DASI

digital archive for the study of pre-islamic arabian inscriptions

Editor: Jérémie Schiettecatte


Al-ʿUqla, plan.
Darles 1998: fig. 2

SITE INFORMATION

Ancient nameʾnwdm
CountryYemen
Geographical areaShabwa
GovernorateShabwa
KingdomHadramawt
CoordinatesLatitude: 15° 22' 46"    Longitude: 46° 54' 10"    
Coordinates accuracyapproximate
Type of siteReligious area
TribeTribe: ʾs¹dn ; ʾs¹dyhn (Nisba) ; ʾs¹dyn (Nisba)
Tribe: ʿrbyn (nisba) ; ʿrbytyn (nisba)
Tribe: Hndyyhn (nisba for Hnd)
Tribe: Ḥḍrmt
Tribe: Ḥmyryyhn (nisba for Ḥimyar)
Tribe: Ks²dyyhn (nisba for Ks²d)
Tribe: Mbnytyhn (nisba)
Tribe: Qrs²htn (nisba for Qrs²)
Tribe: Tḏmryyhn (nisba for Tḏmr)
Tribe: Yhb
Lineage : ʾlryb
Lineage: ʿynt
Lineage: Ḫṣyr
Lineage: Ḥbnn
Lineage: Qyḥn
Lineage: Wdm
Lineage: Yḏʾn
DeitiesS¹yn
Hwl
StructuresLight hydraulic structure (ex. canal, well)
Wells, cisterns
Fortress
Isolated temple
Rock inscriptions
LanguageḤaḍramitic
General descriptionThis small site is at 13 km from Shabwa and corresponds to the homonymous small spur. One of the rock has on top a small walled structure, whose sides are 7.5 m each. This building had a small podium and probably some pillar (only two bases have been recovered). One basin was at the foot of one of the rocks. The importance of this spot is in the abundant inscriptions which are incised on the rocks' flanks. These permitted to know that this place was at least used during the 3rd century AD in occasion of the accession to the throne of the kings of Ḥaḍramawt. During this ceremony the sacred royal hunt was also performed.

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RELATED SITES

near Shabwa (S²bwt)

RELATED MATERIAL

Epigraphs in CSAI
Objects in CSAI

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arbach and Bāfaqīh 1998Arbach, Mounir and Bāfaqīh, Muḥammad ʿA. 1998. Nouvelles données sur la chronologie des rois du Ḥaḍramawt. Semitica, 48: 109-126.
Bāfaqīh 1967Bāfaqīh, Muḥammad ʿA. 1967. Āṯār wa-nuqūš al-ʿUqla. al-Qāhira: Laǧna al-Tallīf wa-l-Tarǧama wa-l-Našr.
Beeston 1982 aBeeston, Alfred F.L. 1982. Observations on the texts from al-ʿUqlah. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 12: 7-13.
Darles 1998Darles, Christian 1998. Le sanctuaire d'Al-ʿUqla. Pages 163-169 in Jean-François Breton (ed.). Architecture et techniques de construction. Jean-François Breton (ed.), Fouilles de Shabwa. 3. (Bibliothèque archéologique et historique, 154). Beirut: Institut Français d'Archéologie du Proche Orient.
Doe 1982Doe, D. Brian 1982. Anwad, Jabal al-ʿUqla. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 12: 23-27.
Doe 1983: 117-118Doe, D. Brian 1983. Monuments of South Arabia. (Arabia past and present, 12). Naples: The Falcon Press / Cambridge: The Oleander press.
Jamme 1963 aJamme, Albert W.F. 1963. The al-ʿUqlah Texts. (Documentation sud-arabe, 3). Washington: Catholic University of America Press.
Jamme 1963 d: 50-51Jamme, Albert W.F. 1963. Preliminary Report on Epigraphic Research in Northwestern Wâdî Ḥaḍramawt and at al-ʿAbar. Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research, 172: 41-54.
Jamme 1965 cJamme, Albert W.F. 1965. À propos des rois ḥaḍramoutiques de al-ʿUqlah. Washington. [Privately printed]
Philby 1939: 313Philby, Harry St John B. 1939. Sheba's Daughters. Being a record of travel in Southern Arabia. London: Methuen and Co.
Pirenne 1990Pirenne, Jacqueline 1990. Les témoins écrit de la région de Shabwa et l'histoire. Jean-François Breton (ed.), Fouilles de Shabwa. 1. (Bibliothèque archéologique et historique, 134). Paris: Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner. [Institut français d'Archéologie du Proche-Orient]
Ryckmans, Jacques 1964 aRyckmans, Jacques 1964. Les rois de Hadramawt mentionnés à ʿUqla. Bibliotheca Orientalis, 21: 277-282.
al-Sheiba 1987: 16al-Sheiba, Abdullah Hassan 1987. Die Ortsnamen in den altsüdarabischen Inschriften (mit dem Versuch ihrer Identifizierung und lokalisierung). Archäologische Berichte aus dem Yemen, 4: 1-62.
Wissmann 1964 a: 236-238Wissmann, Hermann von 1964. Zur Geschichte und Landeskunde von Alt-Südarabien. Sammlung Eduard Glaser. 3. (Sitzungsberichte der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philosophisch-historische Klasse, 246). Vienna: Böhlaus.
Wissmann and Höfner 1952: 115Wissmann, Hermann von and Höfner, Maria 1952. Beiträge zur historischen Geographie des vorislamischen Südarabien. (Abhandlungen der Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaftlichen Klasse, 4). Mainz: Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur / Wiesbaden: Steiner.