Panel with a warrior

This incomplete panel, with many marks of fire, belongs to a group which decorated pieces of furniture in a building of Humayma. Humayma was situated on a trade route, which lead to Kufa in Iraq via Dawmat Al-Jandal (northern Saudi Arabia). This route bifurcated from the main caravan route, known as the Incense Road, coming from Yemen in the south and ending in Damascus in the north. The site is located around 70 km northeast of Aqaba and represents a cultural sequence going back to the Nabataean period continuing till the Umayyad and Abbasid and partly later periods. It is clear from the Nabataean remains that an intricate system of irrigation was maintained in connection with the site.

The building in which the ivory panels were found has been interpreted as the palace of the Abbas family, before they seized power in Iraq. Some historical sources mention that ‘Alî ibn ‘Abdallâh ibn al-‘Abbas had settled down in Humayma during the Umayyad period, after he acquired a piece of land and cultivated it with olive trees. To this great ancestor goes back the Abbasid dynasty established in Iraq. The structure uncovered in Humayma does not differ much from other Umayyad palaces such Umm Al-Walid palace in central Jordan. It has been affirmed, on account of the central room containing the ivory panels and exquisite wall paintings, that the building is a palace and not a caravanserai. It is believed that the palace was destroyed at the beginning of the Abbasid period. Similar wall paintings were found in other Umayyad palaces such as Hallabat in Jordan and Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbî in Syria.

The panels were preserved in numerous small fragments, difficult to reconstruct. They show small holes, evidently used to fix the panels on pieces of furniture. Some iron pieces were still affixed in the holes.

The panel chosen here shows a male figure carved in relief, inside an arched recess outlined with a pearl-beaded ribbon and on the top of it, a row of triangular crenellations. His body is in frontal position, whereas his head is in profile, looking towards the left. He is wearing a headgear, and his left hand is holding a long spear. The figure is probably wearing an armor of some sort extending down to the anklets, similarly to one ivory plaque from Aila.

Another panel depicts a female figure in a frontal position. Noteworthy is the hairstyle where the hair is turned back completely, on the head front the figure is wearing a band with a pearl-beaded design. On the sides, the hair ends are styled in a spiral fashion. The figure seems to carry with the hands a lotus flower. The face has, so it seems, an Indian complexion.

Ivory work goes back to an ancient tradition common in the Levant during the second millennium B. C., known in Mari (Tell Al-Hariri on the middle Euphrates, Syria) and Pella (Tabaqat Fahl) in Jordan. The latter site certainly had an ivory workshop where exquisite panels were produced. This is confirmed by the discovery of numerous duplicates of parts, which were used in composing the design. These correspond exactly to some of the figurative elements of the marvelous box found at the site. The applied decoration reflects an Egyptian influence.

Ivory work flourished especially in the first millennium B. C. in Kalkhu (Nimrud, Iraq) and Khadatu (Arslan Tash, Syria). Similar to Pella, ivory panels were produced in Samaria (Sabastiah, Palestine) with clear Egyptian influences. In Assyria different styles could be discerned such as the local style, which imitates the typical Assyrian sculptures. There is also the Syrian style, which seems to have been applied by some Syrian artists. It is believed that the latter were brought by the Assyrian authorities to Assyria to practice their rare craftsmanship. Thus, it is understandable that Egyptian influences should appear in the choice of clothes, crowns and lotus, as decorative elements.

Numerous ivory fragments were also discovered in Ayla (Aqaba). Similar of those of Humayma, they were intended to be fixed on pieces of furniture and are dated to the tenth or eleventh century. The decoration consists of floral and geometric designs or male figures in combat position. Possibly some influences originated from Alexandria in which ivory work was present in Classical periods and continued till Coptic times.

It is not known whether Humayma ivories were made at the site or imported from close-by Egypt or from specialized centers in the Levant. Possibly Egyptian or Syrian artists were active in the Umayyad and Abbasid palaces, where they produced on demand these marvelous items.