conclusions see Avan-zini, forthcoming.

15 The subject is probably the king. It is interesting that a statue of the main god of Nashshan, Aranyada , captured by the inhabitants of Kamna during the war, was brought back to Nash-shan by the Sabaean king their ally.

16 As was already known, the ASA state, in complete alignment with the Near East states at the beginning of the Iron Age, established its identity on the cult of a main god, on the power of the king and on the community.

17 - lm w-s2ymm w- blm w- mrm. The formulary expression indicates the alliance among the various components of the Sabaean state. The translation suggested by Robin for the last two terms, bl and rm, is hypothetical. Here, too, Beeston’s old hypothesis that it referred to two divinities cannot be ruled out. See also the translation by Bron 1998: 89f.: “de territoire et de population”.


The second document is still only partially known but it fits perfectly the altar text as regards the relations between Saba and Jawf.18 It was the early 1900s when E. Glaser copied the Karibil Watar inscriptions in the courtyard of the temple of Almaqah in irw . In 2005, in the course of restoration work to that same courtyard being carried out by the German mission, a new long text (DAI irwah 2005-50) inscribed on a monu-mental stele came to light. The text was commissioned by Yatha amar Watar, son of Yakrubmalik, and its textual typology is similar to the inscriptions of Karibil Watar it commemorates the civil and military enterprises of the king.

Line 3 of DAI irwah 2005-50 mentions the war against Kamna and the Sabaean alliance with Nashshan which was also mentioned in the altar inscription: “and he broke Kamna and laid siege and laid waste and avenged Nashshan and recaptured the territories of Aranyada and Nashshan from Kamna”.19 Interest in the two texts, however, is not only because of the name of the Sabaean king, probably to be identi-fied with the Ita amra of the royal Assyrian inscription, but also for the general his-torical background and because it gives a better understanding of the relationship between Saba and the cities of Jawf, characterized by fragile alliances and perpetual wars. Nashshan was allied with Saba under Yatha amar and at the beginning of the reign of Karibil,20 then it became a bitter enemy of Karibil (RES 3945 21).

18 Nebes 2007. 19 Nebes 2007: 28. 20 See e.g. as-Sawd 3 2: “for the brotherhood of Almaqah, of Karibil and Saba ” (Avanzini

1995: 83f.); inscription commissioned by the father of Sumhuyafa , the king of Nashshan, en-emy of Karibil.

21 Hereunder the translation of the lines of RES 3945 concerning the wars between Karibil Watar and Nashshan: “(14) And so when he broke Nashshan and burned its cities and laid waste to s2r and By n and all their oases in an expedition and when he conducted a second mission and built a wall by which Nashshan and Nashq were besieged by order of Athtar, for three years and he seized Nashshan and its territory for Almaqah and for Saba and he killed a thousand Nashshanites and put Sumhuyafa and Nashshan to rout and assigned the territories, (15) which the king of Saba had (pre-viously) conceded, to Almaqah and Saba and he took possession of its cities of Qwm and Gw l and Dwrm and F m and Shibam and the cities of ykm, everything that Sumhuyafa and Nashshan pos-sessed in ykm and he took possession of their territory from the furthest border to the boundary of Mnhytm for Almaqah and for Saba and he took possession of the waterworks of lm and the water-works of mrt and deprived the territory of the king of Nashshan and Nashshan of water from Madhab and demolished the walls of his city of Nashshan down to their foundations (16) and con-demned the city of Nashshan to complete destruction by fire and condemned his palace frw to destruction and destroyed his city of Nashshan and set a tax on Nashshan that of priests, and re-moved them from Nashshan, whose vow to the gods had been fulfilled and they were killed. He obliged Sumhuyafa and Nashshan to allow Sabaeans to settle in the city of Nashshan and ob-liged Sumhuyafa and Nashshan to build the temple of Almaqah in the middle of the city of Nashshan and took possession of the water of Qf n, taking it from (17) Sumhuyafa and Nash-shan and it was entrusted to Yadhmurmalik king of Haram he took possession from Sumhuya-fa and Nashshan of the canal of Malikwaqah and it was entrusted to Nabat ali king of Kamna and to Kamna from the canal of Malikwaqah along the borders established by Karibil and he surrounded Nashq with walls and he colonized it with Sabeans for Almaqah and for Saba ”.


This phase of relationships that varied between alliances and wars among the cities of Jawf and between them and Saba that characterised the period of Yatha -amar Watar and Karibil Watar seems to have been preceded by a period of peace. Information on this period does not come from the inscriptions but from a very in-teresting archaeological discovery.22 During archaeological exploration in March 2004 and a sounding that was carried out in the north-eastern part of the city in June and July of that year, twelve pillars of the intra-muros temple, probably dedicated to the main god of the city (the often mentioned Aranyada ) came to light. Six of these twelve pillars have decorations carved on them. Stylistically, they are reminiscent of the decorations on the pillars on the portals of the three external temples of Jawf, the so-called Ban t Ad (Figs. 3 4).23

The Ban t Ad are undoubtedly among the most interesting and beautiful crea-tions of ASA art. Lightly carved in the stone, the decoration occupies the space com-pletely, with a frenzy of recurring geometric and natural shapes. The decoration on the stone seems to be a repetition of fabric designs. Reference to a textile tradition is found on the decoration of the lower part of the bronze altar mentioned earlier (Fig. 2), reminiscent of a stylishly reproduced ancient fringe. The simplification of the re-presented shapes tends towards the abstract. The obsessive repetition of the same elements establishes a representative “canon”.

That a characteristic style of art distinguishing ASA culture from other contem-porary ones of the Near East had existed since the early centuries of the first millen-nium is a historical trait not to be underestimated. It presupposes a lengthy history within Yemen beforehand. It fits well the reconstruction that I support of a forma-tion of ASA culture within Yemen that rules out, or at least drastically reduces, any kind of migration of peoples from the outside, bearers of a new culture that they were able to impose on the ancient dwellers of Yemen.24

The discovery of the decorated pillars of the temple of Nashshan broadens the traditional horizons of Banat Ad. The representation of series of human figures was a characterising factor in earlier types of known decoration but two decorations on two of the Nashshan pillars (as-Sawd TA A and as-Sawd TA B) which are sym-metric to the vertical and are similar to each other are totally unique in the history of ancient ASA art (Fig. 5). A number of seated and standing figures are identified by the name carved near them, a combination wholly atypical of ASA tradition. Here the divine pantheon of Jawf is mentioned and depicted.

One of the first two gods shown standing is Athtar, the pan-ASA god, but the second name is illegible. The editors (for TA 1B) added a very interesting but not

Despite the evident Sabaean war effort and the declaration of complete victory over the enemy, Nashshan kept its independence and later allied with the Minaean kingdom.

22 Arbach & Audouin 2004; Arbach, Audouin, Robin 2004. 23 Antonini 2004. 24 Avanzini 2009; Schiettecatte 2010.


Fig. 3: Haran. intra muros temple. Decorations of the Ban t Ad.

Fig. 5: Nashshan, intra muros temple. Decorations.

Fig. 4: Nashshan. extra muros temple. Decorations of the Ban t Ad.


certain Il ( l). The next register shows, again standing, the main gods of Nashshan, Wadd and Aranyada . Each of the next three registers shows two divinities seated facing each other, the first, again, portraying Aranyada , here seated facing the Sabaean god Almaqah. The first of the two lower registers features the main god of Haram Yd s1m 25 seated in front of Naba l, the main god of Kamna, while in the last register the god of Bar qish, Nakra and what is probably the god of Inabba , Hwr.

The lower part of the pillars also has interesting elements. The usual obsession has crammed every available space with repeated images (animals ostriches and ibises trees with birds alongside, hands, the symbol of Aranyada 26) (Fig. 6). This space seems to mark the transition between the divine and the mortal worlds and is framed by the inscription of the temple foundation: “Almanaba Amr son of Labu an restored” .27 Lastly, there is a procession of female figures with religious objects in their hands; pillar TA 1 A names these divine figures “the daughters of Il” 28 (Fig. 7).

The most interesting stylistic aspect of the decoration of the intra muros temple in Nashshan is the presence of iconographic contacts with the Mesopotamian area within a typically ASA decorative pattern. The manner of portraying the gods – the vestments, their long beards – had nothing in common with how the human figure was normally rendered in southern Arabia but is obviously influenced by contact with the Mesopotamian world. If, for example, we observe how the god Almaqah is shown, we note a clear co-presence of typical ASA elements – the god is wielding an object, symbolic of the god in all ASA documentation – and typically Meso-potamian iconographic elements (Fig. 8). When a traditional style of representation absorbs a different style from another culture, the underlying historical causes and effects are interesting. A non-episodic, non-superficial but continuous and strong cultural bond between the ASA kingdoms and Mesopotamia is proved by the way in which images are represented on our pil-lars; an artistic link of which other examples were already known.29 We could seek an explanation of the phenomenon in itinerant artists or in drawings or cartoons

25 The name of the god is normally written Yd s1mhw. 26 The symbol of the god is a geometric sign similar to the letter b. The abstract symbolism that

identifies a divinity was studied many years ago by A. Grohmann (Grohmann 1914) in a work that has been long forgotten by scholars of south Arabia. The obvious parallels with Mesopota-mian culture that Grohmann pointed out ran counter to the obsessive quest to characterise ASA culture taking the successive Arabian culture. The highly obvious cultural parallels with the Mesopotamian world that this article points out indicate that divine symbols should also be con-sidered.

27 The verb used is s1 d , attested both in construction and dedicatory inscriptions, and it has a cultural connotation that is more marked than appears in its translation “restored”. It indicates renewal of the pact with the god by a new construction or dedication.

28 Robin 2001. 29 See e.g. the bronze plaque from M rib with the series or archers who hold in their hands the

severed hands of the slain enemy soldiers (see Lanfranchi 2004: 248 251 and fig. 3). Here, too, the element of representation from the outside is inserted into a typically ASA context.


Fig. 6: Detail of the decoration of pillar TA 2B. Fig. 7: One of Il’s daughters.

Fig.8: God Almaqah with god Aranyada . acquired in Mesopotamia, and subsequently produced in Jawf, within a typically ASA stylistic context by ASA craftsmen. Works produced by craftsmen from far-off worlds alongside ASA craftsmen is seen clearly in the two regal statues in bronze (Fig. 9), of several centuries later30 that bear the signatures of the ASA artisan and his Greek fellow-craftsman (Fig. 10).

30 For a hypothesis for dating the two statues, see Avanzini 1996b.


Fig. 9: Royal statues of two Himyarite kings.

Fig. 10: The signatures of the Greek and of the South-Arabian artists. Before drawing historical conclusions from our surveys we ought to be able to sug-gest a date for when the pillars were produced. I do not believe Robin’s hypothesis31 identifying Labu an as the father of Sumhuyafa , the enemy of Karibil Watar. It is historically improbable that all the divinities of the cities of Jawf were portrayed in peaceful co-existence during a phase (late eighth early seventh century) of con-tinuous wars and alliances between Saba and the cities of Jawf. Furthermore, all the Banat Ad hirtherto known are prior to the period of the two Sabaean kings Yatha-amar and Karibil. In my opinion, the pillars cannot be dated later than the mid

eighth century BC. They bear witness to a period of peace and alliances at the begin-ning of the eighth century and a strong link with Mesopotamian culture of its time.

31 Arbach, Audouin, Robin 2004: 39.


The lengthy history of the ASA kingdoms is punctuated by constant wars among them. The texts are commemorations of wars and fragile alliances that were swiftly breached. The depiction of an alliance hallowed by the gods was therefore of great significance. There was another lengthy phase of alliances among the kingdoms at the beginning of our era when sea trade was at its height. I like to think that what has been noted above does not turn out to be purely coincidental. It could mean that the explosion of a new economic phenomenon, namely the opening of caravan- and sea-routes, called for a period of cohesion among kingdoms. Then, when the new trade routes were established, the attempt by one of the south Arabian kingdoms to control them in opposition to interference by the other kingdoms triggered never-ending wars.

The wars of Karibil Watar brought no great change to the situation in Jawf; at the close of the seventh century and in the sixth, relations between the Sabaeans and the city of Jawf continued to be punctuated by war, now between Saba and the king-dom of Ma n, while the Sabaeans were present in a number of cities of Jawf, espe-cially in Nashq. At the close of the seventh century, a Sabaean king waged war against the kingdom of Ma n e in particular against the city of Bar qish which had previously been Sabaean.32

A text recently published B-L Nashq, to be dated to the sixth century,33 is inter-esting for the information it provides on Saba ’s external trading relationships and for its importance in understanding the domestic history of ASA. In this case, too, the decorative elements of the plaque are noteworthy. Here, the sequence of reclin-ing ibises which are normally depicted in the frame of the alabaster or bronze plaque are replaced by profiles of men holding situlae (Fig. 11). Artistic contact with Me-sopotamia, and the inclusion of non ASA depictions in a typical ASA type of plaque are also evident.

This dedication of a bronze plaque to Almaqah was made by an inhabitant of Nashq, a city of Jawf which had been under Sabaean rule for centuries after the war with Karibil Watar. In lines 5 7 the dedicant recalls a war fought alongside Saba 34 against Ma n. The war reached as far as the a ramawt. As interesting as it is un-expected is the mention of the city of Myf t, today’s Naqab al-Hajar, the foundation of which by the a ramawt kingdom had been set no earlier than the fourth century. The fact that only very rarely are events celebrated in ASA inscriptions which are external to any kingdom’s domestic history makes the following lines of the in-scription the most interesting.

32 The war is commemorated in the inscription RES 3943; the beginning of the inscription is missing

and we do not know which Sabaean king was the author. This is a very interesting text it is im-portant to specify the date of the inscription. Those suggested previously (fifth or even fourth cen-tury) are based on a first millennium reconstruction which is wholly mistaken in my view.

33 Bron & Lemaire 2009. 34 It is interesting how the dedicant of Nashq does not seem to consider himself fully Sabaean; the

wars were waged with the help of the tribe Saba .


13. when he traded and led a caravan up to Dedan and to Gaza 14. and the cities of Judah and when (he returned) safe and sound 15. he whom he had sent from Gaza to Kition during the war 16. between Chaldaea and Ionia.

Fig. 11: Bronze sheet B-L Nashq with men in profile bearing situlae. Quite rightly the editors highlight the importance of the attestation of Ionia, the first appearance of the Greeks in ASA inscriptions.35 Similarly, the information that a

35 For the various hypotheses on any wars that may have been fought between Ionia and the Chal-

daeans see Bron & Lemaire 2009: 21 29.


Sabaean was despatched to Cyprus by sea is equally of great interest. This may pro-vide a credible historic context for the hoplite statuette (Fig. 12) in the Hamilton col-lection,36 which is obviously imported.

But there is another interesting datum in these lines of text: Dedan and Gaza, transit points of Minaean trade in the sixth century,37 were reached by Sabaean cara-vans. This is too isolated a case to draw a general picture from, but up till the sixth century, nonetheless, Saba seemed to have dominated the trade route alongside the Hij z and the trade route that reached Mesopotamia with a stopping-off point at Taym .38 The establishment of the Persian empire and the beginning of trade with Egypt were to the advantage of the Minaeans. Ma n forged alliances with the east-ernmost ASA kingdoms,39 managed new trade routes and similarly to the cities of Jawf in the eighth-seventh century continued to forge alliances40 with the Sabaeans or wage war against them41 for the whole of its existence. Sabaeans continued to be present for the whole length of their history in Jawf but, by contrast with the king-dom of Ma n, they succeeded in taking part in the development of sea trade from the early second century by the fortunate decision to forge alliances with the tribes of the upland plateau, the future imyarite kingdom and to manage their trade from the ports of the Red Sea.42

Conclusions

Art in Jawf in the eighth century underwent an advanced phase in stylistic evolution and is a period of a mature, “non-archaic” phase in ASA art. It is evidence of a per-

36 Antonini 2007: 42. 37 Suffice it to consider the many women from Gaza and Dedan in the so-called “lists of the hiero-

dules” from Ma n (Bron 1998: 102 121) who became a part of the Minaean community, per-haps through marriage with Minaean citizens.

38 See recently Fales 2010: 40 and fig. 7. 39 Since the time of the RES 3943 inscription with the account of the wars that the Sabaean king

waged against Ma n and Qatab n, there is a perceivable Sabaean stance in opposition to a dan-gerous alliance. In the course of the history of the first millennium BC, alliances between Ma n and the kingdoms of Qatab n and the a ramawt are witnessed by inscriptions by kings of these two kingdoms on the walls of Minaean cities.

40 See e.g., M 203: “and all the gods of Ma n and Yathill, and all the gods, the patrons, the kings and the tribes of Saba ”.

41 One of the few texts that provides information on external events is the well-known inscription M 247 that commemorates a clash between Medians and Egyptians in Egypt; fortunately, the Minaean caravans suffered no damage in the conflict. However, on other occasions during their perilous journey, the caravans were obliged to defend themselves and their merchandise from other attacks perpetrated by Sabaeans (M 247 2).

42 Again, the history of trade sheds light on the overall history of the ASA kingdoms. The devel-opment of sea-trade was to irrevocably weaken the economies of certain ASA kingdoms who were far from the sea (the kingdom of Ma n) or who were unable to keep up an alliance with the tribes of the upland plateau (the kingdom of Qatab n).


fectly developed typically ASA artistic style and it presupposes a lengthy history within Yemen beforehand. The Sabaean state with its kings, Yata amra and Karibilu of the Assyrian sources in particular, was present in Jawf from the eighth century BC. The Sabaean presence in the region was closely linked to the overland trade.

Fig. 12: Statuette of an hoplite. Any reconstruction of first millennium ASA history requires firstly the elimination of certain premises which, in my opinion, have been proved to be erroneous in recent years. It has been asserted that trade was entrusted to nomad tribes with ASA states playing no direct role. The historic frame is very different in my view. The state controlled and administered trade, and the continual warring among ASA king-doms was often triggered by the need to impose hegemony in running the trade routes. The idea of marked self-referencing with an almost complete indifference to events in far-off places is also mistaken in my opinion.


ASA states were part of an international trading network and they felt the reper-cussions of the major shifts in the world they were connected to, and these contacts were assuredly strong as can be seen by the influence of artistic tastes from distant places. The establishment of the Persian empire is one example; the expansion of trade towards Egypt was contemporary to the success of Minaean trade. Up till the Persian empire (late sixth century) trade was almost exclusively run by the Sabaeans to the cities under their influence in Jawf. This explains why only the Sabaeans are known in indirect sources of the first half of the first millennium they were the first to move northwards as we know from their mythical queen.

The history of the trade routes, how they changed over time, the need to supple-ment the history of ASA states with events happening in the Near East are of funda-mental importance and constitute a leitmotif for tracing the phases of ASA history. ABBREVIATIONS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY Antonini, S., 2004. I motivi figurative delle ban t Ad nei templi sudarabici, Paris, Roma. — 2007, Bronzi sudarabici di periodo pre-islamico, Paris, Roma. AO = Antiquités orientales du Musée du Louvre, Paris. Arbach, M., Audouin, R., 2004. Découvertes archéologiques dans le Jawf, an . Arbach, M., Audouin, R., Robin, Chr. J., 2004. “La découverte du temple d’Aranyada à

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The Sabaean Presence in Jawf in the Eighth - Seventh Centuries BC

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