Old South Arabic art

Altarabic inscription from southern Arabia from the 3rd century BC. In an old South Arabic language. Istanbul Archaeological Museum

The ancient South Arabian art originated from the 3rd millennium BC. BC in pre-Islamic cultures of the Arabian Peninsula on the coastal zones of the Persian Gulf .

History and Development

The old Arabic art experienced its first heyday at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. At the same time as the South Arabian high culture, mainly in today's Yemen , in the kingdoms of the Sabeans and Mineans . In the 5th century BC BC was the heyday of Saba , whose centers were in Ma'rib and Sirwah .

In addition to influences from the ancient Orient , it had been around since the 5th century BC. Exposed to strong Greek influences, which are believed to have been heavily involved in the further development of ancient South Arabian art. Typical of ancient South Arabian art, both in sculpture and in architecture, are geometric, stylized forms that have been developing since the 5th century BC. In more fluid forms.

The kings of Himyar took control of southern Arabia at the end of the 3rd century AD, which was nicknamed " Arabia Felix " (happy Arabia) because of its wealth in the ancient world . Later, in the 4th century AD, the kingdom of the Nabataeans emerged in the north of the Arabian Peninsula , in which an art of its own developed ( Nabataean art ), which mediated between the cultures of Arabia and the Mediterranean region .

With the advance of Islam in the 7th century, Islamic art supplanted the earlier styles in southern Arabia.

Periodization

Since Sabaean Studies , the science of ancient South Arabia, concentrated for a long time on the philological development of the old South Arabic inscriptions, the evidence of the material culture of South Arabia remained little researched for a long time, so that the evidence is still poor. Although chronological patterns could be worked out for some individual areas, a general periodization of ancient South Arabian art has not yet been possible. For this reason, the various old South Arabian artifacts are not listed from a chronological perspective, but only from a functional point of view. Jürgen Schmidt undertook a general division of South Arabian art into three phases: Accordingly, three phases can be subdivided: the phase in which an independent formal language begins to develop, the stage in which independent artistic forms are developed and canonized, and the epoch of superimposition one's own artistic means of expression through others, d. H. especially Greek, influences.

Architecture and urban culture

Construction method

Ornate capital of a pillar from the royal palace of Shabwat ; stratigraphic assignment: 1st half of the 3rd century.

In contrast to Mesopotamia, stone construction was predominant in ancient South Arabia. Only in the coastal plain and in the Hadramitic capital Shabwat was the method of construction with dried bricks used to a greater extent. In monumental buildings, large hewn stone blocks were used, which were stacked on top of one another without mortar, only rough stones had to be mortared. In addition to lime mortar , mud and asphalt were also used as binders. In addition, vertical lead struts and horizontal tenons and brackets could be used to strengthen high walls. Only the outside of the stones was polished; thicker walls were often double-shelled, with the raw sides of the stones colliding on the inside. Perhaps for aesthetic reasons, walls in monumental buildings were sloped, and supporting pillars and small bastions were also given the stability of the wall. In the 5th century BC A new way of working with stone appeared: the edges were polished, while the inner surface was pinned. In the course of time, this edge fitting changed , which allows a chronological classification of the masonry treated in this way. Interior walls were either simply plastered - partly with wall paintings - or covered with stone wall panels, the painting of which imitated the wall structure and sometimes even three-dimensional friezes. Little is known about ceiling constructions, vaults have been preserved in the pillbox graves, simple gable roofs are shown by illustrations. The window panes were approx. 3 cm thick, translucent marble or alabaster panes, some of which had incised decorations. Columns were a very important component. By the 5th century BC They were unadorned monoliths with a rectangular or square cross-section; such pillars can be found u. a. in the entrance hall of the Awwam Temple or Haram-Bilqis (DMG Ḥaram-Bilqīs ) in Ma'rib . From the 5th century onwards, the columns gradually became round columns by flattening the edges. Since the 5th century, the columns also had capitals, initially simple plinths , from which various shapes developed. Since the 2nd century, these forms have been replaced mainly by Hellenistic influences, but Sassanid influences can also be recognized.

Profane architecture

Plan of the interior of Shabwat

Archaeological excavations of the only partially developed fields of ruins show high-standing urban cultures with complex irrigation technology. The dam of Ma'rib goes back to the 9th century BC. BC back. Mighty remains of it from the 6th century BC can still be found today. There were cities with public buildings made of smoothly hewn limestone blocks , where the builders were also named with inscriptions, with city gates, fortifications, streets, temples, markets and royal residences.

As the inscriptions show, numerous fortified cities (hagar) existed in pre-Islamic southern Arabia , but it is controversial to what extent a hagar was really a city or whether real urbanization had not yet started in southern Arabia . Settlement archeology in South Arabia has so far only covered urban areas, while unfortified settlements have hardly been examined archaeologically. The cities were often located in the valley floor on a natural or artificial elevation that protected them from flooding. There are also cities that were founded on a high plateau or under a castle, including the Himyarian capital Zafar . Most of the old South Arabian cities were rectangular or nearly rectangular, including Ma'rib and Shabwat. A particular example of a rectangular city plan is the Mina capital Qarnawu , whose regular city map with a central main street and secondary streets branching off at regular intervals reveals planning either when the city was founded or after it was destroyed. In addition, there are oval or completely irregular floor plans. Compared to other ancient oriental cities, the old South Arabian cities covered a relatively small area; the largest city in South Arabia, Ma'rib, covered just 110 hectares.

Each city was protected by one, in the case of Shabwat even by two, city walls, in which there were at least two gates, which could be guarded by their own towers. The course of the city walls, which were either straight or structured by bastions, had to be adapted to the terrain, especially in mountainous areas, which resulted in irregular city plans. Some cities were also protected by their own citadels, such as in Shabwat, Raidan and Qana.

Ruins in Khor Rori

The city center is so far only insufficiently known due to a lack of archaeological research. In Timna , Qataban, there was a large square behind the south gate, from which the streets went in different directions. In addition to the normal residential buildings, citadels, palaces and temples can be found in the city center of various cities. Only in Khor Rori and in Shabwat were major excavations undertaken. In Shabwat, too, there was a large square behind the gate where the royal palace stood. From this place a wide street ran straight through the city; smaller streets branched off at right angles from this main street.

In addition to the city fortifications, there were other fortifications that were built at important road junctions or at junctions for water distribution. Large ruins of such castles are still preserved, but no excavations have been carried out. However, it can be said that in addition to living rooms there were also temples and fountains in these castles. Barrier walls were used to secure areas that blocked passes and similar roads that were difficult to avoid, such as the wall of Libna, which was supposed to block the road from Qana to Shabwat.

Due to the climatic conditions, irrigation structures were essential for agriculture in southern Arabia. The simplest irrigation structures were wells and cisterns of various kinds; larger cisterns could hold up to 12,800 m³. The irrigation systems that caught and stored the water from the wadis during the rainy season were much more efficient than wells and cisterns. The most famous example of these dams is the dam of Ma'rib, which dammed the Wadi Dhana at a point almost 600 m wide and transferred its water via two lock systems to two primary canals , which distributed it to the fields via a network of canals . Such systems have also been discovered elsewhere or are documented by inscriptions. In Najran , aqueducts were also carved into the rock to divert the water.

In various places in southern Arabia, mostly on mountain passes (manqal) , paved roads were laid, some of which were several kilometers long and several meters wide.

Sacred architecture

In the Sabaean capital Ma'rib the oldest sanctuary with supraregional importance was found: a temple which was dedicated to its moon god (9th to 5th century BC). This temple consisted of a 100 m long, oval ashlar structure, which was connected to a rectangular vestibule, which was surrounded by a peristyle made of 32 monolith pillars 5 m high. Today there are only small remains of this building.

In Sirwah, the Almaqah sanctuary was another important religious center of the Sabaean Empire, of which the earliest relics date back to the beginning of the 7th century BC. To be dated.

It is still unclear whether there were also images of gods , but the male statuettes that are consecrated to the sanctuary of Ma'rib show that there was a highly developed bronze casting as early as the middle of the 1st century , in which the respective donors were recorded in writing were. Stone pedestals with dedicatory inscriptions often testify that votive statuettes made of precious metal and bronze were erected until the late Himjar Empire . Alabaster statuettes have also been preserved in which the figures with smooth, knee-length robes hold their arms outward.

Compared with the secular buildings, the temples have been researched much better overall, so that the elaboration of a typology or development history was tried here. In the following, the structure of Jürgen Schmidt and - in more detail - M. Jung is presented, which takes into account both the floor plan forms and functional aspects (in contrast to Adolf Grohmann's classification, which only differentiates between different floor plan types).

The oldest, still prehistoric, South Arabian sanctuaries were simple stele-like monoliths that could be enclosed by stone setting or dry stone walls. In a second phase the threshold to the actual temple was crossed. These temples were simple, mostly rectangular hypäthral stone buildings, the interior of which was initially very diverse. Some cult buildings on the Jebel Balaq al-Ausat (DMG Ǧabal Balaq al-Ausaṭ ) southwest of Ma'rib, which consist of a courtyard and a three-part cella , form the link to a temple type that is apparently only widespread in Saba, which has a rectangular floor plan and has a propylon and is divided into two parts, an inner courtyard surrounded by pillars on three sides and a likewise three-part cella. Schmidt reckons that around 700 BC The temple of the moon god Wadd ("Wadd Dhu-Masma '", DMG Wadd ḏū-Masmaʿ ) between Ma'rib and Sirwah and the temple of al-Masajid built by Yada'il Dharih I, built by a rectangular wall is surrounded. More recent examples of this scheme can also be found in Qarnawu (5th century BC) and al-Ḥuqqa (1st century BC). The entrance hall of the great Awwam temple at Ma'rib may also belong to this group. In the other realms, this type is contrasted with the hypostyle “multi-support temple”, with a square, rectangular or asymmetrical basic shape, which is structured by regularly arranged columns. In contrast to the Sabaean temples just mentioned, these buildings have no orientation towards a cella, an altar, etc. Initially, these temples had six or eight, later up to 35 pillars. Klaus Schippmann puts another type next to it: the hadramitic "terrace temple", of which seven examples are known so far. All of these temples are accessible via a large staircase that leads to a fenced-in terrace on which there is a cella with a podium. However, it should not be forgotten that only a few temples have been excavated, which is why the image of ancient South Arabian cult buildings can change significantly.

For the historical classification of the old South Arabian architecture in the context of Yemeni architecture, compare:

→ Main article: Architecture in Yemen

plastic

The most notable works of art outside of architecture brought about pre-Islamic South Arabia in sculpture . In addition to bronze and, very rarely, gold and silver and limestone, alabaster and marble were used as materials. Typical characteristics of old South Arabian sculpture are basic cubic shapes, a clumsy overall appearance and the strong emphasis on the head; the remaining body parts mostly only served as a schematic and greatly shortened link to the base or are only shown up to the upper body. Many South Arabian sculptures are also characterized by a lack of attention to proportions, which is expressed in ears that are too big and a nose that is too narrow and long. In most cases, full sculptures and reliefs were aimed directly at the viewer, the typical Egyptian frontal perspective is rarely found in reliefs , in which the head and legs are shown from the side, but the upper body is shown from the front. The pupils were placed in holes with colored material. The folds were initially not shown, then indicated by deep grooves or layers. No general characteristics can be found in the posture of arms and legs.

Few examples of large-scale old South Arabian sculptures have survived, the inscription on a larger-than-life bronze statue of the son of the Sabaean king Dhamar'ali Yuhabirr being of particular interest: it shows that the statue was made by a Greek artist and his Arab assistant. There are much larger numbers of smaller alabaster statues, portraits and reliefs, which mostly show people, less often animals or mythical animals (dragons and winged lions with human heads) and - in the case of bas-reliefs - entire scenes. A particularly popular scene is a vine with grapes and mammals or birds nibbling on it and a man who puts a crossbow on an animal, or variations thereof. Also whole life scenes, such as meals, fights and music performances as well as scenes that the deceased with a Show deity were depicted on reliefs.

Cabaret

Geometric wall paintings from the temple of al-Ḥuqqa (1st century BC)

In addition to the larger works of art, old South Arabia produced a whole range of different smaller art products. As elsewhere, there is an extremely large amount of ceramics, but this material cannot yet be classified typologically or chronologically, which is why ceramics, in contrast to the rest of the ancient Orient, do not allow the dating of individual layers. Some general statements are already possible now. The execution of the pottery was very simple; only some of the vessels were turned on the potter's wheel . Jugs, bowls and bowls of various sizes can be found on ceramic goods, incised or dotted motifs predominate as decoration, alongside painted patterns and applied bulges and spikes or even animal heads. In addition to these everyday objects made of clay, some clay figurines were also found.

Smaller works of art made of stone include bottles, oil lamps, vases and vessels with animal heads as handles. In addition, there are also gems and imitations of Egyptian scarabs . This subheading also includes the numerous different friezes attached to structural elements , including zigzag patterns, steps, transverse grooves, tooth cuts, niches, small false doors, meanders, as well as vegetable and figurative elements, including rows of ibex heads and the vines that were very popular in ancient South Arabia. Other artistic elements in buildings are the variously executed rosettes and volutes , ears of wheat and pomegranates, probably symbols of a rural culture. Wall paintings also came to light at two sites, namely geometric paintings in the temple of al-Ḥuqqa and figurative representations during the French excavations in Shabwat. Wood carvings have not survived due to the poor durability of this material, but stone replicas of furniture give an idea of ​​the appearance of the furniture.

Hadramitic metal bowl (2nd - 3rd centuries)

In contrast, small art objects made of bronze and copper are often used: vases and other vessels made of embossed copper sheet or bronze, lamps, artistically crafted handles and animal figurines. There are also numerous pieces of jewelry, some of which include gold necklaces as well as gold sheets with images of animals and small gold sculptures.

numismatics

Himyarian coin of ʿAmdan Bayyin from Raidan (type 9)

As in other ancient “marginal cultures” that had their own coinage, the old South Arabian coins were initially imitations of Greek coins. Silver coins are mainly known from southern Arabia, while bronze and gold coins are very rare. The following typology essentially follows that of G. Dembski (see bibliography). It should be noted that the numbering of the coin types only partially reflects a certain chronology.

1. The oldest South Arabian coins were probably made around 300 BC. Minted. These were imitations of the old-style Athenian tetradrachms , bearing the head of Athena on the obverse and owl, crescent moon and olive branch on the lapel. In contrast to their predecessors, however, the coin value was marked on the South Arabian coins: whole coins with the letter n , half with a g , quarter with a t and eighth with an s ₂ .
2. Somewhat later embossings also show various monograms and / or letters on the lapel, but these have not yet been interpreted satisfactorily.
3. The third, Qataban, group shows a head on both sides and the name of the mint Harb (DMG Ḥarib ) near Timna on the reverse .
4. The next group is probably also Qataban, showing an owl on the lapel, plus the name Schahr Hilal , the letters ḏ and ḥ and the “Yanuf monogram”.
5. Around the 2nd century BC The following type is to be used, which on the one hand imitates the Athenian tetradrachm of the new style, but on the other hand adopts legends and monograms from earlier coins.
6. The sixth group is derived from this type and shows no inscriptions, but only symbols or monograms.
7. Perhaps in connection with the campaign of Aelius Gallus in 25 BC. Elements of Roman coins found their way into the following coins, which otherwise remained the same.
8. Coins from a clearly hadramitic group look completely different: They show in different variations a bull, which according to the inscription represents the god Sin, the name of the palace s ₂ qr , a shining head or an eagle.
9. Of particular importance for the history of South Arabia is the following type, which shows a head, a king's name and a mint, mostly Raidan and monograms, on the lapel .
10. Some bronze coins are isolated, depicting a head with letters on the obverse and an eagle on the lapel. They may be hadramitic.

The end of South Arabian coinage cannot be dated with certainty; it is believed to have been around 300 AD.

literature

• Christian Darles: L'architecture civile à Shabwa. In: Syria. Revue d'art oriental et d'archéologie. Tome 68, Fasc. 1-4. Geuthner, Paris 1991, pp. 77 ff. ISSN  0039-7946
• Günther Dembski : The coins of the Arabia Felix. In: Werner Daum (Ed.): Yemen . Pinguin-Verlag, Innsbruck / Umschau-Verlag, Frankfurt a. M. 1987, pp. 132-135, ISBN 3-7016-2251-5 .
• Almut Hauptmann von Gladiss : Problems with old South Arabian plastic. In: Baghdad communications. Volume 10, 1979, ISSN  0418-9698 , pp. 145-167.
• Adolf Grohmann : Handbook of Classical Studies, Cultural History of the Ancient Orient, Third Section, Fourth Subsection: Arabia. Munich 1963.
  (Comprehensive cultural history of pre-Islamic Arabia, which is out of date in some areas due to the results of recent excavations.)
• Klaus Schippmann : History of the old South Arabian empires. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1998, ISBN 3-534-11623-2 .
• Jürgen Schmidt : Old South Arabian cult buildings. In: Werner Daum (Ed.): Yemen . Pinguin-Verlag, Innsbruck / Umschau-Verlag, Frankfurt a. M. 1987, pp. 81-101, ISBN 3-7016-2251-5 .
• Paul Yule : Himyar - Spätantike im Yemen / Late Antique Yemen , LINDEN SOFT Verlag, Aichwald 2007, ISBN 978-3-929290-35-6 .

Web links

Commons : Pre-Islamic art  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} The Brockhaus art. Artists, epochs, technical terms. 3rd, updated and revised edition. FA Brockhaus. Mannheim 2006
2. ^ Dates according to the Lange Chronologie . For the problems of the old South Arabian chronology see the article " Old South Arabia "
3. ^ Gus W. Van Beek: Marginally Drafted, Pecked Masonry , in: Richard Le Baron Bowen Jr .; Frank P. Albright: Archaeological Discoveries in South Arabia ( Publications of the American Foundation for the Study of Man , Volume 2) Hopkins Baltimore, 1958, pp. 287-299
4. ↑ On these forms: Grohmann, Arabien (see bibliography), pp. 210–214
5. ^ Description in Grohmann, Arabien (see bibliography), pp. 143–144
6. ↑ On this: Jean-François Breton: Les fortifications d'Arabie méridionale du 7e au 1er siècle avant notre ère ( Archaeological reports from Yemen , 8) Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1994 ISBN 3-8053-1487-6
7. ↑ See e.g. B. Hermann von Wissmann , Maria Höfner : Contributions to the historical geography of pre-Islamic South Arabia (treatises of the humanities and social science class of the Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz, born 1952, No. 4). Verlag der Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur in Mainz, Mainz 1953, pp. 137-139 and photography 15, where the castle ruins Husn el-ʿUrr (DMG Ḥuṣn el-ʿUrr ) in the Wadi Hadramaut are described.
8. ↑ Arabia (see bibliography), p. 157 ff.
9. ↑ Schippmann, Geschichte der Alt-Südarabischen Reiche , p. 112. Also: Alexander V. Sedov: Temples of Ancient Ḥaḍramawt. Arabia Antica 3. PLUS, Pisa 2005 ISBN 88-8492-211-9
10. ↑ On this type and its variants: SCH Munro-Hay: The coinage of Shabwa (Hadhramawt), and other ancient South Arabian Coinage in the National Museum, Aden , in: Syria , No. 68. Paris 1991. 393-418

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on August 7, 2007 .