The Yemen Guide | Al-Jawf Governorate

Al-Jawf

This fertile oasis was home to the Kingdom of Ma’in, which dominated the incense routes between the fifth and first centuries BCE. Here rise the walls of Yathill (Baraqish), the religious capital; Qarnaw (Ma’in), the seat of government; and the ruins of al-Sawda (Nashan) and Kamna. The inscriptions tell the secrets of the caravan trade from al-Jawf to Dadan, the Hijaz and the Red Sea ports.

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About Al-Jawf Governorate

Al-Jawf is the cradle of the Minaean civilisation, which flourished between the fifth and first centuries BCE, taking the Wadi Madhab (al-Jawf) as the capital of its caravan economy. From Qarnaw, the seat of government, to Yathill/Baraqish with its walls, and to Kamna, cities, temples and inscriptions stand side by side on fertile land threaded with springs and channels. Across the ages al-Jawf remained a junction between the Yemeni highlands and the great desert to the north; its sand layers and oases preserved the lives of kings, road tolls and trade covenants, as well as the tales of irrigation and the stars by which caravans found their way.