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Podcast: EMPIRE LINES
Episode: Teak Column of al-Qalis, Mecca (6th Century)
Description: Dr. Lily Filson reroutes religious loot through the 6th and 8th centuries, via the Teak Column of al-Qalis, produced in Yemen, and plundered for Saudi Arabia.
A tall wooden column towers over pilgrims to the heart of the Islamic faith in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Installed around the 8th century as Islamic pious plunder, it is one the last surviving remnants of the Christian church al-Qalis, erected in Sana’a, Yemen over a century beforehand. Revealing unique religious motifs, mosaics, and materials from Yemen, Ethiopia, and Egypt, it stands as a silent witness to centuries of conquest and cu...