International Association for the Study of Arabia (IASA) Islands of Heritage: Conservation and Transformation in Yemen Nathalie Peutz Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2018 368 pp. 14 figures, 1 map, Appendix, Index, References. Paperback. £22.99/$30 ISBN 9781503607149
THE SOQOTRA ARCHIPELAGO is better known for its globally significant and distinct fauna and flora – notably the dragon’s blood tree, and its status as a UNESCO Natural World Heritage site, rather than for its unique cultural heritage. This rich cultural heritage has been effectively marginalised over the years in favour of the environmental heritage promoted by countless environmental protection, conservation, zoning and development regimes. The effects of these successive conservation projects, coupled with the impact of international development, national politics, and globalisation on the Soqotri people and their resistance to what has been termed ‘environmental orientalism’, is all brought together in an ethnographical tour de force in
Nathalie Peutz’s book Islands of Heritage: Conservation and Transformation in Yemen. Having had the pleasure of meeting Nathalie several times during her fieldwork on Soqotra, and experiencing her hospitality when staying in Hadiboh, it has been a pleasure to read through her book and immerse myself in its eloquent and well-written ethnographic narrative, which touches on a range of socio-political subjects relating to aspects of Soqotra’s unique and intangible linguistic heritage. It is a heritage that, as is outlined within this well-researched historical, theoretical and ethnographic format, has become a means for the Soqotri people to advocate for their political and cultural rights. This book provides an interesting snapshot of a period within Soqotri history before Yemen was plunged into what appears to be a never-ending conflict; a period that coincides with the beginnings of the Soqotra Heritage Project, which continues to make giant strides in the documentation, conservation and protection of Soqotra’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage. I would wholeheartedly recommend Nathalie’s book for the richness of the ethnographic detail and personal accounts, which show us the strength of the Soqotri people, and how heritage can be used to socially and politically empower a people who have long been marginalised. By Julian Jansen van Rensburg
LIVES REMEMBERED Alasdair Livingstone (1954–2021) His many friends, colleagues and former students were shocked and grieved to learn of the sudden death in January, from Covid, of the assyriologist Alasdair Livingstone. A man of warmth, humour and eclectic erudition, he inspired generations of students at Birmingham University, where he had taught since 1993 until his retirement in 2017. His dedication to the history of the ancient Middle East was all the more remarkable for combining a mastery of cuneiform studies with a familiarity not only with the scripts and languages of ancient Arabia but also with Arabic in both classical and colloquial forms. Alasdair was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, on 29 January 1954, where his father was a mathematics lecturer. His boyhood left him with a lifelong stock of Zulu phrases, which his father insisted should be used around the house. When the latter was appointed to a chair of Pure Mathematics at Birmingham, the family moved there in 1968. Having attended King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys in Birmingham, Alasdair won a place at Queens’ College, Cambridge. In 1975 he took a First in Assyriology and Arabic Studies, before returning to Birmingham 34
to study with the foremost British assyriologist Wilfred Lambert, who became his lifelong guru. Alasdair gained his PhD in 1980 with a thesis (published in 1986) entitled Mystical and Mythological Explanatory Works of Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars. In 1979–81 he worked as a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Munich, which confirmed him in his reverence for German scholarship. In 1981, and now married to Anita from an East African Asian family, he moved to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Here he succeeded Juris Zarins as Archaeological Adviser at the Dept of Antiquities and Museums, then run by Dr Abdullah Masry. His job included arduous field trips to record rock art and inscriptions, and to serve as epigrapher on excavations in Tayma and Thaj. He was also on the editorial team of Atlal (the Journal of Saudi Arabian Archaeology), co-authored various guidebooks, and helped with the cataloguing of the Dept’s collections. This was where I first met him, in the early 1980s, while working on the project to set up the six local archaeological museums at Tayma, al-‘Ula, Dumat al-Jandal, al-Hofuf, Najran and Jizan. His advice on the pre-Islamic scripts and languages of pre-Islamic Arabia was invaluable. Living in Saudi Arabia in those days demanded stoicism and an
