CIH 19
By kind permission of GOAM
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic | ||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Writing technique | Incision | ||
| Measure of letters | 3 | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
GENERAL NOTES
| Glaser saw the inscription reemployed in Ṣanʿāʾ. Thanks to A. Multhoff for the bibliographical information. |
TEXT
1 [... ... bn S¹myʿm h]—
2 [qny] s²(y)m-(hm)w Tʾlb Rymm |
3 (b)ʿl Q(dm)n (b)-(h)grn Dmh(n)( ḏn)
4 ṣlmn [ḥg]-n wqh-hw b-ms¹[ʾl]-
5 hw [b-qyf-h]w [ḏ-h]qr[w] b-hgrn |
6 (M)ry(b) [b-kn] s¹tmlʾ b-[ʿ]m-h—
7 [w b-mʿs²]r[tm] (l)-(w)fy ġlm wl[d]—
8 [t Mgdlt ḏ]t S¹myʿm w-T[ʾ]—
9 [lb f-s²ft w]-hwknn ʿbd-h[w]
10 [.bḥm b-wf]y hwt ġlmn w-
11 [l-s¹ʿd]-(h)mw nʿmtm w-wfy[m]
12 [... ...w]zʾ s¹ʿd-hmw ʾ(w)ld
13 [... ...](m) [... ...](m) [w]-(ʾym)[... ...]
| Most of the text between square brackets is only in CIH's edition, as the stone is now much more eroded. | |
| 1 | CIH reads Ḏbḥm bn Ḥmʿṯt bn S¹myʿm; Mordtmann-Mittwoch suggest to restore the dedicant's name as [Ṣ]bḥm |
| 5 | ḏ-hqrw could also be the qyf's name. |
| Last line is not in CIH's edition. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 [... ...] descendant of S¹myʿm de- 2 dicated to their patron Tʾlb Rymm, 3 Master of Qdmn, in the city of Dmhn, this 4 statue, as He had ordered him in His 5 oracle, together with his stela, which he had donated to Him in the city 6 of Mryb, when he sought a favour from Him 7 through a tithe, for the well-being of the child his wife 8 Mgdlt ḏt S¹myʿm had borne (him); and Tʾlb 9 promised and granted His servant 10 [.]bḥm the safety of this child, and 11 may He grant them prosperity and safety 12 [... ... and may He continue to] grant them [... ...] 13 [... ...] |
| We translated the clause following the editors. However, an alternative interpretation could be: "as He had ordered him in His oracle, in His qyf-monument which was set up (or even: ḏ-Hqrw as the qyf's name) in the city of Maʾrib". Hqrw is rendered by the editors on the basis of Eth. ʾqry and Heb. qrh, both related to the meaning of "donate, offer". | |
| Beeston (1951 a: 127-128) thought the term mʿs²rtm denoted "a tribal gathering", but this can hardly fit the context. |
| Beeston 1951 a | Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1951. Notes on Old South Arabian lexicography III. Le Muséon, 64: 127-132. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Deposit | Ṣanʿāʾ, Military Museum, MṢM 7135 |
| Support type | Artefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription |
| Material | Stone |
| Measures | h. 50, w. 29, th. 19 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | al-Ḥuqqa |
| Ancient site | Dmhn |
| Geographical area | Banī al-Ḥārith |
| Country | Yemen |
| Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of Tʾlb Rymm bʿl Qdmn |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
The text reveals the social and religious contacts existing between Mryb and Dmhn (possibly the ancient al-Ḥuqqa).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Müller, Walter W. and Wissmann 1976: 125-126 | Müller, Walter W. and Wissmann, Hermann von 1976. Über die von einem Lavastrom bedrohten Tempel der Stadt Damhān, des heutigen al-Ḥuqqa, im antiken Gau Maʾḏin (Jemen). Anzeiger der phil.-hist. Klasse der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 113: 112-146. |