Page 77 - Arabiab Studies (IV)

Early sites of Jabal ‘Iyal Yazid

Robert Wilson

Jabal ‘Iyal Yazid is the name of an extensive plateau of North-
West Yemen and an administrative area in the Yemen Arab
Republic.1 Forming a part of the western Yemen watershed, the
centre of the Jabal is some 20 km. north of the town of ‘Amran, or
60 km. north-west of $an‘a\ The Jabal is about 25 km. long, north
to south, and between 8 and 10 km. wide.
The top of the plateau is mainly rough and rocky, but some
areas permit cultivation. There is a good scattering of villages and
hamlets, some of which are mentioned in al-Hamdanl’s geography,
$ifat Jazlrat al-'Arab? On and below the plateau is a number of
early sites, mostly now ruined and deserted. Some of these sites
were doubtless rich—the fine columns to be seen on the surface at
al-Madlnah (below) testify to this—and it is sad to note that
stones, sometimes inscribed in the epigraphic South Arabian script,
and being taken from the ruins to be recut and often erased and
then incorporated in new buildings in nearby settlements.
The following list of sites is derived from notes made in the
course of 1975-6 when the writer was in Yemen working on the
identification of sites mentioned in historical (Arabic) texts. No
more than the most superficial investigation of the sites has been
made. The intention of this note is to point out where there are
sites of possible interest and to record where inscribed stones have
been found.3
The sites are described in their geographical order, from south to
north.

Al-Nahirah (Nahirat Dharfran)
3757344
Al-Nahirah is the southernmost of the sites associated with J. ‘Iyal
Yazid and is, properly speaking, not on the Jabal but in the wadi
known as Qa‘ah which forms its southern boundary. However, the
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