{"title":"Two inscribed wine amphoras from Thāj, Saudi Arabia","authors":"Flemming Højlund, Nicolas Garnier, Peter Stein","doi":"10.1111/aae.12193","DOIUrl":"10.1111/aae.12193","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Two amphoras found at burials outside the ancient city of Thāj, Saudi Arabia, bear inscriptions mentioning <i>wine</i>. The chemical analysis of the content of one of them confirms the presence of wine and more precisely as red wine. Contextual information from one of the graves suggests that wine was consumed as part of burial rituals. One inscription is in Aramaic and the other is in South Arabian cursive or <i>zabūr</i>—in fact the first attestation for this particular script in the core region of the so-called Hasaitic writing culture. Complementing the recent discoveries of <i>zabūr</i> inscriptions from Mleiha (Sharjah, UAE), this inscription buttresses our idea of the emergence of writing in East Arabia in the Hellenistic period.</p>","PeriodicalId":8124,"journal":{"name":"Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy","volume":"32 S1","pages":"367-375"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/aae.12193","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48083920","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Guest editors’ foreword","authors":"Julie Bonnéric, Rémy Crassard, Sultan Al-Duwaish","doi":"10.1111/aae.12195","DOIUrl":"10.1111/aae.12195","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This special issue of <i>Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy</i> is the result of the conference ‘Archaeological Failaka, Recent and Ongoing Investigations’ organised at the National Library of Kuwait by the National Council for Culture, Arts, and Letters (NCCAL) of the State of Kuwait and the French Research Center of the Arabian Peninsula (CEFREPA, formerly known as CEFAS) between 26 and 28 November 2019. Not less than 13 articles on the archaeology of Failaka offer an overview of the most recent works on sites dating from its first occupation in the Bronze Age to the late Islamic period. It provides a new insight into the rich history of Failaka – an island explored by Kuwaiti and international teams since the 1950’s and that was connected with Mesopotamia, Iran, the Near East and India – and begin to fill in some gaps, in particular concerning the late Islamic period, the pottery studies, the long-distance trade and the geomorphology of the island.</p>","PeriodicalId":8124,"journal":{"name":"Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy","volume":"32 1","pages":"1-5"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/aae.12195","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44591922","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Al-Khidr site on Failaka Island in the Bronze Age: Pottery perspective","authors":"Branislav Kovár, Klaudia Daňová, Karol Pieta","doi":"10.1111/aae.12194","DOIUrl":"10.1111/aae.12194","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The objective of this article is to evaluate the results of the excavation at the site of Al-Khidr on Failaka Island that was probably a port or a fishermen’s settlement in the past. A very large number of stone architectural remains and artifacts have been discovered there. Al-Khidr is a typical Dilmun culture site and the settlement was probably contemporary with the known sites F3 and F6 located on the south-west coast of the island. Based on the pottery that has been processed, we preliminarily dated the site to a period between the beginning of the second millenium and approximately 1500 BC, although older settlement may have occurred, beginning at the end of the third millennium.</p>","PeriodicalId":8124,"journal":{"name":"Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy","volume":"32 1","pages":"33-40"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-05-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/aae.12194","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46285435","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Evidence for local, regional and interregional exchange networks on Failaka: Some remarks on late Islamic pottery from Kharaib al-Dasht","authors":"Marta Mierzejewska","doi":"10.1111/aae.12192","DOIUrl":"10.1111/aae.12192","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The site of Kharaib al-Dasht, located on the northern coast of Failaka, is a late Islamic settlement with an extensive fishing infrastructure. It has been excavated since 2013 by the Kuwaiti-Polish Archaeological Mission. The ceramic assemblage collected so far exceeds 18,000 fragments. The sherds underwent technological and typological analyses, which demonstrated a wide diversity of local common kitchen wares, consistent with the needs of households specialised in fishing. A considerable percentage of imported vessels was brought to Failaka from the Arabian Gulf and Persia, though Far Eastern luxury tableware was also attested. This paper demonstrates the socioeconomic role of Kharaib al-Dasht in the context of trade exchange on the microregional (Kuwait) and macroregional (the Gulf, South and Eastern Asia) scales in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.</p>","PeriodicalId":8124,"journal":{"name":"Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy","volume":"32 1","pages":"102-114"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-05-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/aae.12192","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44991095","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Meinrat O. Andreae, Abdullah Al-Amri, Faisal Hamad Al-Jibrin, Abdullah M. Alsharekh
{"title":"Iconographic and archaeometric studies on the rock art at Musayqira, Al-Quwaiyah Governorate, central Saudi Arabia","authors":"Meinrat O. Andreae, Abdullah Al-Amri, Faisal Hamad Al-Jibrin, Abdullah M. Alsharekh","doi":"10.1111/aae.12191","DOIUrl":"10.1111/aae.12191","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We investigated the rock art (petroglyphs) in the Al-Quwaiyah Governorate (Saudi Arabia) with focus on the Musayqira site. Iconographic analysis showed a broad variety of human depictions, game animals (ibex, ass, ostrich, lion, etc.), domestic animals (cattle, camel, horse, dog, etc.), inscriptions and abstract symbols. Archaeometric measurements by pXRF provided the areal densities of Mn on petroglyphs and intact rock varnish. Varnish accumulation rates were derived from Mn density measurements on inscriptions of known approximate age. Applying these rates to varnish densities on the petroglyphs yielded age estimates. Some of the rock art was incised in fracture fill rather than true varnish, complicating the interpretation of the data. The combination of iconographic and archaeometric data indicated multiple phases of rock art creation, corresponding to the Late Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Islamic Period, with different artistic traditions, reflecting changing socioeconomic and ecological conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":8124,"journal":{"name":"Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy","volume":"32 S1","pages":"153-182"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/aae.12191","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43464588","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A consideration on the interest of a pottery typology adapted to the late Sasanian and early Islamic monastery at al-Qusur (Kuwait)","authors":"Rémi Perrogon, Julie Bonnéric","doi":"10.1111/aae.12190","DOIUrl":"10.1111/aae.12190","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Since 2011, the French–Kuwaiti Archaeological Mission in Failaka has aimed at defining the function and the chronology of al-Qusur, located in the middle of Failaka Island (Kuwait). The central part of the site appeared to be a monastery, mainly occupied in early Islamic times. The creation of a site-specific pottery typology adapted to this settlement was one of the main objectives of the team. This typology is still in progress and the present paper will highlight the variety of questions that it can address. Certain pottery types provide new information about the monastery’s foundation, probably at the end of the Sasanian period, and abandonment, maybe during the ninth century AD. Pottery studies are also crucial for a better understanding of the monastery’s economic life and the eating practices of the monks. The question of the local or regional provenance of the pottery provides an insight into the inclusion of Failaka in exchange networks.</p>","PeriodicalId":8124,"journal":{"name":"Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy","volume":"32 1","pages":"70-82"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-04-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/aae.12190","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46678918","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Failaka Island in the Late Islamic Period. Investigations at the fishing village of Kharaib al-Dasht","authors":"Agnieszka Pieńkowska, Marek Truszkowski","doi":"10.1111/aae.12189","DOIUrl":"10.1111/aae.12189","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The aim of the paper is to present the architectural remains and spatial organisation of the site of Kharaib al-Dasht, a Late Islamic fishing village dating from the late seventeenth to the nineteenth century. In the course of six seasons of excavation, which started in 2013, there was uncovered a part of this extensive site, revealing remnants of a fish processing area, residential architecture and a mosque. The findings from Kharaib al-Dasht serve here as a starting point for a discussion on the character of settlement activity on Failaka in the Late Islamic period, which was a time of dynamic change in the political and economic landscape of the region as evidenced by the available written sources.</p>","PeriodicalId":8124,"journal":{"name":"Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy","volume":"32 1","pages":"115-127"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/aae.12189","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46210377","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Middle and Late Bronze Age in Central Oman: New Insights from Tawi Said, Al-Mudhairib and the Wilayat al-Mudhaybi","authors":"Stephanie Döpper","doi":"10.1111/aae.12181","DOIUrl":"10.1111/aae.12181","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Significant changes in the material culture, subsistence and mode of life are associated with the Middle (c. 2000–1600 BCE) and Late Bronze Ages (c. 1600–1300 BCE) in Eastern Arabia. Since first excavations in the 1970s, research has focused on the United Arab Emirates, where all major sites of this period known to date are situated. This birthed the idea of two different lines of development in the second millennium BC. While a more gradual change is assumed for the United Arab Emirates, Central Oman was regarded as having completely abandoned settled agricultural life, returning to a less complex social organisation. This article presents new evidence from Tawi Said, Al-Mudhairib and the Wilayat al-Mudhaybi that shows that the developments in both regions were more akin to each other than previously assumed. This encourages us to reconsider our assumptions about Central Oman’s social complexity during this pivotal period of Oman’s history.</p>","PeriodicalId":8124,"journal":{"name":"Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy","volume":"32 S1","pages":"313-327"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/aae.12181","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42692384","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The site of Al-Qurainiyah: Topography and phases of an early Islamic coastal settlement on Failaka Island","authors":"Andrea Di Miceli","doi":"10.1111/aae.12185","DOIUrl":"10.1111/aae.12185","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This paper presents the latest finds from the early Islamic site of Al-Qurainiyah on Failaka Island, Kuwait. Trenches opened to the west of the main late Islamic village led to the identification of residential buildings and a workshop located along the shoreline, while the pottery assemblage suggests a permanent occupation from at least the seventh century CE to the early ninth century CE. The last two years of excavations allowed us to uncover archaeological contexts that seem to indicate a previous occupation, dating to the late Hellenistic period (second century BC). The long-term occupation, strategic position of the settlement facing a wide and well-sheltered lagoon, as well as the installation of a stable settlement in the same period of Al-Qusur—the main early Islamic site of the island—seem to suggest the interpretation of Al-Qurainiyah as a landing place used both in the early Islamic period and beforehand.</p>","PeriodicalId":8124,"journal":{"name":"Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy","volume":"32 1","pages":"62-69"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/aae.12185","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45681772","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}