Stone Incense Burner from the Collection of the National Museum in Sana'a (An Archaeological Analytical Study)

Abstract

This research examines and analyzes a stone incense burner from the collection of the National Museum in Sana'a. It was one of the most commonly used offerings and votive offerings in ancient Yemeni temples, for the purpose of burning incense. Its use was associated with religious rituals and ceremonies, as well as for purifying holy sites due to its fragrant aroma, and for expelling evil spirits. The research problem revolves around knowing the distinctive features in the art of carving on the incense burner and the most important themes embodied on its front and the purpose of presenting it in the temple. The importance of the research lies in the fact that the incense burner has not been previously studied and published by any researcher except for the inscription written on the two sides of its base, which was studied by Albert Jam (Ja 2897). In addition to the artistic, linguistic, religious and social data and connotations it provides, the research seeks to study and document the incense burner and the decorative, engineering and written elements it contained, and to extrapolate its artistic, linguistic, religious and social connotations, as it included various decorations consisting of rectangular geometric decorations representing stepped doors, and recessed niches embodying the front of the temples, and religious symbols representing the crescent, the sun disk, the bull’s head and horns, and an inscription with a dedicatory nature, which speaks in its content about the dedication of the owner of the inscription, called Munim, of this incense burner to the goddess (the sun), in her temple called (Mfarsham ), in order to implore the goddess to grant him, his brothers, and their descendants safety, to bestow upon them the harvests and fruits of summer and autumn on their agricultural land, and to protect them from the evils of their enemies. It is worth noting that the name of the temple appears here for the first time in this inscription. Although its location is unknown to researchers and those interested in ancient Yemeni civilization, it is likely that it was located in one of the cities of Al-Jawf, given that the incense burner was found there. To complete this study, the researcher followed a descriptive and analytical approach