Calcite incense burner showing a camel rider
Sabaean, 3rd century BC
From Shabwa, Yemen
This is an incense burner with an inscription in Sabaean, one of
several related Semitic languages spoken in ancient South Arabia.
It was written using an alphabet which changed little between its
origins in the sixth century BC and its disappearance in the
seventh century AD. It refers to 'Adhlal, son of Wahab'il', who had
presumably dedicated the burner in a temple as an act of piety.
Hadramawt was one of the rival kingdoms of South Arabia, the
others being Saba (the oldest and most powerful), Himyar, Qataban
and Ma'in. There was often warfare between them over control of
frankincense and myrrh: highly prized aromatics burnt on altars all
over the ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean world. These two
resins only grow in eastern Yemen, southern Oman and Somaliland.
Their production and trade were in the hands of the ancient South
Arabians, who became extremely wealthy as a result.
By the end of the first millennium BC there was increasing
reliance on Bedouin camel riders, and later horse riders, both in
the trade network and also for their strategic value in battle. As
the empires of Saba and Hadramawt expanded they also clashed with
the camel riding Arab tribes to the north.
St J. Simpson (ed.), Queen of Sheba: treasures from (London, The British Museum Press, 2002)
W. Daum (ed.), Yemen: 3000 years of art and c (Penguin, 1988)
St J.H. Philby, The Queen of Sheba (London, Quartet, 1981)