DASI

digital archive for the study of pre-islamic arabian inscriptions

DASI

Hajar am-Dhaybiyya

Editor: Jérémie Schiettecatte


Tomb 3.
Catalogue 2000: 248

SITE INFORMATION

Ancient nameUnknown
CountryYemen
Geographical areaWādī Ḍura
GovernorateShabwa
KingdomHadramawt
CoordinatesLatitude: 14° 25' 9.6"    Longitude: 46° 22' 47.4"    
Coordinates accuracycertain
Type of siteSettlement
TribeTribe: Ḍyftn
Tribe: Mhrt
Tribe: Rṯḥm
Tribe: S¹ybn
Lineage: Gdnm
Lineage: Ḥbm (?)
Lineage: Rṭbm (?)
Lineage: S²qrn
Lineage: Trfm (?)
Lineage: Trfm ʾbs²b (?)
Lineage: Ydʿ
Lineage: Ylġb
Lineage: Yṣbr
Lineage: Yzʾn
DeitiesRḥmnn mrʾ s¹myn
S¹yn ḏ-ʾlm (?)
Wd (?)
StructuresDwelling (indeterminate)
Dwelling (concentrated)
Light hydraulic structure (ex. canal, well)
Large hydraulic structure (ex. dam)
Rampart
Small temple
Graveyard
Rock inscriptions
LanguageḤaḍramitic
General descriptionThe site is located N from Hajar adh-Dhaybiyya. The rescue excavations of the site followed a fortuitous finding and they have been concentrated in an area of 5 x 3 m. The necropolis was spread on an area 100 m large.
ChronologyStratigraphy of the tombs suggests that the burials span over several centuries. Palaeographic analysis indicate for Grave 3 a date between 1st to 4th century AD. Artefacts show Roman artistic influences, especially for bronze vessels. Partho-Sassanid and Indian influences are also detectable, while some other object reveal an internal reprocessing of such influences, since the vast majority have been probably produced in the Hadramitic region, as it is confirmed by Hadramitic inscriptions incised in some of the objects. A reliable chronological placing is still under debate (A. Agostini).
Archaeological missions1984: French-Yemeni joint archaeological team

MONUMENTS

Tombs
The burials that have been excavated are four, of these only Grave 3 was intact. The funerary structures are moreover different from each other since Grave 1 was only delimitated by small stone blocks, while Grave 2 and 3 were simply trenches with traces of a clay lining. Grave 4 was on the contrary a trench covered by a stone slab. Their layout has no comparison with the other tombs or necropolis known so far in South Arabia. Objects found in the Grave 3, together with the skeleton of a man, are impressive for their quality. It has been in fact hypothesized that the man was belonging to upper class, but in any case he was almost certainly a warrior as it is suggested by the presence of weapons. Doubts arise considering the richness of these grave goods, which could also come from a military booty. Other objects are however related to banqueting funerary rituals.

  • photoTomb 3.
  • photoObjects from Tomb 3.
  • photoImported Plate from Tomb 3.
  • photoTomb 2. Silver objects.

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RELATED MATERIAL

Epigraphs in CSAI
Objects in CSAI

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Breton 1991: 61Breton, Jean-François 1991. A propos de Naǧrân. Pages 59-85 in Études sud-arabes. Recueil offert à Jacques Ryckmans. (Publications de l'Institut Orientaliste de Louvain, 39). Louvain-La-Neuve: Université Catholique de Louvain, Institut Orientaliste.
Breton 1994 aBreton, Jean-François 1994. Prospections dans le gouvernorat de Shabwa et fouilles à Hajar am-Dhaybiyya. Chroniques Yéménites, 2: 31-32.
Breton and Bāfaqīh 1993Breton, Jean-François and Bāfaqīh, Muḥammad ʿA. 1993. Trésors du Wādī Duraʾ (République du Yémen). Fouilles franco-yémenites de la nécropole de Hajar am-Dhaybiyya. Paris: Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner.
Breton, McMahon and Warburton 1998Breton, Jean-François, McMahon, Augusta M. and Warburton, David A. 1998. Two seasons at Hajar am-Dhaybiyya, Yemen. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 9/1: 90-111.
Breton et al. 1998: 129, 138Breton, Jean-François, Arramond, Jean-Charles, Coque-Delhuille, Brigitte and Gentelle, Pierre 1998. Une vallée aride du Yémen antique. Le wādī Bayhān. Paris: Éditions Recherche sur les Civilisations.
Gajda 2000Gajda, Iwona 2000. Coupe en argent portant une inscription sudarabique. Semitica, 50: 99-111.
Loreto 2011: 155-156Loreto, 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”.
Robin and Vogt 1997: 104Robin, 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: 166-319Schiettecatte, Jérémie 2011. D'Aden à Zafar. Villes d'Arabie du Sud préislamique. (Orient et Méditerranée, 6). Paris: de Boccard.