Hajar Kuḥlān
Editor: Jérémie Schiettecatte
Site Plan
de Maigret and Robin 2006: fig. 1
By kind permission of Missione Archeologica Italiana nella Repubblica dello Yemen (©MAIRY)
de Maigret and Robin 2006: fig. 1
By kind permission of Missione Archeologica Italiana nella Repubblica dello Yemen (©MAIRY)
- Site Plan
de Maigret and Robin 2006: fig. 1
By kind permission of Missione Archeologica Italiana nella Repubblica dello Yemen (©MAIRY) - The two 'Lion Riders'
Catalogue 2000: nos. 423, 424 - 'The Lady Bar'at'
Doe 1971: pl. 36
Image free from copyright - Bronze Seal
Catalogue 2000: no. 193 - Archaeological Map of Shabwa Governorate. Districts of Bayhân and Nisâb ©J.-F. Breton
By kind permission of J.-F. Breton
SITE INFORMATION
| Ancient name | Tmnʿ |
| Country | Yemen |
| Geographical area | Wādī Bayḥān |
| Governorate | Shabwa |
| Kingdom | Qataban |
| Coordinates | Latitude: 15° 1' 11.3" Longitude: 45° 48' 16.3" |
| Coordinates accuracy | certain |
| Type of site | Settlement |
| Tribe | Tribe: ʾʾdmn (nisba) Tribe: Ġryn (nisba) Tribe: Mʿnm Tribe: Qtbn Tribe: Ṭbnn Lineage: ʾʿs¹yfr Lineage: ʾbm Lineage: ʾbn Lineage: ʾgln Lineage: ʾgrm Lineage: ʾḥrbn Lineage: ʾlkr Lineage: ʾnw Lineage: ʿbydm Lineage: ʿgḏ Lineage: ʿls³n Lineage: ʿmʾ Lineage: ʿmrt Lineage: ʿṯtrm Lineage: Bws¹m Lineage: Byḥn Lineage: Dnm Lineage: Ḏhbn Lineage: Ḏmrn Lineage: Ḏrʾn Lineage: Ḏrḥ Lineage: Ḏrḥn Lineage: Fhdm Lineage: Fqḍn Lineage: Gʾnn Lineage: Gʿrn Lineage: Grbm Lineage: Hnʿmt Lineage: Hrmw Lineage: Hrn Lineage: Hs²mr Lineage: Hṣbḥ Lineage: Hṯʿr Lineage: Hṯb Lineage: Hwfʿm |
| Deities | ʾl S³ḥrm ʾlmqh ʾnby ʾnby S²ymn ʾṯrt ʿm ʿm ḏ-Dwnm bʿl Ḥṭb ʿm ḏ-Dwnm bʿl S³dw ʿm ḏ-Dymt ʿm ḏ-Lbḫ ʿm ḏ-Mbrqm ʿm ḏ-Rbḥw ʿm ḏ-Rymtm ʿm Ryʿn ʿmm ʿṯtr ʿṯtr ḏ-S¹ʾll ʿṯtr Mlkn bʿl Bnʾ ʿṯtr Nwfn ʿṯtr S²rqn Bʿl Yfʿn Bʿl Yġl Bnty ʾl ḏ-S¹mwy ḏt-Ḥmym ḏt-Ḥmym ʿṯtr Yġl ḏt-Ḥmym ḏt-ʾdhnm ḏt-Rḥbn ḏt-Ṣntm ḏt-Ṣntm bʿl Qlbn ḏt-Ẓhrn Ḥrmn Ḥwkm Ḥwkm ḏ-ʾmr Lt Nʿmyn Nlrgl Qny Hwrn S¹fly S²mr S²ms¹ S²yʾn S³ḥrm Wd(m) Wrfw Wrfw ʾmr ʿm Wrfw ḏ-Lfn Yġr |
| Structures | Dwelling (indeterminate) Dwelling (concentrated) Market place Light hydraulic structure (ex. canal, well) Large hydraulic structure (ex. dam) Wells, cisterns Building with political function Rampart Small temple Pilgrimage temple Graveyard Rock inscriptions |
| Language | Sabaic, Qatabanic |
| General description | Extension: 23 ha. The site was encircled by a defence wall measuring about 680 x 420 m, and whose length has been estimated in 1850 m. The mound has a height of 20 m in respect to the surrounding valley (to be partly attributed to a natural elevation). It has remained abandoned since its last destruction in antiquity, and only its SE edge is now occupied by a modern settlement. |
| Chronology | [By A. Agostini] Probes carried out by the Italian Mission have revealed that the settlement has been inhabited since the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. A hiatus has been detected and dated between the 6th and the 5th centuries BC, while the apogee was during the 5th – 1st centuries BC. During the 1st century AD Timnaʿ suffered two major destructions, all archaeologically documented (fire traces) and dated thanks to the finding of imported pottery (mainly Arretine ware and Near Eastern Sigillata). At the second half of the 1st century AD the site has probably already lost its capital status, which was transferred to the nearby site of Hajar ibn Ḥumayd. The kingdom was soon afterwards definitely conquered by Ḥaḍramawt. |
| Classical sources | Eratosthenes of Cyrene, in Strabo, Geogr. 16, 4, 2 (1st cent. BC): Τάμνα Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, VI, 32, 153 (1st cent. AD): Thomna Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, XII, 32, 64 (1st cent. AD): Thomna Claudius Ptolemy, Geogr. 6.7.31, 37 (2nd cent. AD): Θούμνα |
| Identification | 1895: E. Glaser |
| Travellers | 1899: G.W. Bury 1936: S. Perowne |
| Archaeological missions | 1950-1952: AFSM (USA) 1967: Brian Doe (UK) 1989-1992: MAFRY (France) 1999-2009: MAIRY (Italy) |
MONUMENTS
| [By A. Agostini] South-West gate: Two massive bastions (11 x 5 m) frame the entrance. They have both an ample vane at their interior and they have been realized using imposing granite blocks (e.g. 1.70 x 2.80 m) which have been also incised with important legal inscriptions (e.g. RES 3878, 3879) or recalling construction activities. The passage is 5.50 m large (externally) and 4.20 (at the interior of the town) and was originally paved and with two benches on each lateral side, while a small staircase was put against the eastern bastion. No traces of a closing device of the doorway have been detected. North-West gate: Only construction inscriptions (MAFYS-Timna 2-5 and MAFYS-Timna 1) allow so far the reconstruction of this gate, which has not been excavated scientifically and has moreover suffered an intense pillaging. According to the texts, these gates were formed by a massive granite basement (like that still visible in the SW Gate) which sustained an upper structure made in wood and mud bricks. Limestone and calcite-alabaster blocks enriched this upper part. |
South Gate
South Gate
| [By A. Agostini] This building is located in the NE area of the town and its basement measures about 48 x 37 m. It has rectangular plan and is made by two main structures. The first is an ample court (17 x 12 m), with a portico in two sides shading some closed rooms behind (probably storerooms), the northern side of the court has a broad limestone staircase which was the main entrance to the building. Another small entrance was through a smaller set of steps on the southern side. The main body was on a big platform realized with big irregular granite blocks (e.g. 32 x 25, 5 m height). The external walls are regularly spaced by recesses (2 for each side). The passage from the court to the main building was via a propylon with 8 pillars. These pillars, of which no trace remains, were measuring 55 x 40 cm, according to the sockets on the sustaining monolithic blocks. The basement is internally characterized by irregularly dimensioned rooms, with no reciprocal communication and which served as foundations. A long, and still open, debate was about the function of this building, since it has been identified firstly with the ʿAthtar Temple (AFSM) and with the Royal Palace (MAFRY). Recently the hypothesis has been put forward that it may have had both administrative and religious functions, thus representing together Ḥrb and Ḥṭb, as the Royal Palace and the ʿAmm Temple are respectively named in inscriptions and coins from the town (MAIRY). |
Aerial View of TT1
Plan of the TT1 after the study by the Italian Mission
| [By A. Agostini] It is located on the NW limit of the site, on a rectangular platform (23 x 20 m) made by hewn granite blocks. The access was via a long staircase, but very narrow in respect to the breadth of the façade (8 x 4.5 m). Two smaller stairs have been later added at both sides of the main one. The major structure was approached after having passed through a small antechamber, which was on the top of the main staircase. It was probably decorated by a prostylon. The main temple body was centred on a big hall with several small rooms at the lateral sides. The whole structure is however very damaged due to recent military activities carried out above this area. In front of the western wall of the façade a circular well, realized with hewn limestone blocks, was in use in an earlier phase, since it has consequently been sealed by one of the lateral stairs. The visible ruins should be dated between the 3rd century BC and the 1st century AD, thus concurrently with the last period of the town itself. A probe has revealed more ancient levels under a period of abandonment (between the 6th and the 5th centuries BC), in which structures had a very different orientation and different technique (e.g. mud bricks). To this earliest phase carinated pottery has been associated, thus it should be dated to the 8th or 7th centuries BC, thanks to comparison with potsherd coming from Hajar ibn Ḥumayd or Yalā. One more ancient level has been detected, which should be dated to the beginning of 1st millennium BC. |
Athirat Temple
| [By A. Agostini] The Italian Mission has recently unearthed an ample space which is located on the western area of the settlement and which has been identified with the Market Square, mainly thanks to the presence there of the so-called 'Obelisk' where the Mercantile Code is inscribed (RES 4337). The square is encircled by several buildings, of which those standing on the southern and eastern sides have been excavated. They have been identified with private houses (Houses A-K), moreover probably belonging to a high social level engaged with commercial activities. They reveal different construction techniques. House H ('Palace' Ḫmrn), for instance, has a mighty basement made by megalithic and irregular granite blocks, while others (e.g. House I) used same material, but worked in smaller blocks, with squared sides and faces slightly domed. A big fire caused the destruction of these structures and the analysis of the collapsed materials showed that upper floors (which have been estimated to be at least two, considering the basements' dimensions) where made with a wood skeleton supporting mud bricks walls. These upper storeys were probably externally decorated by several limestone or calcite-alabaster blocks. The basement indicates also the internal plan of these houses, which were of a tripartite form, with a long paved corridor dividing opposite facing rooms. A stair leading to upper floors was probably located at the bottom of the corridor or against one of the external short walls. Other houses have been excavated by the preceding archaeological missions (e.g. Houses S²bʿn and Wṯʿn by B. Doe), but the most outstanding findings come from those dug by the American Mission in the Fifties. In houses Yfʿm and Yfs², in fact, bronze objects have been found, like two cherubs on lions and a feminine statue, all revealing a sensible influence from the Hellenistic world. Such influence has been here detectable until the last phase of the site. |
Houses excavated by the Italian Mission in the Market Square
MAP
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RELATED SITES
| near Ḥayd Ibn ʿAqīl (Unknown) |
RELATED MATERIAL
| Epigraphs
in CSAI Objects in CSAI |