Naqab al-Hajar [ancient Mayfaʿat]

Ancient fortified city of the kingdom of Ḥaḍramawt, located in the upper reaches of the Wādī Mayfaʿa, in modern Yemen. Despite the absence of archaeological excavations, the remains of a city wall and several buildings have been identified. The city was occupied at the latest in the 5th-4th cent; BCE, until at least the 4th cent. CE.

Location and exploration

Naqab al-Hajar, the ancient Mayfaʿat (Myfʿt) lies on the upper reaches of the Wādī Mayfaʿa, at 14°19’N and 47°31’E, 45 km from the coast of the Gulf of Aden and about 95 km northwest of Biʾr ʿAlī (ancient Qanīʾ). The city is located on a steep rocky spur overlooking the southern bank of the wādī (Fig. 1).

Naqab al-Hajar is one of the oldest sites in southern Arabia documented by explorers. As early as 1835, James Raymond Wellsted described it briefly (Wellsted 1837, 1838: 424-442) and copied the inscription RES 2640 discovered in tower no. 17 of the southern gate. In the 1870s, the travellers H. von Maltzan and M.W. Munziger recorded inscriptions but did not describe either the wall or the buildings inside in detail.

The rampart

The rampart is 710 m long in total, and follows the contours of the rocky outcrop in places, with interruptions where it is particularly steep.

Two types of walls were built. The first and most remarkable is 584 m long, with slightly projecting towers (ca. 1 m) (Fig. 2). The inscriptions describe an internal structure of brick blocks and wooden upper storeys which have now disappeared.

In the northern sector, the ravine is blocked by a double wall, 3 m wide and 126 m long, consisting of a double facing with an internal filling. In addition, the entire section of the wall between towers 34 and 36 is lined on the inside with two massifs of masonry. There is a single staircase for access below, symmetrically arranged in relation to a water drainage conduit. Not far away, a well was supplied by the runoff between the two elevated areas of the town.

Finally, the rampart comprises three gates. The main one, to the south, between towers 16 and 17, is a double-bent gate; to the north, the second one, between towers 33 and 34, is framed on both sides by three blocks of masonry and preceded by a rectangular platform; finally, to the east, a passage is arranged between towers 30 and 31.

Four inscriptions by a certain Hbs¹l son of S²gb commemorate the construction of the rampart in stone, wood and brick, probably around the 5th-4th centuries BCE (MAFYS-Naqb al-Hagar 1-4). The date remains uncertain, as the writing of the inscriptions shows great disparities. No later texts have been found to date on the site. The city is mentioned in the inscription of the fortress of al-Bināʾ (RES 2687) as the target of a Himyarite attack in the late 1st cent. BCE. The last mention of the city appears in a text from Wādī ʿAbadān, in 360 CE (ʿAbadān 1).

The city and its territory

Within the walled area, the two hillocks facing each other to the east and west comprise numerous low buildings, one of which (Building 1) measures 10.4 x 11 m, with a staircase in front of it (Fig. 3). Another building, 27 x 17 m, may be the temple mentioned by J.R. Wellsted.

To the southwest of the city, a canal cut into the rock, sometimes disappearing underground, irrigates vast areas, in particular to the south and southeast of the city. Traces of secondary canals are sometimes still visible. Finally, to the southeast of the city, outside the city walls, rectangular buildings with irregular block masonry could belong to a necropolis, divided into two groups (Fig. 4).

The function of Naqab al-Hajar seems to have been mainly defensive, to ensure security on the road between the port of Qanīʾ and the interior, towards Shabwa. However, considering the importance of the hydraulic works, the irrigated fields and the buildings within the city walls, its role as a large settlement cannot be overlooked.

Jean-François Breton

References and suggested reading

• Breton, J.-F. 1994. Les fortifications d’Arabie Méridionale du 7^e au 1^er siècle avant notre ère (ABADY VIII). Mainz: Philipp von Zabern.
• Breton, J.-F., R. Audouin, C. Robin & J. Seigne 1987. La muraille de Naqab al-Hağar (Yémen Sud). Syria 64(1): 1–20. DOI: 10.3406/syria.1987.6976.
• Doe, D.B. 1983. Monuments of South Arabia. Naples: Falcon-Oleander Press.
• Lankester Harding, G. 1964. Archaeology in the Aden Protectorates. London: Department of technical Co-Operation.
• Wellsted, J.R. 1837. Narrative of a journey from the tower of Bal-l-haff on the southern coast of Arabia to the ruins of Naqb al-Hagar in April 1835. JRGS 7: 20–34.
• Wellsted, J.R. 1838. Travels in Arabia. London: John Murray [2nd ed. 1978, Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, Graz].
• Wissman, H. von 1953. Beiträge zur historischen Geographie des vorislamischen Südarabien. Mainz: Verlag der Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur.

_{Alternate spellings: Naqb al-Hajar, Naqb al-Hagar, Naqb al-Haǧar, Naqab al-Hagar, Naqab al-Haǧar, Mayfa'at, Mayfa'a, Myfʿt, Maephe, Μέφα}