"He criticized the work for ignoring "many of the most important recent discoveries," such as "the large number of inscriptions from late antique south Arabia" and "early Qur'an manuscripts" dated to the 7th century.Holland responded to Bowersock's review by writing, "Bowersock is a formidable scholar for whom I have great admiration – and his most recent work on ancient Ethiopia shows him to be as on the ball as ever.