A carved ring-stone and fragment of a second similar stone, both probably of the late Mauryan or early Śuṅga period, are among minor antiquities of exceptional interest recently acquired by the Indian Section, Victoria and Albert Museum, from the collection of Colonel D. H. Gordon, D.S.O., O.B.E. Both pieces were bought some years ago by Colonel Gordon from a local dealer in the Taxila area. Their special interest derives not only from fineness of craftsmanship but also from the fact that their use has remained an archæological problem for more than seventy years. A full description follows:—

A. Ring-stone: greyish-buff sandstone, highly polished. Carved in low relief, the upper surface having two concentric cableedged bands filled with cross-and-reel motives (slightly pyramidal); the sides of the hole with four standing female nudes alternating with four flowering trees. The base and outer sides are left plain.

Outer diameter, 3·37 inches. Inner diameter, 1·06 inches. Depth, 1 inch. Weight, 8¾ ounces.

B. Fragment of ring-stone: pinkish-buff sandstone, highly polished. Carved in slightly deeper relief, the upper surface decoration being identical with A. A similar standing female nude appears on the side of the hole, but beside her, instead of a flowering tree, there is an Indian “honeysuckle” motive, partly visible. The base and outer side are left plain.

The following measurements are based on a reconstruction of the complete ring. Outer diameter, 3·37 inches. Inner diameter, 0·84 inches. Depth, 0·75 inches.

[The writer desires to acknowledge his indebtedness to the Trustees of the British Museum for permitting the publication of the plate, and to the Librarian of the Library of Congress at Washington for supplying photostat copies of Chinese texts.]

The obelisk of Maṭara has long been known to bear the oldest Ethiopic inscription extant. Maṭara is a small village near Senafe, in the province of Akkele Guzay, on the frontier between Eritrea and Ethiopia, and the obelisk stands on one of the most majestic sites of the Abyssinian highlands. When Littmann visited Maṭara at the beginning of this century he found the obelisk, broken into two parts, lying on the ground. The Italian Administration later had the broken monument repaired by means of two iron bars (see Photograph I) and set upright again in what was (wrongly !) believed to be its original position.

During a year in Ḥaḍramawt I was able to collect a number of legal documents which contain valuable material for a study of the social structure of the country. Amongst these are two groups of deeds relating to the Ḥawṭahs of al-Ḥāwī and Thibī, typical examples of the sacred enclaves of this part of Arabia. Another set of documents defines the rights of the townsmen of the Sūḳ quarter of Tarim, with some references to the ceremonies connected with hunting the ibex, and I have various other documents relating to tribal cases, a house-sale deed, etc.

Brockelmann lists no fewer than forty-four surviving works of the celebrated litterateur Ibn Abi 'l-Dunyā, (d. 281/894), who was tutor to the caliphs al-Mu'tadid (d. 291/902) and al-Muktafī (d. 295/908), ten more than the catalogue of titles given by Ibn al-Nadīm. While no detailed study of this important and entertaining author has yet been undertaken and the contents of only one of his books are at all well known, it is evident from his titles that the great majority of these works discuss various ascetic themes; so that Ibn al-Nadīm is sufficiently justified in including him in his section on zuhhād, 'ubbād, and mutaṣauwifa. As a traḍitionist he was reckoned to be trustworthy (ṣadūq) by Ibn Abī Ḥātim (d. 327/939), quoting the opinion of his father, Abū Ḥātim Muḥammad b. Idrīs b. al-Mundhir al-Tamīmī al-Ḥanẓalī al-Rāzi (d. 277/890): this might, indeed, be considered a somewhat biased judgment, for Muḥammad b. Idrīs, as we shall show later, was one of Ibn Abi 'l-Dunyā's favourite sources of information. The same favourable estimate was reached by Abū. 'Ahī Ṣāliḥ b. Muḥammad b. 'Amr b. Ḥabīb al-Asadī (d. 293/906), who, however, added the demurrer that Ibn Abi 'l-Dunyā attended a certain Muḥammad b. Isḥāq, of Balkh, who was a liar, a forger, and a fabricator of isnād.

The attempt of the Dutch to develop trade with Arabia in the seventeenth century occasioned several journeys in the Yemen which are ignored in the histories of Arabian exploration. The earliest of the travellers, Pieter van den Broecke, wrote an account of his voyages, well known in his own century, which included a description of his visit to Ta'iz and San'a. For our knowledge of his successors we depend principally on the records of the Dutch East India Company and enough of these have now been published to show the nature and extent of Dutch enterprise.

I recently purchased a Persian manuscript, dated a.h. 981 (= a.d. 1573), containing the Dīvān of a poet named Ḍiyā-yi Fārsī. The manuscript, which is in good condition, contains 149 folios, each of fifteen lines, amounting in all to about 4,400 couplets: my knowledge of its contents is due to the kindness of Professor R,. Levy and Professor V. Minorsky, who have both examined its text.