Himyar: Spatantike im Jemen/Late Antique Yemen.

• Author: Lewis, Krista
• Position: Book review

Himyar: Spatantike im Jemen/Late Antique Yemen, By PAUL YULE. Aichwald: LINDEN SOFT VERLAG, 2007. Pp. 192.

Himyar was the last major ancient polity in southwest Arabia before the coming of Islam. Despite its important position at the juncture of key moments and places implicated in global cultural change, the Himyarites have been little studied or written about in contemporary western scholarship. Paul Yule's book makes an important step towards filling the gap in general knowledge about this important kingdom.

Yule sets out to present a comprehensive picture of the kingdom of Himyar, utilizing historical as well as archaeological information. His assessment relies much more heavily on historical data and art than on archaeology, but this is rather unavoidable given the limited archaeological research carried out on Himyarite-period remains prior to the publication of this book. Such an endeavor is also limited by the fact that even the known historical data for Himyar are scattered and incomplete. However, Yule docs an admirable job of compiling the disparate sources of data for the kingdom and bringing it all into a coherent narrative.

Himyar: Late Antique Yemen is presented bilingually on each page, in English and German. The book is well illustrated, with maps and full color images that help to craft a rich sense of the Himyarite kingdom. Yule is one of the few people qualified to write such a book. Many of the maps and illustrations of sites, art and artifacts, as well as the data discussed in the text derive from Yule's own long-term research project at the Himyarite capital of Zafar and in the region around it.

Yule starts at the very beginning, answering the fundamental question many may have: What is Himyar? He then continues on to layer in basic information about Himyar, including its chronology, geography, a history of research on the time period and region, the Himyarite calendar, language, and a brief historical overview. Himyar was a literate, complex, and partly urban agricultural society involved in international patterns of commerce and culture. Following these introductory chapters. Yule takes on more specific and very interesting themes such as economy, burial practices, social structure, religion, art and architecture, and also hunting and warfare practices in the kingdom.

One of the highlights of this book is that Yule presents a good discussion of religious change during Himyarite times, well integrated into the...