Qataban and Sheba: Exploring Ancient Kingdoms on the Biblical Spice Routes of Arabia

1955

Storage Bliss OR P

London: Victor Gollancz

America’s answer to Lawrence of Arabia, archaeologist and ‘swash-buckling adventurer’, Wendell Phillips (1921-75) was the first Westerner to dig in the Yemen in 1949. In ancient times, the area was central to the lucrative incense trade, and great city kingdoms were built from the riches gained. Phillips excavated ruins in two separate areas related to two kingdoms – Saba (that of Queen of Sheba legend) and Qataban (on map here). His team was safe while in the ancient city of Timna, as it was within the Aden Protectorate governed by the British. However in 1952, while Phillips and his researchers were in Maʾrib, a place ‘beset with political intrigues, and border disputes’, they were in grave danger of being killed. They escaped with their lives, but not much else.