Roads of Arabia

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18 Arabie US p308-317_BAT.qxd 23/06/10 22:05 Page 310 QARYAT AL-FAW Abdulrahman Muhammad Tayeb Al-Ansari Qaryat al-Faw lies on the edge of the desert of the Rub‘ al-Khali, or “Empty Quarter”, approximately 700 kilometres south-west of Riyadh. The region is crossed by the Wadi al-Dawasir, which in this place runs between the cliffs of Jabal Tuwaiq through a narrow gorge named “al- Faw”. The first people who became interested in this site were employees of Aramco in the 1940s. Beginning in 1951, Jacques Ryckmans, Gonzague Ryckmans and Philippe Lippens visited Qaryat al-Faw, followed, in/1969, by Albert Jamme. Jamme had been asked by the Department of Antiquities to examine a set of inscriptions discovered at the foot of Jabal Tuwaiq. In 1967, King Saud University also became interested in Qaryat al-Faw and sent a team from the History and Archaeology Association of its History Department, which began to explore in the region in 1971, with the aim of localizing the site accurately. Digging began in 1972 and lasted three years. The Department of Antiquities then took over and continued the excavation until 2002. 1 In the South Arabian inscriptions, Qaryat al-Faw is referred to as “Qaryat dhat Kahl”. Kahl was the name of the town’s god. They also indicate that the kingdom of Saba and dhu Raydan had conquered the town several times; other texts also make reference to these events. 2 These different sources illustrate the importance of Qaryat al-Faw between the end of the 4th century BC and the beginning of the 4th century AD. Its inhabitants described the town as the City of Paradise (in reference to Dhat al-Jnan) or the Red City (Qaryat Talu or Qaryat al-Hamra’). But Qaryat al-Faw had fallen into oblivion until the archaeologists of King Saud University took an interest in the site in 1972. 3 During the Islamic period, the name of the town was not mentioned except by al-Hamdani. 4 As for Jorge Zaydan, he simply alluded to the people who lived in the Najd as the Qaryanites. Who were the Qaryanites? The inscriptions (F15-87086) indicate that the al-Sabi, al-Baai, al-Naten and al-Jabal tribes all lived in Qaryat al-Faw. They dug a well and built an altar as an offering to the god (preceding pages) The site of Qaryat al-Faw, photograph by Humberto da Silveira (opposite) Brick towers around the site connected with the excavation, Qaryat al-Faw, photograph by Humberto da Silveira. 1. As a whole, the excavation work undertaken at Qaryat al-Faw was directed up until 1995 by Professor Abdulrahman Tayeb Al-Ansari. 2. Such as Jamme pp. 576, 635, 660, 665, or Ryckmans p. 509. 3. They assembled a body of information and wrote different articles on the subject. John Philby published an outstanding article on Qaryat al-Faw in The Geographical Journal after visiting the site with Ryckmans and Lippens. Henry Field also published a number of studies on Qaryat al-Faw in the context of the expedition sent by Aramco to make a study of the prehistory of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 4. A few lines in his work Geography of the Arabian Peninsula. 311
18 Arabie US p308-317_BAT.qxd 23/06/10 22:05 Page 312 ROADS OF ARABIA Qaryat al-Faw 5. Kahl is mentioned for the first time in a text found at Qaryat al-Faw. 6. One version was declined differently in the feminine and masculine forms, in the first part of the name only. Aabit. This god was probably the first divinity worshipped at Qaryat al-Faw. The altar, the first cult building in the residential quarter (and the whole of the site) was constructed in the late 4th century BC. The remains of the homes in the residential area and the temple dedicated to the god Shams offer an idea of what the town was like before this period. Were the al-Sabi tribe and all the other tribes who seem to have been present in Qaryat al- Faw from its origin the first to settle in this region? That hypothesis seems to be confirmed by the excavations, which reveal that the population settled on the site at the start of the 3rd century BC. Their names do not indicate they originated in South Arabia; if that had been the case, rather than call themselves Qaryanites, they would have claimed kinship to better known tribes. Then where did the Qaryanites originate? They may have come from a region known as al-Jarha (Gerrha) in eastern Arabia where they controlled the trade route that linked the east and south of the peninsula. If we accept that the name al-Jarha is an altered version of the word “Qaryat”, which would have been typical of the period, it would denote that the east of the peninsula was involved in the region’s trading activities. The prosperity of Qaryat al-Faw would indicate the economic and peaceful links that existed between the east and centre of Arabia. Around the middle of the 3rd century BC, the Mineans, who were heavily engaged in the caravan trade, settled in Qaryat al-Faw. One of the members of the Minean tribe of al-Muleyh built a sanctuary as an offering to Athtar Wadd (F8-299), and an inscription made by a man of the al-Maren lineage gives the list of offerings made at Bayt Wadd (F8-271). Another inscription tells us of the offerings made to gods like Athtar dhu Qabd, Wadam Shahr, Nakrah Shiman, Athtar dhu Yuhariq and Athtar Baal Hadath, as well as to Maan and Kahl. 5 The other names given to Qaryat al-Faw – the City of Paradise and the Red City (Qaryat Talu) – were coined by the Mineans. At that time the palms and greenery must have made the scenery a paradise in the middle of the desert as Qaryat al-Faw, with its red clay palaces, stood at the centre of the oasis. The Mineans were not the only ones to enjoy the exceptional surroundings: the al-Sabi tribe, followers of the god Aabit, and their Lihyanite allies, originally from Dedan, were also present. This fact is confirmed by the discovery of a lintel and funerary stelae with inscriptions in Lihyanite. This was a new situation in the Arabian Peninsula: the existence of a common trading organization controlled by the Mineans and Lihyanites. The former held the reins of economic power at Qaryat Talu, while the latter contributed to activities that generated economic growth in the region. Another tribe, the Hanikain Amirain, made its appearance in Qaryanite society. Different versions of the name of this tribe are known. 6 Arguments can be made to associate it with the Ameer tribe that was very influential to the south-east of Rub‘ al-Khali, or with the Minean tribe of Maren. Was the Hanikain Amirain tribe representative of an alliance between Hanikain and Ameer or between Hanikain and Maren? The first supposition seems more probable as the letter ‘n’ at the end of the word “Amirain” is simply a conjugation ending. The Hanikain played a decisive role in the region’s development, in particular in the spheres of the economy and architecture. Several palaces were constructed during this period and the organization of the houses and shops was altered to adapt to the commercial development taking place in the town. The Hanikain were also present in Dedan during the first years of the reign of the state of Lihyan. Discovery of characteristic shards of pottery indicates the presence at Qaryat al-Faw of another Arab population, the Nabataeans, between the 1st century BC and 2nd century AD. Inscriptions in two different scripts (South Arabian and Nabataean) and funerary stelae provide confirmation, but the poor quality of the Nabataean writing suggests that the Nabataean community at Qaryat al-Faw had no great writing skills. In the mid-2nd century AD, another constituent of Qaryanite society made its appearance: the Ghalwan, whose name is mentioned on several funerary stelae. Ijil ibn Hofi ‘amm of the Ghalwan lineage (cat. no.130) and another individual buried with a camel were among the most influential members of this clan. It is also supposed that there was a connection between the Ghalwan and king Mu‘awiya bin Rabi‘a. The funerary inscription of Mu‘awiya, son of Rabi‘a, king of Qahtan, of the lineage of Maytha, raises many questions as it is the only one that mentions a king in Qaryat al-Faw (see fig. p. 94). Other texts instead cite the kings of Hadramawt and Hamir or king Abdi of Saba. Mu‘awiya did not bear the title of king of Qaryat al-Faw but that of king of Qahtan and Madhhij, and to this day this is the only mention made of these countries at Qaryat al-Faw. This may signify that Mu‘awiya died in Qaryat al-Faw while he was passing through, and was buried there. His tomb is crowned by a Nabataean- and Palmyrean-style monument that features a few lines of inscription and a headless statue carved in the upper section, which probably represents a Roman king. These elements argue that Mu‘awiya was a king of the tribes of Qahtan and Madhhij at Qaryat al-Faw. Though the rest of the text gives no indication of the place he ruled over, it confirms his relationship with Maytha and Qahtan, his tribe of origin. As the Ghalwanites represent the second period the site was occupied, it can be assumed that Mu‘awiya and his descendants belonged to the same period, which began in the 2nd century AD. The South Arabian texts that record the invasion, destruction and pillage of the town attest the existence of a new political system in Qaryat al-Faw. The inscriptions of Sha‘r Awtar describe the defeat of Rabi‘a of the line of Thawr, king of Kinda and Qahtan, who had his base at Qaryat dhat Kahl. We note, not without surprise, that this last expression is a different name for Qaryat al-Faw from the one given to the town by the Mineans, and that it associates the town with its god Kahl. Its king, referred to as the “king of Qahtan and Madhhij”, had moreover called his son Rabi‘a bin Mu‘awiya of the lineage of Thawr, king of Kinda and Qahtan. How can this link with the lineage of Thawr be explained? These two texts recording the Sabean campaigns date from the first quarter of the 3rd century AD, and both allude to the kingdom of Kinda as coming before the kingdom of Qahtan. It is not known, however, why the texts disregard Madhhij. Another text from the mid-3rd century refers to “Malik ibn Budd” as king of Kinda and Madhhij, thus ignoring Qahtan completely. And then a text from the time of Ilisharah Yadub and his brother Yazil, kings of Saba and dhu Raydan, refers to Malik as being king of Kinda only. Kinda’s dominant political position at that time might have given it the chance to reign over Qaryat dhat Kahl. Arab genealogists make no distinction between Kinda and Madhhij, and do not associate Qahtan with them. In fact, the kingdom of Kinda had been formed by a number of tribes who had come from the south of the peninsula. During the 3rd century AD it managed little by little to monopolize power in Qaryat al-Faw and the surrounding area. However, an inscription has been found belonging to Imru’ al-Qays al-Mandhiri that enumerates the tribes that he knew and describes his flight from Madhhij. Did he pass through this town close to “Qaryat dhat Kahl” or another region close to Najran? Whatever the answer, the inscription demonstrates that the town had declined by the start of the 4th century AD. 312 313
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E A S M E D I T E R R A N E A N Jer
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ROADS OF ARABIA The Pilgrimage Road
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ROADS OF ARABIA al-Aqra‘ and al-H
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Roads of Arabia

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