A Recent Archaeological Survey on Soqotra: Report on the preliminary expedition season, January 5th-February 2nd 2001

Abstract

Soqotra, the largest of the 'Arabian' islands, is located in the Indian Ocean, approximately 350 km southeast of Ras Fartak in the Hadramaut and 240 km east-northeast of Cape Guardafui, the eastern-most point of the African continent (Fig. 1). The island is approximately 133 km long and 45 km wide, and attains elevations greater than 1500 m in the Haggeher Mountains. Physically, the island can be divided into the mountainous region of the Haggeher, the rolling limestone plateaus (average elevation 30-700 m) in the eastern, western and southwestern portions of the island, and the coastal plains on the northern and southern sides of the island (2). Soqotra is strongly affected on its northern, eastern and southern sides by the monsoon system of the northern Indian Ocean, experiencing winter rains from November to December and occasionally, in parts of the island, lighter rains in April and May related to the northeast trade winds (3). ... A legend persists that the island was settled by a Greek colony at the time of Alexander, in order to cultivate Soqotran aloe (10), and frankincense and myrrh are reported as trade goods from Soqotra as early as the first century BC (11). However, claims for the 'farming' of these products on Soqotra under the rule of the 'King of the Frankincense Country' in the later centuries BC (12) are far from proven.