Record Number: 33593
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'In the evening all the boys came rushing excited to my terrace with baskets full of pots. They are rough and ugly, but they have pre-Islamic letters scratched on them, which will presumably help to date them: one has the word "mat" (he died), incised upon its edge.'
Century:1900-1945
Date:19 Jan 1938
Country:Yemen
Timeevening
Place:city: Huraidha
county: Shibam, Hadhramaut
location in dwelling: terrace
(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Female
Date of Birth:31 Jan 1892
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:Travel writer
Religion:Christian
Country of Origin:England
Country of Experience:Yemen
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:[inscriptions]
Genre:Unknown, inscription on pottery
Form of Text:Unknown
Publication DetailsPre-Islamic inscription of pottery in the Sabaean script
ProvenanceFound
caves near Huraidha, Qu'aiti State of Hadhramaut
Source Information:
Record ID:33593
Source:Freya Stark
Editor:n/a
Title:A Winter in Arabia: A Journey through Yemen
Place of Publication:London
Date of Publication:1972
Vol:n/a
Page:116
Additional Comments:
Pagination is from the 2011 IB Tauris edition. The book was first published by John Murray in London in 1972.
Citation:
Freya Stark, A Winter in Arabia: A Journey through Yemen, (London, 1972), p. 116, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=33593, accessed: 09 May 2025
Additional Comments:
Dame Freya Madeline Stark (31 January 1893 - 9 May 1993) was a British explorer and travel writer. The inscription was in the pre-Islamic Sabaean (Himyaritic) script, which Stark had learned to read. This reading experience took place in Huraidha (near Shibam) in the Qu'aiti State of Hadhramaut, which was a British protectorate from 1858 until its abolition in 1967.