Record Number: 33593

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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

Time

evening

Place:

city: Huraidha
county: Shibam, Hadhramaut
location in dwelling: terrace

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Freya Stark

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

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Text Being Read:

Author:

[Anon] [Anon]

Title:

[inscriptions]

Genre:

Unknown, inscription on pottery

Form of Text:

Unknown

Publication Details

Pre-Islamic inscription of pottery in the Sabaean script

Provenance

Found
caves near Huraidha, Qu'aiti State of Hadhramaut

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Source Information:

Record ID:

33593

Source:

Print

Author:

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: 17 May 2025

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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.