The Yeha Temple (Ethiopia) at the Beginning of the First Millennium Bc: An Archaeological-Architectural Study Southern Arabian Influence

Abstract

In the first half of the first millennium BC (800-700 BC), a kingdom known as “Damat” flourished in Abyssinia (Northern Ethiopia, Southern Eritrea), recorded in inscriptions. The archaeological evidence from this kingdom reveals the great influence of a number of developed contemporary polities in Southern Arabia, known as the “Southern Arabian Kingdoms” or the “ancient Yemenite Kingdoms”. The dominance of these Kingdoms was due to their strategic location and the availability of natural resources, which played an important role in their international trade. As a result, the southern Arabians settled in areas on the African side of the Red Sea and established the “Damat Kingdom”. Consequently, there was a transfer of the different characteristics of their culture, interaction with the local communities, adaptation of their language and script as well as religious beliefs. They also followed the same architectural concepts in their religious, funerary and civil buildings in addition to the different local concepts found in their art. This paper aims to trace the impact of commercial activities in the creation of the Damat kingdom in Abyssinia, and then describe the various architectural features of the Yeha temple and identify the Southern Arabian influence.