Arabia Felix: An Exploration of the Archaeological History of Yemen (Origins of Arabia) Hardcover – Import, 21 December 2009

This excellent historical book deals with the archaeology of South Arabia(Yemen)was published in 2002 as an exact translation of the origional pubublished in Italian in 1996.The book is in 4 parts 1)pieceing together the picture 2)prehisrory and protohistory 3)the kingdoms of Arabia Felix and 4)religion and material culture.Very well written and researched with adequate line drawings and map but poor illustrations.It is unfortunate the author is not able to shed any light on the 1952 scandal when Wendell Phillips and his American Foundation for the Study Of Man team had to flee from North Yemen to the safety of the British Aden Protectorate Levies leaving all his equipment behind amidst allegations of theft,bribery and corruption.This incident halted virtually all archaeological activities for 20 years.

So much to discover

I found lots of interesting information here. It took a long time to read it through because I did not want to loose anything

Great historical chronology and insights into the architectural legacy but he seems bent on some 'Asiatic Influence' and deftly sidesteps the issue of race and ethnicity when Africa lays just across the water.

To date this is one of the best resources on ancient Yemen. It provides a good overview of what has been discovered in Yemen up until 1996. Each chapter has extensive end notes. As per usual, journal articles provide the most up-to-date information, but this book covers all of the main discoveries and research up until 1996, which is pretty well most everything known about ancient Yemen. Dan Gibson, author of Qur'anic Geography.