Mnamon

Ancient writing systems in the Mediterranean

A critical guide to electronic resources

Ancient South Arabian

- 11th/10th c. BC - 6th c. AD



Map of places



  1. Aden (Place held), 'Monumental script: 1st c. B.C.-1st c. A.D. (Qatabān)' (Example)
  2. Aden (Place held), 'Qatabanic inscription in Awsanitic dialect from wādī Markha (CIAS 49.10/o 1 n. 2) incised on an alabaster base of statue (1st c. AD ca.).' (image)
  3. British Museum, London (Place held), 'Bronze colt statuette (BM 132932) with Sabaic inscription from the Ḥimyarite area.' (image)
  4. British Museum, London (Place held), 'Bronze plaque from ʿAmrān (CIH 72) with figure of lion in relief and Sabaic dedicatory inscription. ' (image)
  5. British Museum, London (Place held), 'Gold pendant from Shabwa (BM 132998) with Ḥaḍramitic inscription.' (image)
  6. British Museum, London (Place held), 'Monumental script: 4th-3rd cent. B.C. (Sabaʾ)' (Example)
  7. British Museum, London (Place held), 'Ḥaḍramitic alabaster incense burner from Shabwa (RES 4690) with figure of camel rider in relief and bearing a proper name.' (image)
  8. Delos (Provenance), 'Marble altar with Minaic and Greek inscriptions (M 349), found on the island of Delos, evidence the Southern Arabian traders arrived as far as the Mediterranean Sea (2nd c. BC ca.).' (image)
  9. Dhamār (Provenance), 'Sabaic monumental inscription (CIH 46) originating from Yakār and reemployed upside down in the walls of the mosque of Ḍāf (275 AD).' (image)
  10. Dhamār (Provenance), 'Ḥimyarite alabaster stela from Baynūn (BynM 217) with bull’s head in relief and bearing a proper name.' (image)
  11. Egypt (Provenance), 'Minaic inscription engraved on a wooden sarcophagus found in Egypt, which commemorates the death of a Minaic merchant resident in this country, where he traded aromatic substances to the local temples. The inscription is dated to the 22nd year of the reign of Ptolemy (perhaps Ptolemy II, 3rd c. BC).' (image)
  12. Ethiopia (Diffusion area)
  13. Hajar Yahirr (Provenance), 'Qatabanic inscription in Awsanitic dialect from wādī Markha (CIAS 49.10/o 1 n. 2) incised on an alabaster base of statue (1st c. AD ca.).' (image)
  14. Ma’rib (Place held), 'Monumental script: 6th cent. B.C. (Sabaʾ)' (Example)
  15. Ma’rib (Provenance), 'Monumental script: 3rd cent. A.D. (Sabaʾ)' (Example)
  16. Ma’rib (Provenance), 'Monumental script: 7th cent. B.C. (Sabaʾ)' (Example)
  17. Nashshān/as-Sawdā’ (Provenance), 'Minaic inscription (as-Sawdā’ 88) from Nashshān/as-Sawdā’, incised on a stela decorated with frieze in relief with geometric motifs (dentils, grooves) and figurative motifs (bull’s heads, crouching ibexes) (7th c. BC).' (image)
  18. Nashshān/as-Sawdā’ (Provenance), 'Minuscule script: 11th-end 6th cent. B.C. ' (Example)
  19. Nashshān/as-Sawdā’ (Provenance), 'Minuscule script: 4th-6th cent. A.D. ' (Example)
  20. Nashshān/as-Sawdā’ (Provenance), 'Minuscule script: 5th-2nd cent. B.C. ' (Example)
  21. Nashshān/as-Sawdā’ (Provenance), 'Monumental script: 8th cent. B.C. (Jawf)' (Example)
  22. Nashshān/as-Sawdā’ (Provenance), 'Palm leaf with Sabaic inscription written in minuscule script (YM 11738) from Nashshān/as-Sawdā’.' (image)
  23. Oman (Diffusion area)
  24. Paris (Place held), 'Monumental script: 7th cent. B.C. (Sabaʾ)' (Example)
  25. Paris (Place held), 'Monumental script: 8th cent. B.C. (Jawf)' (Example)
  26. Qarnaw/Ma‘īn (Provenance), 'Minaic monumental inscription (YM 2009) from Qarnaw/Ma‘īn incised on stone (beginning 7th c. BC ca).' (image)
  27. Qaryat al-Faw (Provenance), 'Bronze plaque (Riyaḍ 302) with ibexes and tree of life and bearing a Minaic dedicatory inscription. The plaque originates from the oasis of Qaryat al-Faw (Saudi Arabia) where a Minaean community of traders settled in pre-Islamic times (1st BC – 1st AD).' (image)
  28. Qāna’/Bi’r ‘Alī (Place held), 'Sabaic monumental inscription (CIH 621) from Qāna’/Bi’r ‘Alī, incised on the rock and with monograms (530 AD).' (image)
  29. Saudi Arabia (Diffusion area)
  30. Shabwa (Provenance), 'Gold pendant from Shabwa (BM 132998) with Ḥaḍramitic inscription.' (image)
  31. Shabwa (Provenance), 'Hadramitic monumental inscription (Ja 925) incised on the rock and originating from al-ʿUqla near Shabwa (3rd c. AD).' (image)
  32. Shabwa (Provenance), 'Ḥaḍramitic alabaster incense burner from Shabwa (RES 4690) with figure of camel rider in relief and bearing a proper name.' (image)
  33. Sumhuram/Khawr Rūrī (Provenance), 'Hadramitic monumental inscription (KR 2) incised on the city gate of Sumhuram/Khor Rori (1st c. AD).' (image)
  34. Timna‘/Hajar Kuḥlān (Provenance), 'Monumental script: 1st c. B.C.-1st c. A.D. (Qatabān)' (Example)
  35. Timna‘/Hajar Kuḥlān (Provenance), 'Qatabanic alabaster stela of unknown provenance (Bombieri) with human figure in relief and bearing a proper name.' (image)
  36. Timna‘/Hajar Kuḥlān (Provenance), 'Qatabanic stela from the necropolis of Timnaʿ, Ḥayd ibn ʿAqīl, with human figure in relief (TC 1557) and bearing a proper name.' (image)
  37. Yathill/Barāqish (Provenance), 'Minaic monumental inscription (M 247) incised on the city walls of Yathill/Barāqish (5th-4th c. BC).' (image)
  38. Yemen (Place of origin)
  39. al-‘Ulā (Provenance), 'Fragment of Minaic legal inscription (M 317) from al-ʿUlā (Saudi Arabia), an oasis where a community of Minaean traders settled in pre-Islamic times (4th – 2nd BC).' (image)
  40. Ḥadaqān/Bayt Dughaysh (Provenance), 'Sabaic monumental inscription (CIH 37) from Ḥadaqān, incised on a slab decorated with frieze in relief with geometric motifs (dentils, grooves) and figurative motifs (bull’s heads, palm trees), bearing a monogram (3rd BC ca.).' (image)
  41. Ṣan‘ā’ (Place held), 'Minaic inscription (as-Sawdā’ 88) from Nashshān/as-Sawdā’, incised on a stela decorated with frieze in relief with geometric motifs (dentils, grooves) and figurative motifs (bull’s heads, crouching ibexes) (7th c. BC).' (image)
  42. Ṣan‘ā’ (Place held), 'Minuscule script: 11th-end 6th cent. B.C. ' (Example)
  43. Ṣan‘ā’ (Place held), 'Minuscule script: 4th-6th cent. A.D. ' (Example)
  44. Ṣan‘ā’ (Place held), 'Minuscule script: 5th-2nd cent. B.C. ' (Example)
  45. Ṣan‘ā’ (Place held), 'Monumental script: 3rd cent. A.D. (Sabaʾ)' (Example)
  46. Ṣan‘ā’ (Place held), 'Palm leaf with Sabaic inscription written in minuscule script (YM 11738) from Nashshān/as-Sawdā’.' (image)
  47. Ẓafār (Provenance), 'Bronze colt statuette (BM 132932) with Sabaic inscription from the Ḥimyarite area.' (image)
  48. Ẓafār (Provenance), 'Monumental script: 4th cent. A.D. ' (Example)
  49. Ẓafār (Provenance), 'Sabaic monumental inscription (Gar Sharahbil B) from Ẓafār, carved in relief and with symbols and monograms (462 AD).' (image)
  50. ‘Amrān (Provenance), 'Bronze plaque from ʿAmrān (CIH 72) with figure of lion in relief and Sabaic dedicatory inscription. ' (image)