DASI

digital archive for the study of pre-islamic arabian inscriptions

DASI

al-Hāmid

Editor: Jérémie Schiettecatte


al-Hāmid
(c) Schiettecatte - CNRS

SITE INFORMATION

Ancient nameUnknown
CountryYemen
Geographical areaTihāma centrale
Governorateal-Ḥudayda
KingdomSabaʾ
CoordinatesLatitude: 14° 58' 34.3"    Longitude: 43° 22' 51"    
Coordinates accuracycertain
Type of siteSettlement
TribeGdnm
Deitiesʾlmqh
ḏt-Hmym
StructuresDwelling (indeterminate)
Dwelling (concentrated)
Light hydraulic structure (ex. canal, well)
Plot of cultivated land
Small temple
Rock inscriptions
LanguageSabaic
Location and toponomyAl-Hâmid is located on the plain of Tihâma, 19 km south-east of Bâjil, on the right bank of the wâdî Sihâm, south-west of jabal al-Dhâmir. Settled in the middle of tree-filled steppe, it covered an area of about 30 ha at the foot of the mountains.
History of research1975: A. Jamme visits the site following the advice of qâḍî Ismâʿîl al Akwaʿ
1976: A. Jamme visits the site with A. N. Sari. Six Sabaic inscriptions are found.
1982: survey of Tihâma by S. al-Radi and F. Stone, first description of the archaeological remains.
1994-2005: several excavation seasons are carried out by the British Archaeological Mission to Yemen (BAMY) under the direction of C. Phillips. An inspection of the surrounding area of the site is also carried out.
General descriptionAl-Hâmid appeared as a relatively large inhabited site, but with a low density. The highest concentration of buildings can be found around the sanctuary.

The centre of the site measures 300 x 300 m. Several architectural complexes with buildings presenting large courtyards, have been recorded. There are architectural complexes, next to enclosures and isolated houses. The density is therefore variable, often loose. Peripheral areas present the remains of small isolated structures similar to huts.

A temple located on a platform has been discovered. It is built with squared calcareous stones in contrast with the rough blocks used for the other buildings. This structure is surrounded by annexed rooms. It is identified with the sanctuary of Almaqah and dhât-Ḥimyam, where Sabaean deities are mentioned in the inscriptions of al-Hâmid (Ja 2892, Ja 2893, Ja 2894, Ja 2895 and Ja 2896).

The text Ja 2896 is a dedication of a member of an important Sabaean family, that of Gadan.

The appearance of elements typical of the Sabaean culture on this site clarifies the relationship that was progressively established among the coastal areas on one side, and the areas bordering the desert on the other. Several hypotheses have been offered to justify the Sabaean presence in Tihâma:
- Stone et al-Radi (1983) saw it as a commercial stop;
- Beeston (1995) suggested that the site was a Sabaean outpost destined to control the circulation axis leading to the Red Sea; basically a marginal Sabaean site within a large and relatively loose inhabited network;
- C. Phillips (1997) interpreted al-Hâmid as an agricultural community on the route leading from the Yemeni highlands to Ethiopia.
ChronologyAl-Hâmid was inhabited in the first half of the 1st millennium BC.
The material from this site is homogeneous and indicates a main period of occupation that started around the 9th century BC. The pottery presents common elements with those found in the last occupation phase of Yalâ, dated to the 8th-6th centuries BC. The shared elements with the pottery of Hajar Ibn Ḥumayd are not later than level K, dated to the 6th century BC.
The site was abandoned throughout the 6th century BC.
The inscriptions (Ja 2892 to Ja 2897) were dated, according to the appearance of their archaic palaeography, to the 7th-6th centuries BC.

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RELATED MATERIAL

Epigraphs in CSAI
Objects in CSAI

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Beeston 1995 a: 241-242Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1995. Sabaeans in the Tihāma. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 6/4: 236-245.
Jamme 1981: 95-97Jamme, Albert W.F. 1981. Pre-islamic Arabian Miscellanea. Pages 95-112 in Roswitha G. Stiegner (ed.). al-Hudhud. Festschrift Maria Höfner zum 80. Geburtstag. Graz: Karl-Franzens-Universität.
Phillips, Carl S. 1997Phillips, Carl S. 1997. Al-Hāmid: a route to the Red Sea?. Pages 287-295 in Alessandra Avanzini (ed.). Profumi d'Arabia. Atti del convegno. (Saggi di Storia Antica, 11). Rome: «L'Erma» di Bretschneider.
Phillips, Carl S. 1998: 236Phillips, Carl S. 1998. The Tihamah c. 5000 to 500 BC. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 28: 233-237.
Phillips, Carl S. 2005Phillips, Carl S. 2005. A preliminary description of the pottery from al-Hāmid and its significance in relation to other pre-Islamic sites on the Tihāmah. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 35: 177-193.
al-Radi and Stone 1983al-Radi, Selma and Stone, Francine 1983. Surveys of the North Yemen Tihama. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 13: 101-102.
Robin 1995: 223-224Robin, Christian J. 1995. La Tihāma yéménite avant l'Islam: notes d'histoire et de géographie historique. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 6: 222-235.
Stone 1985Stone, Francine (ed.) 1985. Studies on the Tihamah. The report of the Tihamah Expedition 1982 and related papers. Harlow: Longman.