| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic | ||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Writing technique | Incision | ||
| Measure of letters | 2.2-2.4 | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
| 1-2 | Jamme: [m]qt[t] or [m]qt[yt] |
| 6 | l-ḥ(m)[d-hw ... ...] (Jamme). |
| 13-14 | ʾḥlkm ḏt Dws¹m wḍʿn as a name of a woman followed by an adjective is Beeston's correction's of Jamme's reading: ʾḥgkm ḏt dws¹m w-ḍʿn "... the laws which [were] abused and lost ..." (Beeston 1975 a: 194-195). Therefore, he suggests to restore in l.13: ʾ[nṯ]t-hw[ ... ...]. |
| 15 | At the end of the line, Jamme integrates [ṣlm]. |
| 26 | Ryckmans corrects Jamme's reading mgʾt in mlʾt (Ryckmans 1966: 486). |
| 30 | Jamme: bdʿtn. Correction b-dʿtn proposed by Ryckmans. |
| English | |
1 [ʾs¹dm ... ...] 2 [m]qt[t Y]s¹rm Yhnʿm and his son 3 S²mr Yhrʿs², kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu- 4 Raydān, dedicated to their lord ʾlmqh 5 Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, the statue in 6 bronze that he had promised Him, in order [… …] 7 ʾlmqh Lord of ʾwm [... ...] 8 in His oracle [... ...] their servants 9 ʾlmqh, Lord of ʾwm [... ...] 10 a son and grant him favourable news in 11 His oracle, whenever [... ...] 12 their lord ʾlmqh, Lord of ʾwm, a dedication 13 for presenting before Him his wife, ʾḥlkm 14 of Dws¹m, the one unveiled (?) [... ...] 15 to weary (the deity) with prayers (?) and seek oracular favours and safety […] 16 that he had promised Him in order to protect [… …] 17 grant them healthy children, as He had favourably announced 18 to them in His oracle; and may 19 ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, grant them the goodwill and the satisfaction 20 of the hearts of their lords Ys¹rm Yhnʿm 21 and S²mr Yhrʿs², kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, 22 and the goodwill of the 'royal clan' of S¹lḥn and Rydn and the goodwill and 23 the satisfaction of their tribe Sabaʾ; in praise because 24 ʾlmqh, Lord of ʾwm, granted them to fulfill 25 all the works that their lords the kings required, 26 (that is to say) in all the works that they required in the space of seven 27 years and in all their official duties and their works 28 in Mrb and Ṣnʿw and in Ns²qm and Ns²n 29 and in all the cultivated areas, and their products (?), in the land of the army, 30 both rainfall-watered and artificially irrigated; may ʾlmqh, 31 Lord of ʾwm, continue to protect the persons of His servant ʾs¹dm 32 from any evil and mischief and from the slander 33 and the malice and the maleficence of any enemy, the one they are aware of or not aware of, 34 and the one far or near. By ʾlmqh Ṯhwn Lord of 35 ʾwm. |
| 13-15 | The translation follows Beeston’s remarks on the text (Beeston 1975 a: 194-195) |
| 22 | For a discussion of the term nṣr/nẓr, see Beeston 1981 c: 69-70. |
| 25-30 | For the translation of the lines, see Ryckmans 1966: 486 and Beeston 1975 a: 196-198. Korotayev 1996: 76 notes that "this passage leads one to suppose that there were certain lands [...] which were granted on lease by special royal officials; and the rent received from these lands is most likely to have been used for the maintenance of the regular army (ḫms¹)". |
| Ryckmans, Jacques 1966: 486 | Ryckmans, Jacques 1966. Himyaritica 2. Le Muséon, 79: 475-500. |
| Beeston 1975 a | Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1975. Notes on Old South Arabian Lexicography IX. Le Muséon, 88: 187-198. |
| Beeston 1981 c: 69-70 | Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1981. Notes on Old South Arabian Lexicography XII. Le Muséon, 94: 55-73. |
| Korotayev 1996 a: 75-76 | Korotayev, Andrey V. 1996. How could royal power exist without royal taxation? (Material sources of the Middle Sabaean royal power). Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 26: 75-78. |
| Support type | Artefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription |
| Material | Stone |
| Link to object record |
| Modern site | Maḥram Bilqīs |
| Ancient site | ʾwm |
| Geographical area | Maʾrib |
| Country | Yemen |
| Found | Reemployed. In ancient times |
| Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of ʾlmqh Ṯhwn bʿl ʾwm |
| Notes | Reemployed in the western pavement. |
| Link to site record |
| Jamme 1962 a: 149-150 | Jamme, Albert W.F. 1962. Sabaean Inscriptions from Maḥram Bilqîs (Mârib). (Publications of the American Foundation for the Study of Man, 3). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. |
| Ryckmans, Jacques 1966: 486 | Ryckmans, Jacques 1966. Himyaritica 2. Le Muséon, 79: 475-500. |
| Beeston 1975 a: 194-198 | Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1975. Notes on Old South Arabian Lexicography IX. Le Muséon, 88: 187-198. |