Šabwa

Shabwa was the ancient capital of Hadramawt, at the western end of its great valley near the edge of the desert. Its walls enclosed palaces, temples and houses built with carefully dressed stone and earthen materials. Roads linked the city to the port of Qana on the Arabian Sea and to caravan routes leading north toward the kingdoms of southern Arabia.

The rulers of Hadramawt controlled routes along which frankincense and other aromatics travelled. The first-century Periplus of the Erythraean Sea described Shabwa as the royal residence and a centre of the incense trade. Inscriptions name its palace Shaqir, while records on a nearby mountain commemorate the accession of Hadrami kings. The ancient kingdom disappeared long before the medieval period, leaving the remains of its capital among the dry valleys and sands at the margin of the plateau.