DASI: Digital Archive for the Study of pre-islamic arabian Inscriptions: Epigraph details

Robin 1996 b: figs 4-5; Ryckmans, Gonzague 1955: pl. I

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

Language

Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Late Sabaic

Alphabet

Ancient South Arabian

Script typology

Monumental writing

Writing technique

Relief

Chronology

Period	E
Date	543 Ḥim

Textual typology

Construction text

TEXT

Apparatus

1-2	For the addition of the "n", cf. l. 3. The phrase "is the result of inattention on the scribe’s part (who erroneously omitted the nūn at the end of the line) rather than a different phrase." (Robin and Rijziger 2018: 279).
3	for Ymnt see Robin 2013: 131-133.
4	w-s²w[f-h]mw (Ryckmans); w-s²ʿ[b-h]mw (Beeston 1981 c: 69, note 32).

TRANSLATIONS

CSAI

English

   1  Mrṯdʾln Yrm of Hmdn and S¹ʾrn and ʾs³wf and ʾgrʿ ibn [... ...] built and finished the synagogue Brk for ʾl,
   2  the Master of the heaven and of the land, for the safety of their lords ʾbkrb ʾs¹ʿd and Ḥs³n Yhʾmn and Mʿdkrb Yhnʿm and Mrṯdʾln Y-
   3  zʾn and S²rḥbʾl Yʿfr, the kings of Sabaʾ, ḏu-Raydān, Ḥaḍramawt and Ymnt and in order that ʾln, the Master of the heaven and of the land, might give them
   4  the honour of his name, and the safety of their persons, their privileged members, and their vassals in war and peace. In the month of
   5  Ḫrfn of the year five hundred forty-three. Peace, peace, synagogue Bryk.

4	"la crainte révérencieuse (?)" (Robin).

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support type	Inscription on architectural structure
Material	Stone
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Provenance

Modern site	Rayda
Ancient site	Rydt
Geographical area	Rayda
Country	Yemen
Found	Reemployed. In modern times
Archaeological context	Religious context: Synagogue Brk
Notes	Reemployed in a private house (Ry 534) at Rayda, and in a mosque (MAFY/Rayda 1) near this city.
Link to site record

CULTURAL NOTES

Religion

Before the Late Sabaic period mrʾ was usually followed by persons and referred to a superiority in the social hierarchy.
In the monotheistic texts the use of the term in the expression mrʾ s¹myn must be considered in Robin's opinion (2003: 119) a loanword from Aramaic.

Religion

The term s¹lwm is a chalque of the Hebrew "shalōm" and is used in the monotheistic inscriptions by Jewish believers. See also Ir 71.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ryckmans, Gonzague 1955: 308-312, pl I	Ryckmans, Gonzague 1955. Inscriptions sud-arabes. Douzième série. Le Muséon, 68: 297-312.
Robin 1977 a: 305-309	Robin, Christian J. 1977. Le pays de Hamdān et Ḫawlān Quḍāʾa (Nord-Yémen) avant l'Islam. (Université Pantheon-Sorbonne, Paris I).
Robin 1996 b: 703-706, figs 4-5	Robin, Christian J. 1996. Le royaume ḥujiride, dit «royaume de Kinda» entre Ḥimyar et Byzance. Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres: 665-714.
Gajda 1997: 13-14	Gajda, Iwona 1997. Ḥimyar gagné par le monothéisme (IVe-VIe siècle de l'ère chrétienne). Ambitions et ruine d'un royaume de l'Arabie méridionale antique. (Université d'Aix-en-Provence).
Müller, Walter W. 2010: 62	Müller, Walter W. 2010. Sabäische Inschriften nach Ären datiert. Bibliographie, Texte und Glossar. (Veröffentlichungen der Orientalischen Kommission, 53). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.
Robin 2003	Robin, Christian J. 2003. Le judaïsme de Ḥimyar. Arabia. Revue de Sabéologie, 1: 97-172.
Beeston 1981 c	Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1981. Notes on Old South Arabian Lexicography XII. Le Muséon, 94: 55-73.
Robin 2013	Robin, Christian J. 2013. À propos de Ymnt et Ymn: « nord » et « sud », « droite » et « gauche », dans les inscriptions de l'Arabie antique. Pages 119-140 in Françoise Briquel-Chatonnet, Catherine Fauveaud and Iwona Gajda (eds). Entre Carthage et l’Arabie heureuse. Mélanges offerts à François Bron. (Orient & Méditerranée, 12). Paris: de Boccard.
Robin and Rijziger 2018: 479	Robin, Christian J. and Rijziger, Sarah 2018. "The Owner of the Sky, God of Israel" in a new Jewish Ḥimyaritic inscription dating from the fifth century CE. Der Islam, 95/2: 271-290. 2019/10/08; https://doi.org/10.1515/islam-2018-0050.