Editor: Jérémie Schiettecatte
| Ancient name | Unknown |
| Country | Yemen |
| Geographical area | wādī Bayḥān |
| Governorate | Shabwa |
| Kingdom | Qatabān |
| Coordinates | Latitude: 14° 55' 14" Longitude: 45° 46' " |
| Coordinates accuracy | assumed |
| Type of site | Settlement |
| Deities | Wrfw ʿm |
| Structures | Dwelling (indeterminate) Dwelling (concentrated) Light hydraulic structure (ex. canal, well) Rock inscriptions |
| Language | Qatabanic, Ḥaḍramitic |
| Location and toponomy | Al-Ḥinû can be found on the right bank of wâdî Bayḥân, 15 km north-north-east of the city of Bayḥân, and about 1.5 km north-east of Hajar ibn Ḥumayd. |
| History of research | 1950: survey by the expedition of the American Foundation for the Study of Man (dir. W. Phillips) |
| General description | Al-Ḥinû is a small mound 100 m long and 80 m large, and about 3 to 4 m high. The surface is covered with pottery sherds. The inscriptions from this site mention the presence of tower-houses (MuB 537, CIAS 47.82/j 1). Inscription CIAS 47.82/o6 is a dedication by the inhabitants of the nearby city of dhât-Ghaylum (Hajar ibn Ḥumayd) in the temple of the deity Wrfw, probably on the site of al-Ḥinû. |
| Chronology | According to R.L. Bowen (1958: 6), the pottery collected on the surface of the site is dated to the last centuries before Christ. The three inscriptions from the site are dated to a period included between the 5th century BC and the 3rd century AD: MuB 537 (Qatabanic), B1 writing style (Avanzini), i.e. 5th-3th century BC. CIAS 47.82/j 1 (Qatabanic), C writing style (Avanzini), i.e. 1st century BC/AD. CIAS 47.82/o6 (Hadramitic), D writing style (Avanzini), i.e. 2nd-3rd century AD. |
| Epigraphs
in CSAI Objects in CSAI |
| Avanzini 2004 a: 104-105, 292-293 | Avanzini, Alessandra 2004. Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions I-III. Qatabanic, Marginal Qatabanic, Awsanite Inscriptions. (Arabia Antica, 2). Pisa: Edizioni Plus-Università di Pisa. |
| Bowen 1958 b: 6 | Bowen, Richard LeBaron 1958. Archaeological survey of Beiḥân. Pages 3-33 in Richard LeBaron Bowen and Frank P. Albright (eds). Archaeological Discoveries in South Arabia. With foreword by Wendell Phillips. (Publications of the American Foundation for the Study of Man, 2). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. |