Reviewed by Joy McCorriston

The Ohio State University

 

 Yemen Update 44 (2002)

Until the recent publication andtranslations of Jean-François Breton's Arabia Felix andKlaus Schippmann's Ancient South Arabia, there have been noappropriate introductory texts setting Yemenís antiquities ina broader historical context. Joseph Chelhod's compiled 3-volumeL'Arabie du Sud: Histoire et Civilisation appeared nearlytwenty years ago and in French. Several well-illustrated exhibitioncatalogues have since provided valuable overviews to Yemen'santiquities and their historical context. Now four new books offereasy access to the erstwhile highly specialized literature of SouthArabian archaeology and epigraphy. Other reviewers will examineRobert G. Hoyland's Arabia and the Arabs (2001, RoutledgePress) and Alessandro de Maigret's Arabia Felix (2001, StaceyInternational Publishers) in coming issues of YemenUpdate/Webdate. This issue considers the following twobooks:

Arabia Felix from the Time of the Queen of Sheba: Eighth Century B.C. to First Century A.D. By Jean-François Breton, translator Albert Lafarge. 2000 [1998]. University of Notre Dame Press. 226 pp. $24.00 cloth, $14.95 paper. ISBN 0-268-02002-7 (cloth), 0-268-02004-3 (paper).

Ancient South Arabia: From the Queen of Sheba to the Advent of Islam. By Klaus Schippmann, translator Allison Brown. 2001 [1998]. Marcus Wiener Publishers. 181 pp.$18.95 paper. ISBN 1-55876-236-1 (cloth), 1-55876-235-3 (paper).

Writing about the struggle to write aboutculture, anthropologist Clifford Geertz once explained the delicatetension between the ethnographer's scholarly authority of "beinghere" and conveying his personal experience of "being there" as beingat once both cartographer and pilgrim. The challenge is no less greatfor an archaeologist writing a comprehensive review of an ancientcivilization and portraying its idiosyncrasies. Of course anarchaeologist can never "be there" as an ethnographer can: thearchaeologist relies on material remains and historical texts toexperience an ancient culture. But if I were to choose one of thesetwo books to be my guide to ancient South Arabia, only Breton's woulddo. His has the pilgrim's touch.

As a book suitable for lay reader,traveller, and classroom text, in many ways Breton offers the betterguide to ancient South Arabia. Not only does Arabia Felixprovide updated summaries of scholarly interpretation, butBreton's skillful integration of archaeological and epigraphic(historical) data offers a balanced general introduction to thecivilizations of Southwest Arabia (present-day Yemen). A singleauthor who can accomplish this is rare; Breton's text takes itsrightful place beside Nicholas Postgate's wonderful EarlyMesopotamia.

And while Breton has chosen to parse hissubject into thematic chapters -- "Cities and Villages," "Economy andSociety," "The Gods and their Temples," and so forth -- therenevertheless runs throughout a clear narrative of temporaldevelopment. The earliest literate societies already depended uponsocially-regulated irrigation technology, conscripted labor, and aunifying religious ideology, and these features persist through time.To explain the long-term political history of the caravan kingdoms,Breton emphasizes economic and social factors and their historicaldevelopment in a dynamic political economy. It is precisely Breton'sbalanced portrait of both a uniquely Arabian history and its rise anddemise in the pattern of many ancient civilizations that make thisbook such an important contribution.

The reader shares in a privileged view.Breton, who draws little attention to his own role yet has done somuch of the basic research and written many of the original sourcereports, offers an intimate reconstruction of a long-vanishedsociety. One cannot but note that ancient habits seem familiar, eventhough transformed and re-shaped by intervening centuries. Anyone whohas spent the time that Breton has among Southern Arabia'scontemporary tribesmen has little difficulty recognizing ethnographiccontributions to Breton's reconstructions of ancient tribalorganization, hierarchy, clientage, and landholding. I enjoy hisimplicit use of contemporary ethnography in suggesting similarsituations in the past. For example, motives that underpin theconstruction of Yemeni tower houses today -- such as expressingwealth, emphasizing community units, and providing security -- mayalso have been the motives of ancient South Arabian urbanites. Laterbedouin camel sacrifice offers an analogy for ancient camel burials.Such ethnographic analogy is one important axis to the sense of"being there" that Breton's interpretive view provides.

Another axis of "being there" is Breton'sfamiliarity with both epigraphic and archaeological sources; in bothhe recognizes inherent strengths and weaknesses. Because hisarchaeological research has often entailed close collaboration withleading epigraphers (especially Christian Robin), Breton wellunderstands the historical source materials, their contexts, andtheir limitations. Archaeological data can be used to test historicaldata, as in the Middle East's most famous example of matchingdestruction levels of Canaanite cities to a Biblical account ofJoshua's (mythical) violent conquest. (At none of the named Biblicalcities is there a match!) Breton tries a similar approach with thecorrelation of archaeological destruction evidence from the site ofSabr with the southeast campaign of Karibíil Watar, sovereignof the Saba confederacy (p. 36). Archaeological data sometimesconfirm historical expectations; for example, square incense altarsappear in archaeological contexts during the 7th century BCE,concurrent with the historical accounts documenting that incensereplaced animal fats in sacrifice (p. 57). Yet the most valuablecontribution of archaeology is in providing a cultural framework forlimited historical information. Breton's synthesis does the latterexceptionally well. Without the archaeological records of SouthernArabia's cities, temples, and necropoli, South Arabian civilizationwould still be lost to contemporary scholars: without inscriptionsand historical accounts, ancient South Arabians would be asmysterious as the lost founders of Great Zimbabwe. Breton's "beingthere" offers a highly informed perspective of literate South Arabianurban dwellers through the rise and fall of the Sabakingdom.

Arabia Felix opens with anintroduction to physical and economic geographies of the Arabiancity-states. The reader immediately understands that floodwaterfarming was the foundation of civilization, and there follows(Chapter 1) particularly clear explanation of the dynamics, socialrequirements, and technical exigencies such farming entailed. Onlythereafter does Breton turn to the historical events recorded ininscriptions and the chronicles of neighboring civilizations (Chapter2). Chapter 3 offers an interesting discussion of aromatic resins,again from the perspective of literate urban dwellers more interestedin trade than in the social and technological aspects of frankincenseand myrrh production in remote hinterlands. Next, the readerencounters ancient South Arabian cities and villages, both asarchaeological remains (Chapter 4) and a socio-economicreconstruction of the diverse lives of their inhabitants (Chapter 5).Changing and complex ideologies appear in later chapters. Aparticularly successful and insightful marriage of archaeology andepigraphy offers an exceptionally authoritative and yet intimate viewof "the gods and their temples" (Chapter 6) and "the world of thedead" (Chapter 7). Final chapters situate Arabia Felix in the widerworld of classical commerce, imperialism, and cultural exchange andyet anchor unique Sabaean traditions in Arabian history.

I lament the lack of detailed maps and linedrawings in Arabia Felix, for with greater care to illustration thiswould be a superb contribution indeed. If only there were maps of theseparate kingdoms, of city layout (Marib, Shabwa), of frankincenseroutes, genealogical charts of the mukarribs, distribution maps andillustrations of aromatic plants, plans of buildings and templearchitecture, diagrams of costume, illustration of artworks, alldescribed in tantalizing detail in the text! Breton's Americanpublishers have done little service to this book by failing to pressfor these illustrations and by clumping the scant photographs that doappear into a cheap core section without figure numbers orcross-reference to relevant chapters. No doubt it is also cheaper todo chapter notes at the end of the book than footnotes, but thelatter better serve this book's audience. There are odd translationglitches such as the term "raclette knife" (p. 59), which few NorthAmerican readers will recognize, "Corbeau" to describe the Fortressof the Crow at Qana (p. 173), and the awkward definition of Linneanspecies (p. 55). What a shame that the press spent so little effortproducing Breton's important text -- it could attract a much wideraudience in re-publication with appropriate figures.

Schippmann's Ancient South Arabiaoffers an altogether different perspective from Breton's. To returnto Geertz's discursive dichotomy, I recognize in Schippmann's workonly the authoritative scholarship of "being here" and none of thepersuasion of "being there". Despite his somewhat painfulpresentation of credentials ("I taught Middle Eastern archaeology inthe Michaelis House, named after [a German scholar interested inArabia] for twenty-five years" p. 23), I wonder whetherSchippmann has ever even visited South Arabia. For all the researchand synthetic scholarship he brings to his subject, Schippmann's booklacks both the narrative cohesion and evocative detail of Breton's.The difference is not merely one of length but one of substance andjudgment.

Overall the book is abrupt and lacks realengagement with the subject. Chapters are choppy and lurch from oneto the next with neither transition nor narrative thread. AncientSouth Arabia describes and lists various facets of ancientcultural tradition, but it offers no explanatory framework.Schippmann has relied too heavily on German sources, and sometimesthese sources have long since been superceded by more recentscholarship in other languages. This is definitely not an accessibleguide for tourists, nor does it hold much promise for classroom use.It does serve as a brief catalogue for important issues in Arabia'shistory and archaeology.

After a brief introduction to Arabia'sphysical geography (Chapter 1), Schippmann offers a similarlycategorical view of Arabia's people (Chapter 2). The reader can findpopulation statistics (mostly outdated) but gets little sense of whoArabia's people are and their own perceptions of cultural and socialidentities. Chapter 3 ("Languages and Writing") lacks some importantsources: I find no reference to the recent epigraphic and historicwork of Russian scholarship in Hadramawt or on the implications ofearly lettering on ceramic jars. Further, there is lengthy treatmentof a scholarly controversy over origins and antiquity of Ugaritic andSouth Arabic alphabets, yet the reader gets no sense of why thisshould be an important issue in such a short treatment of ancientSouth Arabia. Also, do not look for the excitement of a travelogue in"Exploration History" (Chapter 4). Content to list explorations,Schippmann's text utterly lacks intimacy and persuasiveness.Similarly Chapter 5 ("The History of South Arabia"), arguably thecore of this book, lists sites and archaeological expeditions withoutmeaningful synthesis of archaeological and epigraphic discoveries.The chronological arguments are much too detailed for a book of suchlimited scope and perhaps reflect the author's own struggle to masterhis subject, a struggle also suggested by more frequent insertion ofthe author's opinions than elsewhere in the text. "History" heremeans dates, rulers, and military campaigns: the reader finds none ofthe social and economic dynamics that offer context and explanationfor change. Chapter 6 ("Social Structures in Ancient Arabia") ignoresall the recent American work in Dhamâr, all Yemeni research inthe highlands, all Canadian work along the Tihâma, andvirtually all work in southern Yemen, including recent multi-nationalstudies in Wadi Markha. As a result, Schippmann's lack of geographicand temporal nuance offers a highly static impression of Arabiansociety. "The Economy" (Chapter 7) includes mistakes both ofsubstance and emphasis: there is no accepted evidence of earlyintroduction of millet, and almost no treatment of irrigation,arguably one of the most extraordinary and complex features ofsouthern Arabian society. And why should the reader be interested inwarfare (Chapter 8)? To what social or economic dynamics is the topicgermane? In Chapter 9 ("Religion"), one must ask for greaterexamination of how South Arabia's temples were like the temples ofMesopotamia. Were Arabia's temples also functioning as idiomaticexpressions of household economies? If so, which of Arabia's templesand during which periods in its history? How has Schippmann arrivedat this interesting comparison? And last, if most peculiarly,Schippmann's book discusses "Art" (including here the Marib dam),severing the reader after a cursory treatment of coins and pottery.There is no summary or conclusion. One wonders if the author overranpage limits, a deadline, or perhaps his own interest in Ancient SouthArabia.

Schippman's book brings the advantage ofbrevity and a fine translation. Alas, like Breton's, the book lacksdecent illustration. Black and white photographs are printed on ragrather than glossy plate paper and offer murky, grainy, low-contrastviews of their subjects, which are mostly stone ruins and landscapeslacking animate subjects or scales. There are no linedrawings.

Inevitably, a comparison of two works sosimilar in theme and construction and so different in balance andstyle will favor one. My preference aside, both books offerunprecedented access to ancient Arabia because they cover a broadscope and provide a much-needed overview like so many books onancient Egypt or Greece or Rome. Both books fill an important nicheand should enjoy long shelf-lives.

References Cited:

Clifford Geertz (1988) Works and Lives:The Anthropologist as Author. Stanford, CA: Stanford UniversityPress. p. 10.

J.N. Postgate (1992) Early Mesopotamia:Society and Economy at the Dawn of History. London: RoutledgePress.