[MSN] New Archaeological Discoveries in Marib, Smugglers Caught

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

New Archaeological Discoveries in Marib, Smugglers Caught 
By Observer Staff
May 3, 2006 - 

SANA'A - New archaeological discoveries have been found in Marib, including
a five meter long ancient inscription, according to Dr. Abdul-Rahman Jar
Allah, the Deputy of the General Authority for Antiquities and Museums
(GOAM).

It is hoped that the inscription will add to the growing research and
knowledge about the important phases in the history of ancient Yemen.
Jar Allah, in a statement to the Al-Thawra.net website, added that the
restoration process and other technical works in the National Museum have
finally been completed, and that the museum will officially open on May 22,
the 16th anniversary of the National Day of Yemeni Unification.
He added that experts from GOAM, the antiquities authority, would continue
in a "wide survey" of archaeological sites in several governorates in Yemen.

The experts will also restore and maintain the important sites across Yemen,
including the restoration of inscriptions and poles recently discovered in
Awam temple in Marib, discovered by an American archaeological expedition. 
Meanwhile military police in the Al-Awad district of Ibb governorate have
recovered artefacts dating back to the ancient Hymari and Sasanni period,
which smugglers were trying to sneak out the country.
The antiquities were captured when a criminal gang tried to sell them to a
Yemeni now living in the USA.

In a statement to Al-Thawra, Colonel Ahmed Amer Mujed'a, head of the
military police in Ibb, said that one of the gang members was arrested with
two pieces.

One was a statue of a woman from the Hymari age, the other a copper dagger
with a lion head opening its mouth as its handle, believed to date to the
Sasanni age. 
 Mujed'a said that that a man was arrested and was being held in custody,
and that the case had been refereed to prosecution for investigation.

http://www.yobserver.com/news_10031.php