| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic | ||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Writing technique | Incision | ||
| Measure of letters | 3.1 | ||
| Chronology |
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| Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
| For the discussion of the toponyms mentioned in the text, see von Wissmann 1964: 171-187. | |
| 32 | Jamme reads b-kl, but Ryckmans and Beeston correct b-kn. |
| 35 | According to Jamme, yḥbr is lexicon ("to seduce, deceive"), while for Beeston - followed by Avanzini - it is onomastics. |
| 35-36 | Jamme: bny Yw[n]m. Beeston conjectured (Ṯ)w[r]m on the basis of l. 27. ʿInān transcribes Ṯwrm. |
| 37 | Jamme considered ʾlʾs¹d Mgzt Mwnhn as a proper name. Correction by Beeston. |
| English | |
1 ʾbkrb ʾḥrs¹, of the family ʿblm 2 and Yḥmḏl, dedicated to ʾlmqh 3 Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, this statue in bronze, which 4 he had taken as booty from Qryt and golden objects, 5 in praise because He granted and favoured their 6 lord S²ʿrm ʾwtr, king of Sabaʾ and 7 ḏu-Raydān, son of ʿlhn Nhfn, king of 8 Sabaʾ, with a return safe and sound 9 in glory from all the military campaigns and the wars 10 which they made and waged, and they made expeditions and conducted offensive operations against 11 all the troups and tribes which had initiated a war 12 against their lord, among those of the South and those of the 13 North and those of the coast and and those of the interior; and because 14 ʾlmqh may continue to crush and humiliate and reduce to submission 15 and defeat every enemy and adversary of their lord; 16 and in praise because ʾlmqh granted and favoured 17 His servant ʾbkrb ʾḥrs¹, of the family ʿblm, 18 with a return in safety and with booty, spoils 19 and captives from all the battles and wars 20 and offensive operations in which they engaged and they performed service for their lord S²ʿrm 21 ʾwtr, king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, in the 22 Shrtm against the ʾs²ʿrn and Bḥrm and their 23 supporters, and in the region of the town of Ngrn 24 against the troups of the ʾḥbs²n and 25 their supporters, and at the town of Qryt ḏt Khlm 26 with two military operations against Rbʿt of the clan of 27 Ṯwrm, king of Kdt and Qḥṭn, and against 28 the citizens of the town of Qryt; and in praise because 29 ʾlmqh granted His servant ʾbkrb 30 to return with spoils, captives, booty 31 and loot and horses, which they either killed or took 32 alive, when his lord sent him to lead in campaign 33 some from Ḫwln Ḫḍlm, some from 34 Ngrn and some from the Arabs, to wage war on the tribe 35 of Yḥbr, men who supported the family 36 Ṯwrm and Qryt, and they fought them on the border of the territory 37 of the ʾs¹d, at the crossing-place of the two wells of Ṯml, and 38 the whole of their detachment returned in safety from that 39 battle; and in praise because ʾlmqh granted 40 His servant the goodwill and the satisfaction of his lord S²ʿrm ʾwtr, 41 king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, and because 42 ʾlmqh Ṯhwn may continue to grant His servant numerous spoils 43 and captives in the military campaigns in which he will continue to perform service 44 for his lord; and may ʾlmqh deliver him from 45 the malice and the maleficence and the slander and the calamity and the aggression 46 of any enemy. By ʾlmqh Lord of ʾwm. |
| 5-38 | Translation of the lines also in Beeston 1976 b. |
| 4-5 | ṭnfm ṭybm: ṭyb can be translated as “gold” or a “kind of aroma”. In the first case, as Avanzini notes, ṭnf might be an object or a quantity. Ryckmans (1966 a: 485) translated "ṭanūf odorant". |
| Ryckmans, Jacques 1966: 485 | Ryckmans, Jacques 1966. Himyaritica 2. Le Muséon, 79: 475-500. |
| Beeston 1976 b: 24-25 | Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1976. Warfare in ancient South Arabian (2nd.-3rd. centuries A.D.). Qahtan. Studies in Old Arabian Epigraphy. 3. London: Luzac and Co. |
| Support type | Artefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription |
| Material | Stone |
| Measures | w. 35.7, th. 30 |
| Link to object record |
| Modern site | Maḥram Bilqīs |
| Ancient site | ʾwm |
| Geographical area | Maʾrib |
| Country | Yemen |
| Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of ʾlmqh Ṯhwn bʿl ʾwm |
| Link to site record |
| Jamme 1962 a: 136-138 | 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. |
| Wissmann 1964 a: 171-187 | Wissmann, Hermann von 1964. Zur Geschichte und Landeskunde von Alt-Südarabien. Sammlung Eduard Glaser. 3. (Sitzungsberichte der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philosophisch-historische Klasse, 246). Vienna: Böhlaus. |
| ʿInān 1976: 212-218 | ʿInān, Zaid b. ʿA 1976. Taʾriḫ ḥaḍāra al-Yaman al-qadīm. Cairo. |
| Ryckmans, Jacques 1966: 485 | Ryckmans, Jacques 1966. Himyaritica 2. Le Muséon, 79: 475-500. |
| Beeston 1976 b: 24-25 | Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1976. Warfare in ancient South Arabian (2nd.-3rd. centuries A.D.). Qahtan. Studies in Old Arabian Epigraphy. 3. London: Luzac and Co. |