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NAJRAN, SAUDI ARABIA—ArtNews reports that three gold rings, a bronze bull’s head, and an inscription written in Musnad, a pre-Islamic script used in southern Arabia, have been found at the site of Al Ukhdud. Each of the connected rings bears a butterfly-shaped lobe. Bulls’ heads are thought to have been used to symbolize power, fertility, wisdom, and divinity in pre-Islamic art. The inscription, which covers about seven and one-half feet, describes the life of Wahib Eil bin Magan, a water carrier who lived at the site. Pottery at the site has been dated to the third century B.C. To read about a stone platform dating to the mid-sixth millennium B.C. near the site Dumat al-Jandal, go to "Around the World: Saudi Arabia."
