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golden yellow full cloth hardcover 4to ~ 4º (quarto ~ 7.5"x10"). large book. dustwrapper in protective plastic book jacket cover. fine cond. binding square & tight. covers clean. 1cm ding in top edge of front cover. edges clean. contents free of markings. dustwrapper in fine cond. couple of 1cm edge tears, minor rubbing to spine top, not price clipped. nice clean copy. no library markings, store stamps, stickers, bookplates, no names, inking, underlining, remainder markings etc~. first edition. first printing (FPu1971 & nap). 267p. 8 glossy color plates. 134 glossy b&w plates. 41 b&w drawings, maps, & plans. notes. select bibliography. bibliography. list of illustrations. index. archaeology. art history. ancient history. middle east history. ~ Southern Arabia is one of the few regions of western Asia which still present a new challenge to the archaeologist who must pit his wits and endurance against an often merciless environment. He is also handicapped in the difficult task of assessing the significance of his finds by the scarcity of reliable data in the literature of the ancient world. The wealth and history of ancient Southern Arabia was closely associated with trade. Rich merchandise, brought by sea from Africa, India and the Far East, was landed at Aden and Qana, and then, together with Arabian frankincense and myrrh, taken northward through Arabia by camel caravan to the countries bordering the Mediterranean, such as Egypt and Rome. The most important part in pre~Islamic Arabian history was played by the kingdoms of Southern Arabia, Main, Saba (the kingdom of the Biblical Queen of Sheba), Qataban and Himyar. Though they were constantly at war, each winning ascendancy in turn, trade continued without interruption. The states and tribes along the caravan routes grew wealthy and, by encouraging trade, became the middlemen in a great commercial industry which attracted the attention of civilizations from the Euphrates to the Nile. Cultural influences, passing down the trade routes, resulted in the growth of fine cities and temples and the development of vast irrigation works for the cultivation of incense trees and spices. Thus Southern Arabia formed an important link between East and West in the ancient world. For almost twenty years Brian Doe has lived in Aden, first as a Government Architect and later as Director of the Department of Antiquities. In this capacity he has made many expeditions and conducted extensive research into the archaeology of Southern Arabia. Supported by his own photographs, surveys and discoveries, Mr. Doe presents an integrated study of this mysterious land~its culture, trade, art and architecture~ranging from earliest historical times to the rise of Islam in the seventh century A.D. Seller Inventory # 4102401
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