DASI

digital archive for the study of pre-islamic arabian inscriptions

DASI

al-Asāḥil

Editor: Jérémie Schiettecatte


al-Asāḥil
(c) Schiettecatte - CNRS

SITE INFORMATION

Ancient nameʿrrtm
CountryYemen
Geographical areawādī Raġwān
GovernorateMārib
KingdomSabaʾ
CoordinatesLatitude: 15° 47' 14"    Longitude: 45° 05' 13"    
Coordinates accuracycertain
Type of siteSettlement
TribeS¹bʾ
ʿrr(t)m
Deitiesʾlmqh
ḏt-Ḥmym
ḏt-Bʿdn
StructuresDwelling (indeterminate)
Dwelling (concentrated)
Workshop
Light hydraulic structure (ex. canal, well)
Rampart
Rock inscriptions
LanguageSabaic
Location and toponomyal-Asâḥil is located about 100 km north-east of Ṣanʿâʾ, 50 km north-west of Maʾrib, 40 km south-east of Barâqish and 3 km south-west of Kharibat Saʿûd, on the right bank of the lower course of the wâdî Raghwân. The site forms a small rectangular fortified hill that dominates the surrounding plain.
Al-Asâḥil may be identified with the ancient ʿrrtm (Wissmann 1964, p. 213).
History of researchAl Asâḥil did not catch the attention of J. Halévy. Although some inscriptions were discovered by a few intermediaries sent by E. Glaser at the end of the 19th century, the most important discovery of the site dates to 1936 with the visit by H. St J. Philby (Philby 1939, p. 398-403).
1970: some inscriptions were copied by P. A. Grjaznevic and P. Costa.
Since 1976 the site has been surveyed by the French Mission in the Yemen Arab Republic (MAFRAY), which published the inscriptions and the plan of the rampart (Robin & Ryckmans 1980; Robin & Breton 1981; Breton 1994).
No archaeological excavations were carried out.
General descriptionThe intra muros space measures 140 m (width) and 220 m (length). The surface is more than 3 ha, with a series of small mounds probably the remnant of a habitat formed by a stone basement and a superstructure in mudbricks.
Philby interpreted the presence to the north-west of the site of numerous sherds and fragments of kiln wall fragments as indicators of the presence of workshops.

The site is surrounded by a rampart with an irregular shape. It included at least two doors. Several dedicatory inscriptions allowed the dating of the construction mainly to the reign of the Sabaean mukarrib Yathaʿʾamar Bayyîn, son of Sumhuʿalî, to that of Karibʾîl Watâr, son of Dhamarʿalî, and to that of Yadaʿʾîl Yanuf, son of Karibʾîl (end of the 8th-beginning of the 7th century BC).

1,5 km east of the site of al Asâḥil there is the hamlet of al-Durayb where several inscriptions from al-Asâḥil and Kharibat Saʿûd have been reemployed. It is evident that most of the inscriptions came from the neighbouring cities and were reemployed in al-Durayb. However, the existence of an ancient settlement seems to be attested by the presence on the ground of several pottery sherds including shapes from both the Islamic and South Arabian periods. The numerous dentil friezes, as well as the alabaster altar reemployed in the construction of the hamlet, might come from al-Durayb itself. Al-Durayb was probably a pre-Islamic sanctuary consecrated to ʿAthtar, if we accept that the inscription MAFRAY-ad Durayb 7 is local. In this case, we would have an extra muros sanctuary close by al-Asâḥil.

The site is located in the middle of an important irrigated perimeter that extends over a surface of 500 ha. Several canals are visible in the aerial photographs, divided into secondary canals irrigating large parcels. These hydraulic structures are mentioned in inscriptions Gl 1563+1564 and YM 18352 from the 7th century BC.
ChronologyThe inscriptions, dated only to the period of the Sabaean mukarribs, and the archaeological vestiges suggest a brief occupation of the site. Its development continued throughout the 8th century BC, but the site was eventually abandoned around the 6th-5th century BC, if we consider the surface pottery material and the absence of later texts attesting any occupation.

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RELATED MATERIAL

Epigraphs in CSAI
Objects in CSAI

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Breton 1994 c: 81-82, fig. 2Breton, Jean-François 1994. Les fortifications d'Arabie méridionale du 7e au 1er siècle avant notre ère. (Archäologische Berichte aus dem Yemen, 8). Mainz: Verlag Philipp von Zabern.
Doe 1983: 117-118Doe, D. Brian 1983. Monuments of South Arabia. (Arabia past and present, 12). Naples: The Falcon Press / Cambridge: The Oleander press.
Höfner and Solá Solé 1961: 29-38Höfner, Maria and Solá Solé, Josep M. 1961. Inschriften aus dem Gebiet zwischen Mārib und dem Ǧōf. Sammlung Eduard Glaser. 2. (Sitzungsberichte der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philosophisch-historische Klasse, 238/3). Vienna: H. Böhlaus Nachf., Kommissionsverlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien.
Philby 1939: 398-402Philby, Harry St John B. 1939. Sheba's Daughters. Being a record of travel in Southern Arabia. London: Methuen and Co.
Robin 1995 aRobin, Christian J. 1995. Des villes dans le Jawf du Yémen ?. Semitica, 43-44: 141-161.
Robin and Breton 1981Robin, Christian J. and Breton, Jean-François 1981. Al-Asâḥil et Ḫirbat Saʿûd: quelques compléments. Raydān, 4: 90-96.
Breton, Robin and Audouin 1981Breton, Jean-François, Robin, Christian J. and Audouin, Rémy 1981. Nord-Yémen: un patrimoine menacé. Archéologia, 160/Novembre: 36-43.
Robin and Ryckmans, Jacques 1980Robin, Christian J. and Ryckmans, Jacques 1980. Les inscriptions de al-Asâḥil, ad-Durayb et Ḫirbat Saʿûd. (Mission Archéologique Française en République Arabe du Yémen: prospection des Antiquités Préislamiques, 1980). Raydān, 3: 113-182.
Ryckmans, Jacques 1981 b: 256Ryckmans, Jacques 1981. Villes fortifiées du Yémen antique. Bulletin de la classe des lettres et des sciences morales et politiques de l'Académie Royale de Belgique, 67/5: 253-266.
Schiettecatte 2011: 101-103Schiettecatte, Jérémie 2011. D'Aden à Zafar. Villes d'Arabie du Sud préislamique. (Orient et Méditerranée, 6). Paris: de Boccard.
al-Sheiba 1987: 43al-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: 212-217, 232Wissmann, 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.
Robin and Vogt 1997: 103Robin, 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.