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Yemen: The alabaster head of Lady Helqeb, Timna, Qataban, 1st century CE

Qataban (Arabic,مملكة قتبان) was one of the ancient Yemeni kingdoms. Its heartland was located in the Baihan valley. Like some other Southern Arabian kingdoms it gained great wealth from the trade of frankincense and myrrh incense which was burned at altars. The capital of Qataban was named Timna and was located on the trade route which passed through the other kingdoms of Hadramaut, Sheba and Ma'in. The chief deity of the Qatabanians was Amm, or 'Uncle' and the people called themselves the 'Children of Amm'.

Qataban was the most prominent Yemeni kingdom in the 2nd half of the 1st millennium BCE, when its ruler held the title of the South Arabian hegemon, MKRB.

Sculpted stone heads, mounted on bases and placed in the vestibules of burial chambers, were common in the cemetery of Timna', capital of the kingdom of Qataban. The name of the woman represented here is Helqeb, as inscribed on the base.