Amran Tablets
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| Amran Tablets | |
|---|---|
 One of the Amran Tablets on display in the British Museum | |
| Material | Bronze |
| Size | 45 centimetres (18 in) high and 27.5 centimetres (10.8 in) wide |
| Created | 1st Century BC |
| Present location | British Museum, London |
| Identification | ME E48456 |
The Amran Tablets or ʿAmrān Tablets are a series of ancient bronze plaques written in the Sabaean language found in the town of 'Amran, Yemen. Now part of the British Museum's ancient Middle Eastern collection, they form an important corpus of information on religious and military practices in South Arabia between the 1st Century BC and 3rd Century AD.[1][2]
The Amran Tablets seem to have been discovered in the mid nineteenth century during the construction of a house in the town of ʿAmrān, which lies just to the north of the city of Sana'a in Yemen. 28 different panels were unearthed at the time (although more may have been melted down and destroyed) which were subsequently presented to the British Museum in 1862 by Brigadier-Colonel William Coghlan and Captain Robert Playfair of the Royal Artillery regiment. Coghlan had been appointed Political Resident and Commandment in Aden in 1854, 15 years after the Colony of Aden had become part of the British Empire.