Architecture de l'Arabie du Sud antique 

Shabwa, the antique Capital of Hadramawt, has been partly excavated by the French Archaeological Mission between 1976 and 2002. One of the main excavated building is the Royal Palace, the most impressive tower-house. After its destruction in 225 AD, its wooden storeys were entirely rebuilt, specially its northern Main Porch. In this porch, the wooden structure, well known in South Arabian architecture, was used not only as a lacing reinforcement against earthquakes but also as a structural framework. The posts and the lintels were in wood with black stone ibex friezes. The door itself was adorned with bronze locks and iron nails. Reconstitutions of the structure and of the final aspect of this Porch are here proposed with the help of comparisons with Ethiopian and Lycian buildings.