The Minean Temple of Nakrah was a large square temple built by the Minaeans in the city of Barāqish in what is now Yemen.Jacques Ryckmans: Die Altsüdarabische Religion. In: Werner Daum (Hrsg.): Jemen. Umschau, Frankfurt am Main, , S. 111–115.
History The temple was built by Minaeans during the 6th century BC. Sabina Antonini, Francesco G. Fedele, Barāqish/Yathill (Yemen) 1986-2007: Excavations of Temple B and related research and restoration / Extramural excavations in Area C and overview studies,https://books.google.com/books?id=TgAsEAAAQBAJ&dq Archaeopress Publishing Ltd, 6 May 2021 During medieval times, the temple was damaged by an earthquake.Barāqish, Monumentaorientalia.org
In 1986, the qadi Ismaïl Ali al-Akwa tasked the Italian archaeologist Alessandro de Maigret to excavate the site of Barāqish, Alessandro de Maigret, Christian Robin, Le temple de Nakrah à Yathill (aujourd'hui Barāqish), Yémen. Résultats des deux premières campagnes de fouilles de la mission italienne,https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_1993_num_137_2_15228 Persee.fr, 1993 who discovered the temple in 1990 and 1992Nakrah Temple, Petitfute.co.uk (Italian Archaeological MissionSabina Antonini, Statuettes from the excavations of the temple of Nakrah (Temple A) at Barāqish (Republic of Yemen), Wiley.com, 22 February 2007 or Istituto Italiano per il Medio de Estremo Oriente. It is one of three temples in that city to have been discovered. 10 years after its discovery, funds were raised by the Yemeni and Italian governments to restore the temple in 2003 and 2004. UNESCO Director-General deplores destruction of parts of ancient city of Baraqish, calls for protection of Yemen's heritage, Unesco.org,
The temple is reported as being badly destroyed by the ongoing Yemen Civil War having been bombed by the Saudi Arabian military as it was being used by Houthi forces..Noah Browning und Mohammed Ghobari , , 15 May 2015.Satellite-Based Damage Assessment of Cultural Heritage Sites 2015 Summary Report of Iraq, Nepal, Syria & Yemen June 2016.
Description
The temple's dimensions are almost square () and it was composed of twelve monolithic pillars. Fourteen statuettes (human figures, measuring ) were unearthed in the close vicinity of the temple, made of stucco-layered terracotta or just stucco.
Baraqish is the best-preserved ancient walled town in Yemen. It once had more than fifty towers and two gates, and its walls reached a height of up to . Located in the wide Wadi Fardha, it was previously known as Yathil, the dominant town in the Minean kingdom and an important centre on the incense route.
Bibliography Alessandro de Maigret, The excavations of the temple of Nakrah at Baraqish, Archaeopress, Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, Vol. 21, Proceedings of the Twenty Fourth SEMINAR FOR ARABIAN STUDIES held at Oxford on 24th - 26th July 1990 (1991), pp. 159-172 (14 pages) Alessandro de Maigret, Christian Robin, Le temple de Nakrah à Yathill (aujourd'hui Barāqish), Yémen. Résultats des deux premières campagnes de fouilles de la mission italiennehttps://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_1993_num_137_2_15228, Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 1993 137-2 pp. 427-496
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