Kameldarstellungen aus Metall im vorislamischen Südarabien

The present study takes as its basis a collection of 67 bronze camel figurines kept in the Five Continents Museum in Munic of which most will be published here for the very first time. In addition to these objects from other museums will also be taken into consideration. The study intends to analyse the depictions of camels (dromedary) from ancient South Arabia and to investigate their style, chronology and meaning. Special attention will be paid to the economic and social relevance of camels and to the question of how far camel caravans can be considered as go-betweens for the cultural exchange with the Mediterranean world. The study will be completed by a compilation of all the relevant epigraphic documents from ancient Southern Arabia concerning camels in order to reveal the importance of this domestic animal. The first chapter deals with the history of ancient South Arabia (3rd. millennium B. C – 632 A. D.), the “Arabia felix” of the Classical Greek and Roman authors, and with the exact provenance of the figurines in study. A short summary of the current state of research regarding the evolution of camels follows. Based on the description of the species of the camel and its evolution an account of the research literature on the process of the domestication of camels will be given in order to establish a chronology. Thanks to their endurance and frugality camels became the most important beasts of burden on the Arabian peninsula. For this reason a subsection is dedicated to the Incense Road. The epigraphic documents given in transcription and translation in the appendix of this book will be surveyed statistically and analysed as an important source for the interpretation of the archaeological record. The figurines will be classified in three main groups according to general features and presented in a detailed catalogue. They will be analysed with regard to material, production techniques and state of preservation. Furthermore the far-reaching significance that camels had for the people of ancient South Arabia as mounts and beasts of burden as well as in a religious context will be discussed. Other documents (e. g. stelae, petroglyphs, terracotta figurines) from the region of their origin, the wider Arabian paninsula, the Near East and the Mediterranean world give an idea of the chronological classification of the camel statuettes.