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Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi
Salaams Ahmed .. Sadly no I have not heard of any Yemeni pre Islamic Burials but early Omani Tombs are well recorded. There was a big migration from the Mahrib region in Yemen which lasted for several hundred years parallel to the downfall, disrepair and decline of the Mahrib Dam in roughly the 3rd to 6th C.
One report I read of a sword coming from an Islamic burial site on Jebel Akhdar (a purely one off discovery) made a couple of hundred years ago..
Readers will note that it was not the done thing here to bury arms and armour with the dead. The old Omani Battle Sword you may find interesting since its local name is Sayf Yamaani.
Interestingly there is a place near Nizwa called Yemen in part of Izki town ...an old quarter... and it was my thought that weapons could have either come on the trade route from Hadramaut or were made in the region near Nizwa since that was the seat of Ibaathi Islam from 751 AD til today. Nizwa has always been a metalworking area....Copper and iron since they knew the hand bellows system of raising the temperature of the furnace.
My thread refers at http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...t=omani+swords
You will see Yarmouk may refer to the University at which he was a faculty member? Yarmouk Jordan at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Nicolle
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi. |
Salaams Ibrahiim,
Thanks a lot for this. It seems that researchers must be as brave, bold, or even as audacious as the European researchers who dug out hundreds (if not many thousands) of European swords dating back to the Migration Period (400 - 750 CE) and the Viking Age (750 - 1066 CE); not to mention the Middle Ages (1066 - 1450 CE). Both al-Kindi and al-Biruni speak of Yemeni Quboori (i.e. tomb) swords being buried with their possessors in their graves. al-Kindi stated that these swords were anywhere from 1.75 to 2.75 lbs in weight, and their blade lengths were anywhere from 30 to 36 inches. Of course there are much more characteristics given in these two sources, and yes, these swords were pre-Islamic.
I would've really loved to hear any replies confirming excavation processes undergone by archaeologists that would've ended with the un-earthing of many of these priceless swords. Maybe such excavations may occur in the near future. Who knows???
Best regards,
Ahmed Helal Hussein