Since 2013, the authors have conducted archaeological surveys across the Al-Jawf province in northern Saudi Arabia. In the past two seasons, 48 sites were mapped and characterized by the presence of Levallois technology and, therefore, attributed to the Middle Paleolithic of Arabia. Preferential Levallois reduction using different methods of dorsal core preparation have been found at these sites. The technological variability includes Nubian Levallois methods, preferential Levallois with centripetal preparation, as well as recurrent centripetal reduction methods. In Arabia, sites with Nubian Levallois reduction are known from southern Oman, eastern Yemen, and central Saudi Arabia, while in Africa this reduction method has been identified across much of the northeastern continent. Preferential Levallois with centripetal preparation and recurrent centripetal Levallois methods have been found across Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates. Outside of Arabia, these methods have been found in many regions across the Old World. In this paper, we present the results from technological analyses on the Middle Paleolithic assemblages from the newly discovered Al-Jawf sites. The technological data are used to place these sites into a wider regional framework, assessing whether connections with known lithic industries from across the Near East and northeastern Africa can be surmised.

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The architectural decorations in pre‐Islamic Yemen feature a wide and heterogeneous range of materials. Their many functions cover different fields: domestic, religious, funeral architecture, grave goods (particularly censers and furnishings) and, last but not least, epigraphs. Thus the study of this class of materials requires a two‐fold approach: on the one hand to identify and understand the various ornamental motifs in themselves; on the other to study which types of decorative motifs were applied in various circumstances, and hence what it is that links them to each other and to the structure they adorn. This work aims to provide a foundation for a thorough study of the decorative motifs on stonework in various contexts. We begin by defining the use of architectural decorations in the domestic sphere. The archaeological context of the Market Square at Tamna‘ is particularly suitable, in view of the number of houses brought to light, the amount of related materials found and, above all, because it represents a coherent urban context over a specific period of time.

In this work we analyse the so‐called ‘construction inscriptions’ from domestic buildings. In particular we deal with the inscriptions from domestic buildings from Tamnaʿ, the ancient capital of the Qatabān Kingdom, dated between the fourth century BC and the first century AD, a building located in the site of Darb aṣ‐Ṣābi, near Barāqish, dated around the second century BC and a private house in Qaniya dated around the third–second centuries BC. We offer explanations of the lexical differences in the nouns used to indicate parts of buildings, not in terms of chronology, dialect or linguistic variations and influences, but on the basis of the architectonic and structural data available. Starting from the architectonic features (typologies of domestic buildings, different construction techniques, different uses of materials, etc.) we try to explain the differences in terminology concerning the inscriptions found in buildings known to us.

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