Ḥayd Ibn ʿAqīl
Editor: Alessio Agostini; Jérémie Schiettecatte
Area excavated by the Americans
Van Beek 1952: fig. 8
Image free from copyright
Van Beek 1952: fig. 8
Image free from copyright
- Area excavated by the Americans
Van Beek 1952: fig. 8
Image free from copyright - Eyes stelae
Catalogue 2000: 351, cat.246 - Funerary stelae with bull head
Catalogue 2000: 317, cat. 156 - Archaeological Map of Shabwa Governorate. Districts of Bayhân and Nisâb ©J.-F. Breton
By kind permission of J.-F. Breton
SITE INFORMATION
| Ancient name | Unknown |
| Country | Yemen |
| Geographical area | Wādī Bayḥān |
| Governorate | Shabwa |
| Kingdom | Qataban |
| Coordinates | Latitude: 15° 1' 41.7" Longitude: 45° 48' 35" |
| Coordinates accuracy | certain |
| Type of site | Religious area with a necropolis |
| Tribe | Tribe: Mʿnm Tribe: Qtbn Lineage: ʾbgl Lineage: ʾbyrq Lineage: ʾḏbb Lineage: ʾgrm Lineage: ʾḫrn Lineage: ʾḫrs¹ Lineage: ʾlbʾm Lineage: ʾlm Lineage: ʾlrbn Lineage: ʾws¹n Lineage: ʾws¹ʾl Lineage: ʿbdn Lineage: ʿblm Lineage: ʿbydm Lineage: ʿḍdtn Lineage: ʿfhd Lineage: ʿhlm Lineage: ʿlhtm Lineage: ʿmrt Ḥḍr Lineage: ʿrgn Lineage: ʿrln Lineage: ʿrs¹mn Lineage: ʿs²zr Lineage: ʿtbm Lineage: ʿwln Lineage: ʿygn Lineage: ʿynt Lineage: ʿzrdn Lineage: Bḫym Lineage: Blġm Lineage: Bnʾl Lineage: Brqm Lineage: Byḥn Lineage: Bʿyṣm Lineage: Ḏbyn Lineage: Dḥs¹m Lineage: Ḏkrn Lineage: Ḏll Lineage: Ḍmrn Lineage: Dnm Lineage: Ḏrḥʾl Lineage: Ḏrḥn Lineage: Ḏrʾn Lineage: Dʾyn Lineage: Fqḍn Lineage: Frṣṣm Lineage: Frys²m Lineage: Gbzm Lineage: Ġrbm Lineage: Grʿn Lineage: Grymt Lineage: Ḫbrt Lineage: Ḫbyṯt Lineage: Ḥḏkt Lineage: Ḥḏmt Lineage: Ḥḍnn Lineage: Ḥḍrm Lineage: Ḥḍrn Lineage: Ḥfln Lineage: Hfṣy Lineage: Ḥgnt Lineage: Hgrnhn Lineage: Ḫlbn Lineage: Ḥndlm Lineage: Hnʿmt Lineage: Ḥnṣt Lineage: Ḥqwn Lineage: Hrbm Lineage: Hrn Lineage: Hwḍʿn Lineage: Ḥywnʿm Lineage: Ḥẓrm Lineage: Ḫẓwʿ Lineage: Klbm Lineage: Kwn Lineage: Kyl Lineage: Lḥym Lineage: Llbt Lineage: Lys³n Lineage: Mḏb Lineage: Mʾdm Lineage: Mḏmrm Lineage: Mdrrm Lineage: Mḏym Lineage: Mḥḍrm Lineage: Mʿhr Lineage: Mlkn Lineage: Mlykm Lineage: Mrn Lineage: Mṭ Lineage: Nḍḥn Lineage: Nhr Lineage: Nʿmn Lineage: Nʿyt Lineage: Qḥḏm Lineage: Qḥlwm Lineage: Qs³mm Lineage: Qẓẓn Lineage: Rbḥ Lineage: Rbʿt Lineage: Rdm Lineage: Rfʾn Lineage: Rḥbm Lineage: Rḥḍn Lineage: Rs²m Lineage: Rʾtn Lineage: Rwyn Lineage: S¹bḥm Lineage: S¹flyn Lineage: S¹lymm Lineage: S¹rfm Lineage: S¹rm Lineage: S¹rṭm Lineage: S²bʿn Lineage: S²mll Lineage: S²ʿs³wm Lineage: S²ʿṯmm Lineage: Ṣbḥm Lineage: Ṣbḥt Lineage: Ṣlḥlḥ Lineage: Ṣnfn Lineage: Ṣwʿn Lineage: Ṣwrt Lineage: Ṯbw Lineage: Ṭdʾm Lineage: Ṯfqm Lineage: Thṯkn Lineage: Tntbm Lineage: Tryfm Lineage: Ṯwnb Lineage: Ṯʿym Lineage: Tymm Lineage: Wqs² Lineage: Wrqn Lineage: Ws²ḥt Lineage: Wṭ Lineage: Ygr Lineage: Ynʿm Lineage: Yḥmʾl Lineage: Yhnʿm Lineage: Yhṣbḥ Lineage: Ylʿb Lineage: Ylġb Lineage: Ynbz Lineage: Yṯʿn Lineage: Ẓlwmm |
| Deities | ʿṯtr ʿm ḏt-Ṣntm ḏt-Ẓhrn ʾnby ʾnby S²ymn bʿl Rṣfm Bntyʾl ʿd Rṣfm Ḥwkm Wdm |
| Structures | Light hydraulic structure (ex. canal, well) Wells, cisterns Isolated temple Graveyard Rock inscriptions |
| Language | Qatabanic |
| General description | The site correspond to an outcrop, located at 2.5 km NE of Hajar Kuḥlān. It has been used as the necropolis of Timnaʿ and burials are concentrated only on the northern side of the hill. (A. Agostini) |
| Chronology | The cemetery has probably been used throughout the history of the Qatabanian capital but, up to now, the investigated areas have been considered contemporary with the last phase of Timnaʿ (2nd century BC – 1st century AD). This dating is mainly suggested by pottery and palaeographic analyses. This can be fortuitous, but most likely the structures have been reused over time, thus erasing traces of the more ancient burials. (A. Agostini) |
| Archaeological missions | 1951-1952: AFSM (USA) 2004-2005: MAIRY (Italy) |
MONUMENTS
| [By A. Agostini] This temple, dedicated to god ʾAnby, is located on the eastern limit of the hill slope. Only a small portion of its perimeter wall and of the 6 pillared prostylon basement is preserved. Downward on the hill, in the area in front of the temple, a deep squared well is located, and it was most likely used for rituals connected with dead commemoration. |
Plan of the sacral area inside the necropolis.
| [By A. Agostini] While American excavations have been concentrated on the eastern side of the necropolis, those of the Italian Mission have centred on two spots in the western area, one on the hill slop and one more downward. Both have brought to light a complex organisation of funerary structures. These have a rectangular plan and the walls have been erected using irregular granite or schist blocks. Multiple funerary chambers are realized and often put against each other, thus forming quarters separated by several pathways. The internal organization generally comprises two lines of burials, separated by a corridor, and they are disposed into multiple floors (up to three) sustained by stone slabs inserted into the internal walls. The burials are therefore lined in mirror shape to each other. Other smaller structures with only one row of burials are also known. Access was probably via the upper floor, and this was probably finally closed as the chamber was entirely full. Each chamber was probably destined to the members of the same family or enlarged related groups. The tombs have been looted but, amongst the grave goods found, there are several funerary stelae (anthopomorphous, zoomorphous and aniconic), generally mad in calcite-alabaster, and several miniature objects and pottery (see also the necropolis of the Awwām Temple in Mārib). |
Tombs after American excavations
Objects discovered after American excavations
Seated female figure
Female head "Myriam"
Fragment with armed man in relief
Aniconinc funerary stalae
Miniaturist vessels
Soft stone vessels
Cuboid incense burner
Gold necklace
MAP
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RELATED SITES
| near Hajar Kuḥlān (Tmnʿ) |
RELATED MATERIAL
| Epigraphs
Objects |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Antonini 2005 a | Antonini, Sabina 2005. The first two campaigns at Ḥayd ibn ʿAqīl, the necropolis of Tamnaʿ. Pages 1-12 in Amida Sholan, Sabina Antonini and Mounir Arbach (eds). Sabaean Studies (Dirāsāt Sabaʾiyya). Archaeological, epigraphical and historical studies in honour of Yūsuf M. ʿAbdallāh, Alessandro de Maigret, Christian J. Robin on the occasion of their sixtieth birthdays. Naples: Università degli studi di Napoli l'Orientale. [University of Ṣanʿāʾ; Yemeni-Italian Centre for Archeological Reserches Ṣanʿāʾ; Centre français d'archéologie et de sciences sociales de Ṣanʿāʾ] |
| Antonini 2005 b | Antonini, Sabina 2005. al-baʿathatān al-istikshāfiyyatān al-awaliyyatān fî ʿAyd bin ʿAqīl muqabbara Tamnaʿ (2003-2004 m.). Pages 55-67 in Sālih ʿAlī Bāsurrah (ed.). Sanʿāʾ. History and Cultural Heritage. Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Yemeni Civilization. (2 vols), i. Ṣanʿāʾ. |
| Antonini and Agostini 2010 a | Antonini, Sabina and Agostini, Alessio 2010. Two South Arabian necropolises at the turn of the millennium: Barāqish and Ḥayd bin ʿAqīl. Pages 215-224 in Lloyd R. Weeks (ed.). Death and burial in Arabia and beyond. Multidisciplinary perspectives. Death, burial and the transition to the afterlife in Arabia and adjacent regions. Society for Arabian Studies Biennial Conference 2008. (BAR International Series, 2107). Oxford: Archaeopress. [Society for Arabian studies, 10] |
| Antonini, Arbach and Sedov 2002 | Antonini, Sabina, Arbach, Mounir and Sedov, Alexander V. 2002. Collezioni sudarabiche inedite. Gli oggetti acquisiti dalla missione archeologica italo-francese a Tamnaʿ (Yemen) (1999-2000). Naples: Istituto Universitario Orientale. [Supplemento agli Annali, 91; vol. 60-61/2000-2001] |
| Bowen 1958 b: 10 | 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. |
| Cleveland 1965 | Cleveland, Ray L. 1965. An Ancient South Arabian Necropolis. Objects from the Second Campaign (1951) in Timnaʿ Cemetery. (Publications of the American Foundation for the Study of Man, 4). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. |
| Harding 1964 | Harding, G. Lankester 1964. Archaeology in the Aden Protectorates. London: H.M. Stationary Off. |
| Hassell 2002: 180-184 | Hassell, Jonathan 2002. Cuboid incense-burning altars from South-Arabia in the Collection of the American Foundation for the Study of Man: some unpublished aspects. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 13/2: 157-192. 2016/07/20; http://dx.doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0471.2002.130202.x. |
| Jamme 1952 a | Jamme, Albert W.F. 1952. Pièces épigraphiques de Ḥeid bin ʿAqil, la nécropole de Timnaʿ (Hagr Koḥlân). (Bibliothèque du Muséon, 30). Louvain: Publications universitaires. |
| Jamme 1965 b | Jamme, Albert W.F. 1965. Notes on the published inscribed objects excavated at Ḥeid bin ʿAqʿl in 1950-1951. Washington. [Privately printed] |
| Jung 1988 | Jung, Michael 1988. The religious monuments of ancient Southern Arabia. A preliminary typological classification. Annali dell'Istituto Orientale di Napoli, 48: 177-218. |
| Kitchen 1994 a | Kitchen, Kenneth A. 1994. The Lady Diʿamat and friends from Wadi Beihan, S. Arabia. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 5/3: 169-173. |
| de Maigret 2002: 97-98 | de Maigret, Alessandro 2002. Arabia Felix. An exploration of the Archaeological history of Yemen. London: Stacey International. |
| Robin and Vogt 1997: 171-176 | Robin, 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. |
| Van Beek 1952 | Van Beek, Gus W. 1952. Recovering the Ancient Civilization of Arabia. Biblical Archaeologist, 15: 2-18. |