Naschq
Naschq ( old South Arabic ns 2 q-m Nas 2 q-um , todayالبيضاء Bayda ' , DMG al-Baiḍā' that White') was an Old South Arabian city in what is now Yemen . It is located in the northwest of the al-Jauf river oasisin the area of the ancient Ma'in kingdom.
In the early days of ancient South Arabian history, Naschq was an independent city-state. In the sources it is mentioned for the first time in the first report of the Sabaean Mukarrib Karib'il Watar I (around 680 BC). After a three-year siege, it was conquered and destroyed together with the neighboring Naschan of Saba. Subsequently, Sabaeans were resettled in Naschq, apparently to secure control of the western Jauf. Karib'il Watar's successor Sumuhu'ali Yanuf I ( Hermann von Wissmann : around 660 BC, Kenneth A. Kitchen : around 470–455 BC), Karib'il Bayyin I (Hermann von Wissmann: around 556 BC, Kenneth A. Kitchen: around 415–400 BC) and Yada'il Bayyin II. (Hermann von Wissmann: around 394 BC, Kenneth A. Kitchen: around 440–245 BC) BC) undertook various construction works in Naschq. Among other things, a new type of fortification was created, a stone wall about 1500 meters long. It has been preserved to this day. After the wall in Ma'rib , it was the first to be erected in Jauf. It was supported on the back by a two to three meter thick brick wall, had wide protrusions and regularly arranged intermediate facades to structure the work. There are 91 dedicatory inscriptions on it.
After that in the 6th century BC Empire Ma'in originated around 400 BC. After gaining independence from Saba, Nashq became an insignificant Minean city. After the end of Ma'in and the reintegration into the Sabaean Empire in the 1st century BC. Chr. Naschq got its old status again. When Naschq was left has not yet been clarified due to the lack of archaeological research.
literature
- Hermann von Wissmann : The history of the Sabaean empire and the campaign of Aelius Gallus , in: Hildegard Temporini: Rise and decline of the Roman world. II. Principate. Volume ninth, first half volume , De Gruyter, Berlin, New York 1976 ISBN 3-11-006876-1 , pp. 308-544
- Jean-François Breton: The First Cities of South Arabia: The Example of Jauf in Cities and Temples - Origin of the South Arab Civilization . In: Werner Daum: Yemen , Umschau, Frankfurt / Main, ISBN 3-7016-2251-5 ; Pp. 74-78
Individual evidence
- ^ Jean-François Breton, The First Cities of South Arabia: The Example of Jauf in Cities and Temples - Origin of the South Arab Civilization ; In: Werner Daum: Yemen (see lit.), p. 78
Coordinates: 16 ° 11 ′ N , 44 ° 30 ′ E