The Eriosh Petroglyphs or Iryosh Petroglyphs or petroglyphs of Ariyūsh are a group of

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

carvings in the north-western coastal plain of

Socotra Socotra, locally known as Saqatri, is a Yemeni island in the Indian Ocean. Situated between the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea, it lies near major shipping routes. Socotra is the largest of the six islands in the Socotra archipelago as ...

island,

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

. The group consists of pecked or carved

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

, feet, geometric and crucial shapes, animals and anthropomorphs. The site is of unknown origin and age.

Characteristics

The site is located about 20 km south-west of

Hadibu Hadibu ( '), formerly known as Tamrida (), is a coastal town in northern Socotra, Yemen. It is the largest town in the small archipelago, with a population of 8,545 as of the 2004 census. Hadibu is the capital of the Socotra Governorate and the la ...

near Ghubbah on the bottom of a shallow ephemeral freshwater lake. It lies on a flat limestone plain spanning approximately one ha, divided by the vegetation into smaller outcrops and covered by a layer of fine

fluvial sediments In geography and geology, fluvial sediment processes or fluvial sediment transport are associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by sediments. It can result in the formation of ripples and dunes, in fractal-shaped ...

, dried up most of the year but submerged by water during the rains of the

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

period. The drawings depict feet, outlines of feet mostly in pairs,

cloven hoof A cloven hoof, cleft hoof, divided hoof, or split hoof is a hoof split into two toes. Members of the mammalian order Artiodactyla that possess this type of hoof include cattle, deer, pigs, antelopes, gazelles, goats, and sheep. The two digits ...

prints, crosses within circles or squares, and animals. The foot motifs are the most common symbol of the site. Many

cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

shapes are directly associated with foot motifs positioned either between or directly in front of them. The graffiti may bear a resemblance to the characters of early South Arabian inscriptions of the mainland with Ethiopic characteristics. Although the site is the largest and best known

spot on Socotra, the chronological sequence is not clear as no full-scale archaeological survey or record of the entire site has been made so far. Some scholars have attributed the crosses to the Christian presence on Socotra, dating to sometime between the fourth and fifth centuries AD and relating them in part to those found on other archaeological spots of the island i.a.

Hoq Cave The Hoq Cave or Hawk Cave () is a limestone cave on the island of Socotra, Yemen. It is located in the ''Hala'' spot approximately 1.5 km from the north-eastern coast, facing the open sea to northeast. Clearly visible from the sea, but diffi ...

and Suq. Others suggest that these symbols may be a thousand years older.

Gallery

File:Eriosh2.jpg, Graffiti File:Eriosh3.jpg, Cloven hoof prints File:Eriosh4.jpg, Crosses

References

{{Reflist Socotra Governorate Rock art of Socotra Petroglyphs