Arabia Felix From The Time Of The Queen Of Sheba

Jean - Francois Breton

Description

Sheba, or Saba, is a region of high mountains and vast deserts situated in the southwest of the Arabian peninsula, in what is known today as Yemen. The mysteries and riches of Sheba and its people enticed the likes of Alexander the Great, the Emperor Augustus, and the kings of Ethiopia and Byzantium. From the 8th century to the 1st century BC, the kingdom of Sheba dominated other realms in Southern Arabia, imposing its language, institutions and artistic forms throughout the region. This book provides a detailed synthesis of this remote civilization, the uniqueness of the region's geography and climate, and the major events that shaped its history. It offers valuable insights into the Sabeans' daily life, their customs and religion, their relations with neighbouring civilizations, and their modes of commerce.

Sujets

• Middle Est
• Jewish Studies
• HISTORY
• Histoire
• General officer
• Arabian Peninsula
• Middle East
• General
• Civilization

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 01 décembre 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 3
• EAN13: 9780268201739
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 7 Mo

Extrait

AR ABI A FELI X FROM THE T IME OF THE QU EEN OF SHEBA

AR ABI A FELI X FROM T HE T IME OF THE QUEEN OF SHEBA

Eighth Centuryb.c.to First Centurya.d.

Jean-François Breton

Translated from the French by Albert LaFarge

University of Notre Dame Press Notre Dame, Indiana

English Language Edition © 1999 by University of Notre Dame Press Notre Dame, IN 46556 www.undpress.nd.edu All Rights Reserved

Reprinted in 2009

This฀ebook฀has฀been฀made฀possible฀in฀part฀by฀a฀major฀ grant฀from฀the฀National฀Endowment฀for฀the฀ Humanities:฀Exploring฀the฀human฀endeavor.฀ Any฀views,฀findings,฀conclusions,฀or฀recommendations expressed฀in฀this฀book฀do฀not฀necessarily฀represent฀those฀ of฀the฀National฀Endowment฀for฀the฀Humanities.

Translated by Albert LaFarge from the FrenchL’Arabie heureuse e er autemps de la reine de Saba:Viii –I siècles avant J.C., published byHachette Littératures, 74, rue Bonaparte, 75006 Paris, France. The publisher is grateful to

THE FRENCH MINISTRY OF CULTURE for support of the costs of translation.

© Hachette Littératures 1998

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Breton, JeanFrançois. [Arabie heureuse au temps de la reine de Saba. English] Arabia Felix from the time of the Queen of Sheba : eighth century B.C. to first century A.D. / JeanFrançois Breton ; translated from the French by Albert LaFarge. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 13: 9780268020040 (alk. paper)  ISBN 10: 0268020043 (alk. paper) 1. Arabia, Southern— Civilization. I. Title.

DS247.A144B7513 2000 953‘.02— dc21

99–043002

∞The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

Then she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a very great quantity of spices, and precious stones; never again came such an abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. 1 Kings 10:10

C O N T E N T S

Introduction The Queen of Sheba: Myths and Legends — The Myth of Arabia Felix — In Pursuit of Myths?

1. The Gardens of Saba The Roof of Arabia — A Land of Monsoons — Down the Wadi Dhana — Mastering the Floods — A “Hydrau- lic” Society? — The Two Gardens — Crops and Forests — The City of Ma#rib — The Temples outside the City Walls — Words Carved in Stone

2. The Caravan Kingdoms The Sources — What Is Saba? — The First Mukarribs — The Reign of Mukarrib Karib#îl Watar — The Sabaean Peace — Reasons for the Success of the Sabaeans — Saba: Kingdom without a Queen? — The Decline of the Sabaean Empire — The Rise of Qatabân — Ma"în and the Minaeans — Hadramawt — More Than One Arabia Felix?

. Fragrances of Arabia Theophrastus’sNatural HiStOry— Myrrh — Frankin- cense — Two Harvests a Year — Other Spices — Un- known Quantities — Frankincense Routes through

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South Arabia — From Arabia to the Mediterranean — Some Prices — Organization of the Caravans — Mari- time Routes

c On t e n t s

4. Cities and Villages A Sparsely Populated Land — Forti¤ed Cities — A Dis- tinctive Urbanism — A Visit to Shabwa — Wooden Houses — Tower-Houses — A Wealthy Man’s Home — Austere Dwellings — Functions of the House — The Vil- lages — Farmhouses

5. Economy and Society A Unique Society — Tribal Organization — A Hierarchi- cal Society — The Place of Women — The Peasants — Animal Husbandry — The Rural Economy — The Ur- ban Economy — The Fragility of the Urban Economies — The Builders — Scribes and Clerks — The Steppes and the Deserts

6. The Gods and Their Temples Fragmentary Sources — The God"Athtar — The God Almaqah — Hawbas — Principal South Arabian Divini- ties — Other Divinities — Gods without Human Forms? — The Economy of Temples — Peculiar Rites — Some Ceremonial Costumes — Sanctuaries of the Ar- chaic Period — Temples of Jawf and Hadramawt

7. The World of the Dead The Heritage of the Past — Cavern-Tombs — Mausole- ums — Images of the Dead — A Final Dwelling Place — Burial of the Dead in the Silt — The Tombs of Camels — Later Burial Practices

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c On t e n t s

8. Toward New Horizons The Rise of Himyar — The Royal Tribe of Saba — The Arrival of the Nomads — The Roman Army in South Arabia — New Horizons beyond the Sea — The PEripluS Of thE Ed ŚEa— A Hybrid Art

Conclusion

Glossary

Notes

References

Index

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159

177

181

185

197

207