(Moscow, May 17-21, 1999)

The international conference "On the Edge of the Ecumene: South Arabian Civilization and its Place in the History of the Ancient World", organized by the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the St. Petersburg branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the State Museum of Oriental Studies, was held in Moscow on May 17-21, 1999. The conference was dedicated to the memory of prominent Russian sabaeists Gleb Mikhailovich Bauer and Avraham Grigoryevich Lundin and was held with the financial support of the Russian Humanitarian Science Foundation (project 99-01-14013). It was attended by Russian and foreign scientists from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Pisa, Naples, Aix-en-Provence, Gothenburg, Sana'a and Cairo, who presented reports on the history, archeology, ethnography, epigraphy and ancient languages of Southwestern Arabia. The rules of the conference provided for a very lively discussion after each message.

The symposium was another meeting in the framework of regularly organized international seminars under the general title " Sabean Meetings "("Rencontres sabeennes"), the idea of which belongs to the outstanding French Sabeist professor Kr. J. Robin, director of L'lnstitut de Recherches et d'Etudes sur Ie Monde Arabe et Musulman (IREMAM) in Aix-en-France.Provence (France). The first of these seminars was held on 27 September 1993 in Aix-en-Provence. Its theme was to develop common criteria for compiling a database on South Arabian epigraphy and archaeology. The next seminar entitled "Questions of Archaeology and Epigraphy of ancient Hadramaut", dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the Soviet-Yemeni complex expedition in Hadramaut and Mahr, was organized by the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences from February 28 to March 4, 1995 in Pushkin, near St. Petersburg. Finally, the last and third "Sabaean Meetings", which focused on general issues of archeology, history and culture of the civilizations of pre-Islamic Arabia ("Civilizations de I'arabic preislamique"), were held on February 1-3, 1996 in Aix-en-Provence.

The opening ceremony of the conference was held at the State Museum of Oriental Art and was combined with a visit to two beautiful exhibitions displayed at the museum "Ancient gems and stones of the East" and " Heritage of Ancient Cultures: North Caucasus, Central Asia, Chukotka. New arrivals". T. H. Metaxa, Deputy Director for Science at the State Museum of Oriental Studies (Moscow), welcomed the conference participants. In her speech, she recalled that this is the second conference for the museum, which is thematically related to the problems of history, archeology and cultural history of the peoples of South-West Arabia: on November 27, 1985, a scientific symposium was held on the conservation and restoration of Old Sana'a and other ancient and medieval monuments of South Arabia, which was attended by all the leading experts Russian sabeists including G. M. Bauer and A. G. Lundin. A small collection of reports from this one-day symposium was published three years later(1).

The conference participants were welcomed by the Deputy Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Economics V. A. Isaev (Moscow), who specifically noted the fruitful scientific cooperation that has developed recently between the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the State Museum of Oriental Studies, as well as the joint work currently being carried out by the Russian Integrated Expedition of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the Republic of Yemen (the head of the expedition is D.A. V. Sedov) together with foreign archaeological missions-

(1) Ancient and Mediaeval Monuments of Civilization of Southern Arabia. Investigation and Conservation Problems. Moscow, 1988.

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First of all, it is connected with the mission of the Sanskrit Branch of the German Archaeological Institute (Dr. B. Vogt, Director of the Sanskrit Branch of the German Archaeological Institute).

Full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences G.M. Bongird-Levin (Moscow) in his short speech "Russian Studies in Yemen" summed up the successful fifteen-year field work of Russian Orientalists/archaeologists, ethnographers, anthropologists, linguists as part of one of the largest humanitarian complex expeditions of the Academy of Sciences that have ever worked abroad. From 1983 to 1991, it was the Soviet-Yemeni complex expedition of the USSR Academy of Sciences in the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (until 1990) and in the Republic of Yemen (since 1991), later transformed into the Russian Complex Expedition of the Institute of Information Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the Republic of Yemen (from 1993 to the present). The organization of its scientific research is associated with the names of outstanding Russian scientists, full members of the Academy of Sciences B. B. Piotrovsky, E. M. Primakov, V. P. Alekseev. From 1983 to 1989, it was headed by the St. Petersburg orientalist P. A. Gryaznevich, in 1990-1991 - Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences M. B. Piotrovsky, in 1991 to the present, its head is A. V. Sedov. In different years, the leaders of the expedition's detachments and groups were G. A. Koshelenko, Kh. A. Amirkhanov, A.V. Sedov, V. V. Naumkin, I. I. Gokhman, and M. A. Rodionov. The expedition's assets include the discovery and exploration of first-class monuments of antiquity, such as the Lower Paleolithic al-Kuza cave, Neolithic and post-Neolithic monuments of Hadhramaut and Mahra, a complex of archaeological sites in the ancient oasis of Raibun, the Hadhramaut port city of Kana'. The body of Hadhramaut inscriptions obtained by the expedition during archaeological excavations and exploration is impressive-more than 2500 units. In conclusion, the speaker said a few words about the immediate prospects for the research of the Russian Integrated Expedition IV PAI 1 in the Republic of Yemen, which is currently working on the basis of a General Agreement between the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the General Organization of Antiquities, Manuscripts and Museums of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Yemen (President of the Russian Academy of Sciences - Professor Yu.M. Abdallah). One of the priority areas of these studies in the next three years will be participation in the joint Russian-German-French project "The coast of Yemen in pre - Islamic times: environment, human life, material resources and cultural contacts", funded by INTAS-International Association for the Promotion of Co-operation with Scientists from the New Independent States of the United Arab Emirates. Former Soviet Union (scientific coordinator of the project - Prof. Sall). In accordance with this project, archaeological research is expected to focus on the Sabir ancient settlement dating back to the Late Bronze Age, synchronous monuments of the Aden and Bab-el - Mandeb areas, and the Bir Ali (ancient Kana') ancient settlement.

Two speeches on the opening day of the conference were dedicated to the memory of Sabeists G. M. Bauer and A. G. Lundin. S. Ya. Berzini (Moscow) in the message "In Memory of friends" told about many years of joint work with friends and colleagues who passed away so early, about preparing for the publication of translations from Greek and Latin authors, South Arabian and Aksumite inscriptions for the anthology "The History of Africa in ancient and Medieval sources" (Moscow, 1979 - 1st edition; Moscow, 1990-2 edition, revised and supplemented). G. M. Bongard-Levin supplemented the report of S. Ya. Berzina with his memoirs of almost thirty years of work side by side with G. M. Bauer in the Department of Ancient and Medieval Literature. Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. On one of the following days of the conference, S. A. Frantsuzov (St. Petersburg) read the obituary "In Memory of the Teacher", dedicated to A. G. Lundin, which he had written several years ago for a French publication.

Scientific sessions of the conference were held at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. They opened with a report by A. de Maigret (Naples) "Tower tombs in Yemen: a new interpretation". It is based on the materials of the excavations of the Italian Archaeological Mission in Yemen of extensive necropolises located outside the zone of ancient agricultural oases. On one of them, the al-Makhdara burial ground near Sirvah, six ground burial structures were excavated, containing the remains of individual burials made sequentially. Perhaps, according to the Italian researcher, these were family tombs. Radiocarbon analysis of samples from burials made it possible to establish the time of operation of the burial ground - I millennium BC. e. A characteristic feature of the burial equipment was noted-the absence of ceramic dishes. Typologically similar funerary structures in addition to Sirwah are known in large numbers, almost throughout Yemen: in Jouf, Marib, in the vicinity of Wadi Bayhan, in the Shabwa area and in the western part of Wadi Hadramaut. Their sharp difference from the synchronous funerary monuments of agricultural tribes, the creators of the "Sayhad civilization", and their location always far from the urban centers of agricultural oases allowed the author to interpret the" tower tombs " as monuments left by the population belonging to a different cultural tradition from the classical South Arabian one. Perhaps these are monuments of nomadic tribes that ruled the trans-Arabian caravan routes.

B. Vogt (San'a) noted that the material currently available allows us to offer a more fractional classification of burial structures (primarily based on their design features).: with an oval, rectangular or navicular burial chamber, displays with a burial chamber

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J. Retse (Gothenburg) noted the need for a more strict approach to the use of terms denoting archaeological cultures. In his opinion, there are certain doubts about the validity of using the terms "Sabaean tombs", "Kataban settlements", "necropolises of Maina". A. Sedov (Moscow) expressed some doubts about the validity of the speaker's statement that nomadic tribes that left monuments like the al-Makhdar burial ground were the most suitable ones for designating monuments of material culture of the tribes that created the South Arabian classical civilization. they were engaged in the trans-Arabian incense trade. In his opinion, this is a purely speculative assumption, not supported by either archaeological data or written sources.

V. Buffa (Cairo) in her report "South Arabia and the Horn of Africa in the Bronze Age: similarities and differences (to raise the question)" made an attempt to compare the ceramics of the Sabir culture and other monuments of Yemen of the Bronze Age with similar materials originating from the territory of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan. Noting the existence of close analogies both for individual forms of ceramics of the Bronze Age cultures of Yemen, and some coincidences in the style of ornamentation of these vessels among the monuments of the so-called Gash-Group in Eastern Sudan and Ethiopia, as well as among the" pre-Aksum " ceramics of Eritrea (early layers of Adulis), ceramics of the Kerma cultures and the so - called C-Group in However, the author of the report came to the conclusion that it is premature to declare the southern part of the Red Sea basin a zone of archaeologically unified culture or "cultural unity", which has recently been advocated by the Italian researcher R. Fattovich. According to this researcher, already in the third millennium BC, the central and southern parts of Arabia and the eastern part of the Horn of Africa were inhabited by "nomadic tribes that had a single tradition of rock art", and from the middle of the second millennium BC. In the southern part of the African and Arabian coasts of the Red Sea, a single "Afro-Arabian cultural complex" is being formed(2). As the report demonstrated, the archaeological material currently available to researchers does not allow for such conclusions.

A very interesting addition to the report of the Italian researcher was the information of H. A. Amirkhanov (Moscow), in which he presented the first results of paleobotanical studies of samples from the pit at Maleiba, one of the settlements of the Sabir culture. These analyses clearly indicate agriculture as the predominant form of economy of local tribes of the Bronze Age.

B. Vogt spoke about the results of the long-term excavations of the expedition of the German Archaeological Institute on one of the key monuments of the Marib oasis in the report "Dating of the Bar'an temple in Marib". Five seasons of large-scale excavations and two seasons of restoration work on the monument made it possible to trace in general terms the main stages of its construction and functioning. The final appearance of the temple was formed no later than the fifth century BC, but excavations have uncovered the remains of at least two earlier temples. Analogies to the earliest ceramic material found during excavations made it possible to tentatively attribute the original religious building in this place of the Marib oasis to the IX century BC. e. A significant reconstruction of the temple, associated with a change in the cults and rituals performed in it and accompanied, as appears from these written sources, by a change in the name of the temple, occurs at the end of the I century BC. The speaker considers it possible to link these changes with the military campaign of the Romans under the leadership of Aelius Gallus in 26/25 BC to Southern Arabia. As you know, Roman troops reached the Marib oasis. In general, the data of stratigraphic excavations at the site confirm the Sabean chronology proposed by G. von Wissmann.

In the discussion on the report of the Kyrgyz Republic. Rovin (Aix-en-Provence) noted the exceptional importance of the research of German scientists on one of the key monuments of the ancient Sabaean kingdom, although he pointed out that, in his opinion, the chronological constructions of G. von Wissmann are the fruit of purely speculative conclusions made without proper reliance on sources, and their coincidence with those available in the Russian literature . the present archaeological materials are largely accidental.

A.V. Sedov, in his report "Archaeological periodization of Raibun and Raibun epigraphy: some general remarks", demonstrated the difficulties that arise when trying to link data on the archaeological dating of the layer and chronological definitions of some of the inscriptions found in it related to a particular "epigraphic style"using a number of specific examples. The development of new epigraphic schemes and the refinement of existing ones, at least for Hadhramaut, is still carried out, as a rule, rather abstractly, based largely on speculative ideas about the supposed evolution, often straightforward, of the inscription font. The findings of" different-style " inscriptions in the same stratigraphic conditions raise reasonable doubts about the validity of rigid conclusions about the assignment of monumental inscriptions of a particular style to a rather narrow time period.

(2) Fattovich R. The Contacts between Southern Arabia and the Horn of Africa in Late Prehistoric and Early Historical Times: a View from Africa // Profumi d'Arabia. Atti del Convegno / A cura di A. Avanzini. Roma, 1997. P. 273-286.

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Both the "experience" of the style and the deliberate archaization of the style of inscriptions are possible. As an example, inconsistencies between the dates of construction of certain parts of the Mayfa'an temple in the Raibun oasis (Wadi Dau'an), established on the basis of radiocarbon dating, and the "epigraphic" dating of some inscriptions on the tiles lining the walls of these parts of the temple were given. The design features indicate that the time of construction of these parts of the temple and the time of engraving of these monumental inscriptions should coincide, but the "epigraphic" dating gives a date of several centuries (sic !) older.

In speeches on the report of the Kyrgyz Republic. Robin and A. Avanzini (Pisa) noted the extraordinary importance of this problem, which, in their opinion, does not yet have a satisfactory solution. Both a new, more in-depth analysis of the available epigraphic data and new, additional field research, primarily archaeological, are needed. The expected results may lead to the development of different criteria for identifying epigraphic styles than currently exist, and the creation of more advanced dating schemes. For such research, it would be a good idea to combine the efforts of epigraphists and archaeologists from different countries in the framework of, for example, a new joint project.

The latest archaeological discoveries in Yemen were covered by the report X. Khitgen (San'a) "Jebel al-Aud and its significance for the Qataban-Himyarite chronology". The German researcher spoke in detail about the results of the first season of work on this most interesting monument in the southern part of the Yemeni Highlands, located at an altitude of about 2950 m above sea level. In 1996, local residents found a treasure trove of more than 100 votive sculptures, mostly bronze, in the ruins of one of the fortress buildings. Excavations in 1998 uncovered the remains of a large building with at least two floors of living and utility rooms and an extensive stone-flagged courtyard adjacent to the building to the south. During the excavations, a large number of bronze and stone sculptures (both imported and locally made), jewelry, tools, ceramic and stone vessels, furniture parts, bronze tablets with Kataban and Himyarite inscriptions were found. The general dating of the complex is within the limits of the II century BC - III century AD. Hitgen, may have been linked to the Ethiopian invasion of Southwestern Arabia.

A. de Maigret read the summary of a very interesting report by S. Antonin (Naples)" Sculpture of Dal'a", which for the first time attempts to analyze a very peculiar stone anthropomorphic sculpture from the Shuka burial ground, located about 150 km north of Aden. The items come from predatory excavations carried out by local residents for several decades. The archaic appearance of the sculpture, especially anthropomorphic, allows, in the opinion of the Italian researcher, to date it to a rather early time (VIII-V centuries BC). Doubts about the validity of such an early dating were expressed in their speeches by X. Hitgen and A. V. Korotaev (Moscow). The latter drew attention to the rather" late " stylistic features of the letters of South Arabian inscriptions, which are present in some cases on the funerary sculpture.

The report of Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences M. A. Dandamaev (St. Petersburg) "The Arabians in Babylonia of the VI-V centuries BC" aroused great interest (unfortunately, the speaker himself could not attend the conference, but sent the text of the report, which was read by S. A. Frantsuzov). With his usual thoroughness, the researcher scrupulously collected all the references to aribi/arubu/arabu available in cuneiform sources. These terms refer to nomadic desert dwellers in the sources and, as documents from the temple and private archives of Nippur, Sippar, Uruk and other Mesopotamian cities show, they probably formed a very small part of Babylonian society. During the Achaemenid Empire, some Arabians received allotments of State lands as royal soldiers and served as minor officials. Descendants of Arabians integrated into Babylonian society often have Akkadian names, but the origin of their carriers can be indicated, for example, by such a part of the name as arbaja.

A. V. Korotayev in his report "Some institutions of the early Sabaean monarchy" referred to the well-known inscriptions Ja 2904, MAFRAY / al-KadKb 29 and MAFRAY/Mushji' 23, compiled on behalf of Sumhuriyam, the son of Karib'il. After A. G. Lundin and Kr. The author believes that all these inscriptions were left by a Sabean political figure of the VII century BC, the son of the famous Sabean Muqarrib Karib'il, the son of Zamar'alai (Karib'il the Great, as he proposed to be called). Robin) and the brother of another muqarrib Sumhu'alaya. However, from birth Sumhuriyam was denied the right to the Sabaean throne, although he sought to achieve for himself a status as close as possible to that of king and muqarrib. According to A.V. Korotayev, this is evidenced both by the use of symbols of power of the Sabaean Muqarribs, and by the inclusion of the formula of the ritual meal in the text of inscriptions. These statements allowed the author of the report to refer to the characteristics of the ancient Arab system of succession to the throne, which, according to the researcher, is quite accurately described in the famous passage of Eratosthenes from Cyrene, preserved by Strabo (XVI. 4. 3). As a confirmation of his thesis, A. V. Korotaev drew extensively on East African ethnographic parallels.

In the discussion that unfolded on the report, A. Avanzini reasonably questioned the validity of equal involvement of such diverse materials as the data of the South Arabian research institutes.

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inscriptions of a wide chronological range (from the 7th century BC to the 2nd century AD), information from ancient authors and ethnographic parallels from the East African area, although geographically close, but very far both chronologically and culturally. In her opinion, a more careful, differentiated and more critical approach to the interpretation of the available material is needed, which was so well shown, for example, in one of the last articles by A. G. Lundin, published posthumously [3].

V. L. Yakobson (St. Petersburg) spoke about the "Assyrian eponymate". As is well known, in Assyria, the king was an eponym not alone, but together with the highest administrative officials of the kingdom. The king gave his name only to the first year of his reign, and the names of subsequent years were given by the highest officials. Later, the king could again be eponymous for another year. This tradition can most likely be explained by the fact that in the early period, the eponym or ruler of a given year was obviously chosen by lot from among the relatively equal status of Assyrian tribal leaders. In the final part of his report, V. A. Yakobson analyzed possible comparisons with the South Arabian eponym. The similarities can be explained by a common Semitic substrate.

In the first part of his report "South Arabian eponymate: some new assumptions" (in French), S. A. Frantsuzov gave new data on the Hadhramaut eponymate, which he drew from the inscriptions SOIKE 941 (Vir Hamad settlement) and SOIKE 1142 (Raibun oasis, Mayfa'an temple). These inscriptions are dated according to local eponyms. Previously, only one text with a similar date was known - Article 10 from the ancient settlement near the town of Khurayda (ancient Mazabum). In the second part of the presentation, the author turned to the Sabaean eponymate and tried to show that this social institution was not widespread in the I-III centuries AD, as was often assumed earlier, throughout the entire territory of the Sabaean kingdom: inscriptions containing dating by eponyms are mainly associated with the Saba ' tribe, with its influential clans, or with those areas where the influence of the Sabeans and the cult of their" federal " god Almakah was significant. Apparently, we should be talking about a local Sabaean tribal institute. In addition, the speaker supported the previous comments of the Kyrgyz Republic. He expressed doubts about the seven-year eponymate of the Sabeans, drawing attention to the fact that the main part of the inscriptions, in the dating of which there are references to the ordinal numbers of years of a particular eponym, dates back to the end of the II-beginning of the III century AD. According to S. A. Frantsuzov, initially the eponymate of the Sabeans was one-year, then the system began to "blur", and the same eponym began to hold office for a number of years (up to nine). Such destruction of local eponymic cycles in a number of areas of ancient Yemen led, according to the author, at the end of the II century BC-I century AD to the transition from cyclical to linear chronology and to the emergence of local eras ("himyarit", Ab'alaya, etc.). As far as the material allows, this process has not been completed for the Sabeans.

L. Kogan and N. N. Okhotin (Moscow) in their report "New South Arabian etymologies: roots with Sibylants" against the background of a wide range of Semitic, Cushitic, Ethiopian, and non-written South Arabian languages proposed a number of new, sometimes quite unexpected etymologies for a number of terms from the epigraphic languages of South Arabia. Speakers in the discussion on the report of the Kyrgyz Republic. Roven, A. Avantzini, Ya. Retsy, and A. G. Belova (Moscow) noted the thorough elaboration of the proposed etymology and the foundation of the main provisions of the report.

V. V. Naumkin (Moscow) in his report "Dualism in the Socotra cultural tradition: tribal structure and dichotomy of color" presented for the first time a very interesting material of his field research on Socotra Island. In his opinion, the dual division is characteristic of the Socotra traditional understanding of the world, man and society. An example of this is the often repeated plots of Socotran folklore that go back to the ancient mythical representations of this people, some elements of the tribal structure, as well as the traditional orientation of Socotrians in space. This allows us to consider dualism as an organizing principle for Socotran traditional culture, although it is also significant in other cultures. The color dichotomy plays an important role in the dual division of objects belonging to different spheres (for example," white "and" black " divisions in tribes).

S. Ya. Berzina (Moscow) in her report "Aksum Stelae" proposed a new interpretation of these well-known funerary monuments. Noting that the decoration of the front side of these extraordinary monuments is certainly a transfer of the facades of multi-storey palaces, she questioned the claims about the Aksumite affiliation of these palaces. According to the researcher, neither archaeological data nor written sources allow us to speak about the tradition of building multi-storey palaces on the territory of this ancient kingdom of East Africa. S. Ya. Berzina came to the conclusion that in this case the palaces of South Arabian rulers are depicted, for example, the Himyarit royal palace Gumdan. Such attribution allows, according to the researcher, to consider the Aksumite stelae as some kind of commemorative monuments symbolizing the rule of the kings of Aksum over the South Arabian kingdoms.

(3) See Lundin A. G. The position of the supreme rulers in the Sabean state of the middle of the first millennium BC / / EV. M., 1998. XXV. pp. 83-88.

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