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Arabian Peninsula, 1000 B.C.–1 A.D.

• 
  Incense burner, mid-1st millennium b.c.
  Southern Arabia
  Bronze

  H. 10 7/8 in. (27.6 cm)
  Gift of Dr. Sidney A. Charlat, in memory of his parents, Newman and Adele Charlat, 1949 (49.71.2)

• 
  Standing male figure, late 1st millennium b.c.
  Southwestern Arabia
  Alabaster (gypsum)

  H. 14 3/4 in. (37.5 cm)
  Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Spear Jr. Gift, 1982 (1982.317.3)

• 
  Votive plaque inscribed with Sabaean dedication, late 1st millennium b.c.
  Southwestern Arabia
  Bronze

  H. 10 3/4 in. (27.3 cm)
  Pfeiffer Fund, 1993 (1993.169)

• 
  Figure of a bull, ca. mid- to late 1st millennium b.c.
  Southwestern Arabia
  Bronze

  H. 8 3/4 in. (22.2 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1947 (47.100.85)

Saba kingdom, ca. 950 b.c.–3rd century a.d.

Ma^cin kingdom, ca. 4th–2nd century b.c.

Qataban kingdom, ca. 4th–1st century b.c.

Hadhramaut kingdom, ca. 4th century b.c.–3rd century a.d.

Himyar kingdom, ca. 2nd century b.c.–6th century a.d.

Maps

World Map / West Asia

Encompasses present-day Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen

Supplemental Maps

• Arabian Peninsula, 1000 B.C.–1 A.D.

• Overview
• Key Events
• Works of Art
• Related Content

Kingdoms emerge in southern Arabia based on the monopoly of two of the most prized materials of ancient times: frankincense and myrrh. These two resins only grow in eastern Yemen and southern Oman and in some parts of Somalia. There is not a temple or wealthy home in the Mediterranean and Near East that does not require these precious resins and is prepared to pay for their weight in gold.

• 1000–450 B.C.Small kingdoms or city-states emerge in South Arabia by about 1000 B.C. One of the oldest is Saba based at the cities of Mar’ib and San^ca. The great stone-faced Mar’ib Dam is constructed from the sixth century B.C., allowing extensive areas of desert to be irrigated.
• 853–539 B.C.Camel-riding Arabs attack caravans crossing North Arabia and Sinai. Alliances are formed with the rulers of the Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian empires. King Nabonidus of Babylonia establishes a base at the oasis of Tayma’ on the caravan routes and campaigns against other rich oases or negotiates alliances with the Arabs.
• ca. 450 B.C.Saba rules over most of the coastal states. Other kingdoms, such as Qataban and Ma^cin, grow to rival Saba's power. Sculpture and metalwork is characterized by a distinctive "block" style.
• ca. 325–324 B.C.During his conquest of the Achaemenid Persian empire, Alexander of Macedon has the Arabian side of the Gulf explored. Bahrain probably has a mint producing Alexander-type tetradrachms. There is evidence of Hellenistic influence in Bahrain, eastern Arabia, and Failaka, where a small Greek-style temple is built.
• late 1st millenium B.C. Images of humans, fashioned in an abstract "block" style from alabaster, are intended as funerary or votive objects to be placed in a tomb or temple. The placement of the ears high on the head, the aquiline nose, the small mouth, and the fully frontal pose are all characteristic of human images made in this region. Animals are also finely modeled in stone and metalwork.
• ca. 25 B.C.Aelius Gallus, Roman governor of Egypt, leads an army into southern Arabia but soon retreats to the port city of Mada^cin Saleh, frustrated by the shortage of water.

	Figure of a bull, ca. mid- to late 1st millennium B.C. Southwestern Arabia Bronze; H. 8 3/4 in. (22.2 cm) Rogers Fund, 1947 (47.100.85)
	Incense burner, mid-1st millennium B.C. Southern Arabia Bronze; H. 10 7/8 in. (27.6 cm) Gift of Dr. Sidney A. Charlat, in memory of his parents, Newman and Adele Charlat, 1949 (49.71.2)
	Standing male figure, late 1st millennium B.C. Southwestern Arabia Alabaster (gypsum); H. 14 3/4 in. (37.5 cm) Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Spear Jr. Gift, 1982 (1982.317.3)
	Votive plaque inscribed with Sabaean dedication, late 1st millennium B.C. Southwestern Arabia Bronze; H. 10 3/4 in. (27.3 cm) Pfeiffer Fund, 1993 (1993.169)

Timelines

• Anatolia and the Caucasus (Asia Minor), 1000 b.c.–1 a.d.
• Central and North Asia, 1000 b.c.–1 a.d.
• Iran, 1000 b.c.–1 a.d.
• Mesopotamia, 1000 b.c.–1 a.d.
• The Eastern Mediterranean and Syria, 1000 b.c.–1 a.d.

Maps

• West Asia, 1000 b.c.–1 a.d.
• World, 1000 b.c.–1 a.d.

Index Terms

Art Movement/Style

• Achaemenid Persian Empire of the Ancient Near East

Geography/Place

• Arabian Peninsula

Material and Technique

• Bronze from West Asia
• Sculpture in the Round from West Asia

Subject Matter/Theme

• Hoofed Animal
• Archaeology from West Asia
• Hieroglyphs

Thematic Essays

• The Damascus Room
• Life of Jesus of Nazareth
• Nabataean Kingdom and Petra
• The Parthian Empire (247 b.c.–224 a.d.)
• Popular Religion: Magical Uses of Imagery in Byzantine Art
• The Rediscovery of Assyria
• Roman Egypt
• Trade between Arabia and the Empires of Rome and Asia
• Trade Routes between Europe and Asia during Antiquity
• The Year One

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Citation

"Arabian Peninsula, 1000 B.C.–1 A.D.". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=04®ion=wap (October 2000)

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The Year One: Art of the Ancient World East and West

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