St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg University Press, 2009, 216 p. (in Russian) Tombs, mummies and bones are silent -Only the word is given life:From the ancient darkness, on the world's graveyard, Only Writing sounds... I. A. Bunin (Collected Works, vol. 3, 1956, p. 336) Russian semitology as a complex scientific field has been supplemented with a significant contribution and expanded its boundaries, covering such an important area as the ancient civilization of Southern Arabia. The second half of the XX century and the beginning of the XXI century were marked by many researches and discoveries in the field of archeology, epigraphy, history, and ethnography made by Russian scientists in the field and in the field. Special works are devoted to the study and description of the languages of ancient South Arabian epigraphy. The book in question could be called an "Introduction to South Arabian Epigraphy", but its content goes beyond just philological analysis of epigraphic texts: based on their content, the spiritual and social world of the ancient inhabitants of Hadramaut is reconstructed. It is in this eastern province of Yemen that a comprehensive scientific expedition of Russian scientists has been working and continues to work for several decades. 1 Among them, the author of this book, S. A. Abdrakhmanov, has worked for several years. A. Frenchman, a well-known Sabean historian, researcher of ancient epigraphic texts discovered by Russian expeditions in one of the centers of ancient Hadramaut-Raibun. His works are widely known in Russia and abroad, including in Yemen. Two volumes of his edition of the Raibun texts with translation, commentary, and research were published in 2001 and 2007 in Paris and Rome. The author is also known for his research on written monuments of Ethiopia and the Arab-Christian tradition. The main part of the book consists of a preface, an introduction, six chapters, and a conclusion. The book is provided with illustrative material: the tabs ... Read more