DASI

digital archive for the study of pre-islamic arabian inscriptions

Editor: Jérémie Schiettecatte


Site view.
Sedov 1997: pl. 2a

SITE INFORMATION

Ancient nameRybn [oasis]
CountryYemen
Geographical areaCentral Ḥaḍramawt
GovernorateḤaḍramawt
KingdomSaba
Hadramawt
CoordinatesLatitude: 15° 34' 6.3"    Longitude: 48° 18' 15.3"    
Coordinates accuracycertain
Type of siteSettlement
TribeTribe: ʾrmyn (nisba)
Lineage: Brl
Lineage: Gnzn
Lineage: Yhbʾl
Deitiesʾlmqhw
ʿm
ʿs³tr(m)
ʿs³trm ḏt-Ḥḍrn
ʿṯtr(m)
ḏt-Ḥmym
ḏt-Ḥmym ḏt-Rḥbn
ḏt-Ṣhrn ; zt-Ṣhrn
Ḥwl
S¹yn
S¹yn ḏ-ʾlm
Wd
StructuresDwelling (indeterminate)
Dwelling (concentrated)
Workshop
Light hydraulic structure (ex. canal, well)
Large hydraulic structure (ex. dam)
Wells, cisterns
Fortress
Small temple
Large temple
Graveyard
Rock inscriptions
Isolated temple
LanguageSabaic, Ḥaḍramitic
General descriptionExtension: 18 ha. This site comprises several distinct settlements which are located on the lowest reaches of wādī Dawʿan, one of the biggest western tributaries of wādī Ḥaḍramawt. The valley, large about 2 km, is encircled by Ḥaḍramawt limestone highlands.
ChronologyThe most ancient settlements, dating to the last centuries of the 2nd millennium BC, are those of Raybūn XXXII and Raybūn XXXIII which were located at the SW corner of the valley. At the end of the 1st millennium BC the urbanized settlement seems to concentrate in the most centrals Raybūn I and II. The archaeological sequence shows a permanent occupation of the ancient site where structures of different phases were built above each other. The period of larger extension of the oasis falls within the 3rd and the 1st centuries BC. A destruction of the whole site has been detected and dated to the middle of the 1st century BC, and the fire traces have been then associated to the struggles opposing Ḥaḍramawt to Qatabān at that period. Some limited portions however continued to be inhabited for some more time, but probably the vast majority of the population later moved in the nearby, where the modern town of al-Hajarayn is situated.
Identification19th century: A. von Wrede
Travellers1893: L.Hirsch
1900: Th. and M.V. Bent
1929: M.J.Boscawen
1931: H. von Wissmann and D. van der Meulen
1934: W.H. Ingrams
1935: F. Stark
1937: G. Caton Thompson and S.A. Ḥuzayyn
Archaeological missions1959: A.F.L. Beeston (UK) [survey]
1959: G. Lankester Harding (UK)
1961: G. van Beek (USA)
1978: Mission Archéologique Française
1983-1990: EPSY (USSR) dirs. P.A. Grijaznevitch, M.B. Piotrovskij
since 1993: Russian Archaeological Mission, dir. A.V. Sedov.

MONUMENTS

[By A. Agostini] The main urban settlement has a triangular plan, measuring 460 x 400 m and it probably had not a real defensive structure, since only a limited fortification has been so far recognized in the southern part of the site. It is the largest of the all settlements, having moreover a central position inside the whole area. The subsistence of the site has been centred in the agricultural exploitation, since the natural environment, together with a strong human intervention with hydraulic structures and canalisations, assured a good economic maintenance. The buildings that have been investigated showed two different techniques: the bigger structures, often comprising more than one floor, have a stone basement which is raised up by a wood skeleton completed by mud bricks. The smaller and more modest structures, which probably were limited to the ground floor, have been erected using only mud bricks. In the lateral sides of the valley some cave necropolises has been detected (Raybūn XV), together with several surface tombs and burials of sacrificed animals (camels) in the surroundings. They seem to be more concentrated in the slopes at the SW edges of the valley, between Raybūn I and II.

  • photoRaybūn Necropolis XVII, Tomb 6.
  • photoRaybūn. Cave Tomb.
[By A. Agostini] This temple has been devoted to the cult of the supreme Hadramitic deity, S¹yn. It was built 1.5 km south of Raybūn I, on a platform high 8.5 m with a central stone building, whose entrance was through two lateral staircases and a four-pillared propylon. It was surrounded in the interior by a gallery delimited by ten pillars, and on the opposite of the entrance a big altar was positioned (1.8 x 2.2 x 0.5 m). A second colonnaded building was erected together with a second staircase on the northern side of the same platform.

  • photoRuins of the temple S¹yn Dhū Mayfaʿān.
[By A. Agostini] This is a sacred complex comprising 4 buildings overlooking the site. Inscriptions evidenced that it was dedicated to goddess Dhāt Ḥimyām. Of the principal building, the largest one, only the stone socle has been preserved. The second building has revealed another altar, thus probably having a sacral function too. Building 3 had a central colonnaded hall with a large bench and has been interpreted as a refectory, while the fourth one has been considered to be priests' quarters. All the complex was probably founded in the 10th century BC, but its more intense life should be concentrated between 8th and 1st centuries BC.

  • photoTemple of Dhāt Ḥimyam dhāt Raḥban.
[By A. Agostini] It was located southern from Raybūn I and, like the previous one, it was dedicated to the goddess Dhāt Ḥimyām (this led to think that this oasis was the main centre for the worship of this divinity). It comprised three buildings, each on a stone basement 1 m high. The central building, with rectangular plan, had the entrance with a four-pillared portico. The hypostyle room (11 x 12 m) was divided in three naves by 10 pillars and the altar was positioned at the centre. A second building was formed by two adjacent structures, one probably a refectory and the other for the performing of some ceremony. The last building was probably left for the housing of the priests. One big stone stela has been discovered on a hill at the NW from the sanctuary.

  • photoTemple Kafas-Naʿmān. Plan.
  • photoDhāt Ḥimyam dhāt Kafas.
  • photoTemple Kafas-Naʿmān. Podium.
  • photoTemple of Dhāt Ḥimyam dhāt Kafas. Reconstruction.
  • photoTemple Kafas-Naʿmān. Reconstruction.
[By A. Agostini] Dedicated to the goddess ʿAthtarum (ʿAśtarum), this temple was erected on an imposing stone basement of 13.1 x 15. 3 m at the N of Raybūn I. The access was via a monumental staircase at S and a tetrapylon. One lateral staircase was on the western limit of the area. The main room was an hypostyle hall sustained by 8 pillars. This structure is probably a second phase of the temple whose first level was later included in the stone basement, this was in fact erected at the end of the 6th century BC and lasted until the 1st century BC.

  • photoTemple of ʿAthtar dhāt Ḥaḍrān
  • photoTemple of Ḥaḍrān, reconstruction.
[By A. Agostini] Large religious complex located 700 m NE of Raybūn I. Built on a natural hillock, the complex stands on a T-shaped platform accessible by a elbow, 18.5 m long staircase. A courtyard bounded by a portico with pillars and an altar in the center precedes the temple. A 5.4 x 7.4 m hall for worship provided with columns stands also on the podium. The temple was dedicated to S¹yn ḏ-Ws¹ṭhn. Raybūn VI was occupied from Early Raybūn III (c. 800 BC) to the end of Late Raybūn II (late 1st cent. BC) (Sedov 2003: 196).
[By A. Agostini] Raybūn XXXIV is located down the cone of debris, in the bottom of the cliff, at the confluence of the Wādīs Marāfiḥ and al-ʿAyn, a tributary of the Wādī Dawʿan. The site has an extension of 3.5 ha. About 40 housing structures testify for a dense occpuation. On the eastern edge of the site the remains of a 70 m long wall are visible, maybe a fortified or a divider wall. Two structures stands out and maybe pertain to two temples. An inscription mentioning S¹yn has been found in one of them (SOYCE 934). Raybūn XXXIV was occupied at the end of the 1st mill. BC and possibly in the 1st cent. AD.

MAP

Your browser doesn't support Google Maps or Javascript is turned off.

NOTES

[By A. Agostini]
The pottery sequence is of the greatest interest, because has allowed to clarify the long and continuous evolution of the Hadramitic culture. It can be subdivided into three main phases. Early Raybūn Complex (1200 – 700 BC): burnished red, dark-red or red-brown slipped surfaces, various types of applied, incised and painted decoration combined with certain types of vessels. This phase shows parallelism with the Levantine wares going back to the end of 2nd millennium BC, but it is also consistent with some of the findings coming from Hajar ibn Ḥumayd and Yalā. Middle Raybūn Complex (700 – 400 BC): the preceding paintings disappears and a new painted decoration appears, the light creamish paste, slipped with whitish engobe, is now painted with geometrical designs in red, in this period also carinated bowls and vessels with amphora-like body are introduced. Late Raybūn Complex (400 BC – 100 AD): wavy rim bowls and storage jars with thick walls manufactured of porous yellowish or greenish paste are now common. This last cultural frame shows wide connections with the rest of contemporary South Arabian pottery production.

RELATED SITES

near al-Mashhad (Unknown)

RELATED MATERIAL

Epigraphs in CSAI
Objects in CSAI

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Akopyan 1994Akopyan, A.M. 1994. The temple complex Dhat Ḥimyam on the site of Raybūn in the Wadi Dauʿan (Southern Yemen). Ancient civilizations from Scythia to Siberia. An international journal of comparative studies in history and archaeology, 1/2: 235-248.
Bauer 1989Bauer, Gleb M. 1989. Gorodishche Raybūn po dannym epigrafiki. (The site of Raybūn in epigraphic sources). Vestnik Drevnej Istorii, 2: 153-157.
Breton 1980 aBreton, Jean-François 1980. Religious Architecture in Ancient Ḥaḍramawt (PDRY). Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 10: 5-17.
Breton 1980 bBreton, Jean-François 1980. Rapport sur une mission archéologique dans le wâdî Ḥaḍramawt (Yémen du Sud) en 1979. Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres: 57-80.
Breton et al. 1980: 40Breton, Jean-François, Badre, Leila, Audouin, Rémy and Seigne, Jacques 1980. Wādī Ḥaḍramawt. Prospections 1978-1979. Aden: Centre Culturel et de Recherches Archéologiques.
Caton Thompson 1944: 180Caton Thompson, Gertrude 1944. The Tombs and Moon Temple of Hureidha (Hadhramaut). (Reports of the Research Committee and of the Society of Antiquaries of London, 13). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
De Moulins, Phillips and Durrani 2003: 218de Moulins, Dominique, Phillips, Carl S. and Durrani, Nadia 2003. The archaeobotanical record of Yemen and the question of Afro-Asian contacts. Pages 213–228 in Katharina Neumann, Ann Butler and Stephanie Kahlheber (eds). Food, Fuel and Fields. (Progress in African Archaeobotany, Africa Praehistorica, 15). Cologne: Heinrich-Barth-Institut.
Edens and Wilkinson 1998: 101-102Edens, Christopher and Wilkinson, Tony J. 1998. Southwest Arabia during the Holocene: recent archaeological developments. Journal of World Prehistory, 12/1: 55-119.
Frantsouzoff 1995Frantsouzoff, Serguei A. 1995. The Inscriptions from the temples of Dhat Ḥimyam at Raybūn. With a Postscript by Alfred F.L. Beeston. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 25: 15-28.
Frantsouzoff 1997Frantsouzoff, Serguei A. 1997. Regulation of conjugal relations in ancient Raybūn. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 27: 113-127.
Frantsouzoff 1999 cFrantsouzoff, Serguei A. 1999. Hadramitic documents written on palm-leaf stalks. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 29: 55-65.
Frantsouzoff 2000Frantsouzoff, Serguei A. 2000. The society of Raybūn. Pages 258-265 in Nikolay N. Kradin, Andrey V. Korotayev, Dmitri M. Bondarenko, Victor de Munck and Paul K. Wason. Alternatives of Social Evolution. Vladivostok: Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Frantsouzoff 2001 aFrantsouzoff, Serguei A. 2001. Epigraphic evidence for the cult of the god Sīn at Raybūn and Shabwa. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 31: 59-67.
Frantsouzoff 2001 bFrantsouzoff, Serguei A. 2001. Raybūn, Ḥadrān, temple de la déesse ʿAthtarum/ʿAstarum. Fasc. A: Les documents. Fasc. B: Les planches. Inventaire des inscriptions sudarabiques. 5. Paris: de Boccard / Rome: Herder. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres; Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente]
Frantsouzoff 2003 cFrantsouzoff, Serguei A. 2003. Raybūn et la Mecque (politique et religion en Arabie préislamique). Notes préliminaires. Arabia. Revue de Sabéologie, 1: 59-64.
Frantsouzoff 2005 bFrantsouzoff, Serguei A. 2005. The Chronological Frame for the History of Raybūn (Inland Ḥaḍramawt): Linguistic and Palaeographic Criteria. Archäologische Berichte aus dem Yemen, 10: 9-20.
Frantsouzoff 2005-2006Frantsouzoff, Serguei A. 2005-2006. L'apport des inscriptions de Raybūn VI à l'épigraphie sudarabique (campagne des fouilles de 2004). Arabia. Revue de Sabéologie, 3: 141-159.
Frantsouzoff 2007Frantsouzoff, Serguei A. 2007. Raybūn. Kafas Naʿmān, temple de la déesse dhāt-Ḥimyam. Fasc. A: Les documents. Fasc. B: Les planches. Avec une contribution archéologique de Alexander V. Sedov and Jurij A. Vinogradov. Inventaire des inscriptions sudarabiques. 6. Paris: de Boccard / Rome: Herder. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres; Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente]
Frantsouzoff and Prioletta 2013Frantsouzoff, Serguei A. and Prioletta, Alessia 2013. Sur le nom du temple du dieu Siyān dégagé à Raybūn VI. Raydān, 8: 91-101.
Grjaznevič and Sedov 1995Grjaznevič, Petr A. and Sedov, Alexander V. (eds) 1995. Khadramaut. Arkheologiceskie, etnograficeskie i istoriko-kul'turnye issledovaniya. Trudy Sovetsko-Yemenskoy kompleksnoy ekspedicii. (Ḥaḍramawt. Archaeological, Ethnological and Historical Studies. Preliminary Reports of the Soviet-Yemeni Joint Complex Expedition). Moscow: Vostochnaya literatura RAN.
Japp 2015: 98-100Japp, Sarah 2015. Pottery in sacred contexts. Everyday equipment - tableware for ritual meals - offerings?. Pages 95-106 in Mounir Arbach and Jérémie Schiettecatte (eds). Pre-Islamic South Arabia and its Neighbours: New Developments of Research. Proceedings of the 17th Rencontres Sabéennes held in Paris, 6–8 June 2013. (BAR International Series, 2740). Oxford: Archaeopress. [British Foundation for the Study of Arabia Monographs, 16]
Harding 1964: 28-32 - pl. 14-23Harding, G. Lankester 1964. Archaeology in the Aden Protectorates. London: H.M. Stationary Off.
Hirsch 1897Hirsch, Leo 1897. Reisen in Süd-Arabien, Mahra-Land und Hadramut. Leiden: Brill.
Loreto 2011: 149-153Loreto, Romolo 2011. L’architettura domestica e i Palazzi Reali di epoca sud arabica nello Yemen pre-islamico (VII sec. a.C. – VI sec. d.C.). With foreword by Alessandro de Maigret. (Collana di Ateneo Dissertationes, 7). Naples: Università degli studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”.
Lundin 1997 aLundin (=Loundine), Avraam G. 1997. Der Inschriften des antiken Raybūn. Mare Erythraeum, 1: 19-25.
Lundin 1997 bLundin (=Loundine), Avraam G. 1997. Eine Grabinschrift aus der Nekropole Raybūn XVI. Mare Erythraeum, 1: 27-30.
Meulen and Wissmann 1932: 84-87Meulen, Daniel van der and Wissmann, Hermann von 1932. Ḥaḍramaut. Some of its Mysteries Unveiled. Leiden: Brill.
Piotrovskij and Sedov 1994 a: 202-219Piotrovskij, Mikhail B. and Sedov, Alexander V. 1994. Field-Studies in Southern Arabia. Ancient civilizations from Scythia to Siberia. An international journal of comparative studies in history and archaeology, 1/2: 202-219.
Prioletta 2005Prioletta, Alessia 2005. Appunti per una nuova sistemazione cronologica delle iscrizioni di Raybūn e della valle dello Ḥaḍramawt. Egitto e Vicino Oriente, 28: 309-323.
Robin and Vogt 1997: 147-149, 215Robin, Christian J. and Vogt, Burkhard (eds) 1997. Yémen, au pays de la reine de Saba. Exposition présentée à l'Institut du monde arabe du 25 octobre 1997 au 28 février 1998. Paris: Flammarion, Institut du Monde Arabe.
Schiettecatte 2011: 182-187Schiettecatte, Jérémie 2011. D'Aden à Zafar. Villes d'Arabie du Sud préislamique. (Orient et Méditerranée, 6). Paris: de Boccard.
Sedov 1988Sedov, Alexander V. 1988. Raybun. Complex of archaeological monuments in the lower reaches of Wadi Dauʿan and certain problems of its protection and restoration. Pages 61-66 in Svetlana Ya. Bersina (ed.). Ancient and Mediaeval Monuments of Civilization of Southern Arabia. Investigation and Conservation Problems. Moscow: Nauka Publishers, Central Dept. of Oriental Literature.
Sedov 1994: 249-260Sedov, Alexander V. 1994. The Temple of Syn ḏ-Myfʿn (Wādī Dauʿan, Inner Ḥaḍramawt). Ancient civilizations from Scythia to Siberia. An international journal of comparative studies in history and archaeology, 1/2: 249-260.
Sedov 1996 aSedov, Alexander V. 1996. On the origin of the agricoltural settlements in Ḥaḍramawt. Pages 67-86 in Christian J. Robin and Iwona Gajda (eds). Arabia Antiqua. Early Origins of South Arabian States. Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Conservation and Exploitation of the Archaeological Heritage of the Arabian Peninsula held in the Palazzo Brancaccio, Rome, by IsMEO on 28th-30th May 1991. Rome: Istituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente.
Sedov 1996 b: 254-255Sedov, Alexander V. 1996. Monuments of the Wādī al-ʿAyn. Notes on an archaeological map of the Ḥaḍramawt, 3. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 7/2: 253-278.
Sedov 1997Sedov, Alexander V. 1997. Die archäologischen Denkmäler von Raybūn im unteren Wādī Dauʿan (Ḥaḍramaut). Mare Erythraeum, 1: 31-106.
Sedov 1999Sedov, Alexander V. 1999. Der Sakralkomplex von Raybūn. Pages 186-188 in Werner Daum, Walter W. Müller, Norbert Nebes and Walter Raunig (eds). Im Land der Königin von Saba. Kunstschätze aus dem antiken Jemen. 7. Juli 1999-9. Januar 2000. Staatlichen Museum für Völkerkunde München. Germering: I.P. Verlagsgesellschaft / Munich: I.P. Verlagsgesellschaft.
Sedov 2000Sedov, Alexander V. 2000. Temples of Raybun Oasis, Wadi Hadramawt, Yemen. Adūmātū, 2: 15-26.
Sedov 2003Sedov, Alexander V. 2003. Notes on stratigraphy and pottery sequence at Raybūn I settlement (Western Wādī Ḥaḍramawt). Arabia. Revue de Sabéologie, 1: 173-196; 245-291.
Sedov 2005: 87-123Sedov, Alexander V. 2005. Temples of Ancient Ḥaḍramawt. (Arabia Antica, 3). Pisa: Edizioni Plus-Pisa University Press.
Sedov and Bāṭāyiʿ 1994Sedov, Alexander V. and Bāṭāyiʿ, Aḥmed 1994. Temples of ancient Ḥaḍramawt. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 24: 183-196.
Sedov and Grjaznevič 1996Sedov, Alexander V. and Grjaznevič, Petr A. (eds) 1996. Gorodishche Raybūn (Raskopki 1983-1987). Trudy Sovetsko-Yemenskoy kompleksnoy ekspedicii. (Raybūn Settlement. (1983-1987 Excavations). Preliminary Reports of the Soviet-Yemeni Joint Complex Expedition). Moscow: Vostochnaya literatura RAN.
Wissmann 1968: 41-43Wissmann, Hermann von 1968. Zur Archäologie und antiken Geographie von Südarabien. Ḥaḍramaut, Qatabān und das ʿAden-Gebiet in der Antike. (Uitgaven van het, Nederlands Historisch-Archaeologisch Instituut te İstanbul, 24). Istanbul: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten.
Wissmann and Höfner 1952: 131, 348-349Wissmann, 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.