Sana'a: The Capital City of Yemen. In this post, I introduce my first art piece of 2018, in which I combine lettering and illustration. The concept of the lettering was to have Sana'a written in four different scripts: Sabaean, Arabic, Hebrew, and Syriac. Those languages fall into the Semitic branch of languages, have similar origins,... Continue Reading →
The King, The Scribe, and the Archer I have updated my Epic of Gilgamesh page with more recent sketches. However, if you find my sketches to be lacking in colour and excitement, you might consider checking out the newest addition to my portfolio; Persephone and Zephyrus will redirect you to the appropriate page! Persephone and Zephyrus
As promised, our voyage into this subject is far from over! This post is a continuation of a previous post I wrote over the summer. Consider reading Part I before you proceed with my blatherings below. I recently found a credible resource that contains a cohesive list of Sumerian pictograms. It lists [figure 3a.] under E2 (scroll down to the letter 'E'; "E2" is the third entry). In... Continue Reading →
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Happy Holidays and New Year, everyone. It's been a while. This year, let's make this world a bit of a better place, amidst the escalating chaos, starting with making one stranger smile today! Well, folks…this weekend marks the moment where I leave my qualms of corporate retail behind me. At last, there shall be the spare time to publish my long... Continue Reading →
See the complete version (+ audio) of Sa'adiah ben Amram's poem in the Piyyut database. Long ago, I remember trying to get in touch with Yemenite musical heritage, during which an acquaintance mentioned Sa'adia ben Amram to me. Information was sparse on this 17th century poet from the highlands of northern Yemen (normally, I'd use Jstor for this type of search, but my... Continue Reading →
This illustration is directly inspired by a very enchanting performance by Sukhishvili (Georgian National Ballet), called "Samaiya". You can read details on their English website over here, and definitely check out their other excellent performances! This is my 2nd draft — I plan to create final one on canvas with gouache using this exact colour scheme (and... Continue Reading →
I illustrated this 3-piece poster in the first week of April 2015, mainly to promote the diversity of Yemen. When the 3 pieces are combined, it creates the full 6" by 15" scene. At that point in time, Yemen had faced two weeks of non-stop bombing and airstrikes from saudi arabia. It is now early September,... Continue Reading →
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
First, a brief history lesson: The earliest Sumerians sailed from [wherever their origins were], and settled along the marshes of southern Mesopotamia. Their predecessors (much earlier Sumerians) scribed on papyrus and vellum (skin), but in their new settlement, they found an abundance of clay; a much more resourceful medium for the scribes! At that point, the Sumerian... Continue Reading →
Beyond Babylonia 