CSAI

Corpus of Sabaic Inscriptions (work in progress)


INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic
AlphabetAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Measure of letters3.5
Chronology
PeriodD. Conjectural
Textual typologyDedicatory text - fragmentary

TEXT


   1  [... ...] [hqnyw] (s²ym)-(hmw) (Tʾlb) [Rymm bʿl Kbdm] [....]
   2  [....] [Yr]s¹m b-kn s¹bʾw w-hʿnn ʿdy ms²rq-hmw b-kn bʿww (s²ʿb) [....]
   3  [....]n Ḥrb b-ms²rq Yrs¹m w-ns³fw w-mtlyn hʾ gys²n bn M[....]
   4  [.] [L]ḥyʿṯt bn S¹ḫymm w-b-ʿm-hmw ḫms¹ ʾfrs¹m w-ṯty mʾtn ʾs¹[dm] [....]
   5  [...]w bn gys² hmt ʾʿrb ṯty mʾtn ʾs¹dm bḍʿm ġyr ḏ-ʾtww q[....]
   6  [....]w ḥ(ṣ)q s¹bʾ b-ʿm hwt gys²n w-ḥmd Lḥyʿṯt ḫyl w-mqm s²ym-hmw [..]
   7  [..]tn w-hlqḥn gys² hmt S¹fln w-ḏ-kyn kwn-hmw bn ʾʿrbn w-b-ḏt s¹[....]
   8  [...]m w-brytm ḏ-hrḍ-hmw w-l ḏt yzʾn Tʾlb Rymm s¹ʿd w-hwfyn [....]
   9  [b-kl ʾ]brṯ b-hmw yhwṣlnn w-l-s¹ʿd-hmw Tʾlb Rymm rḏw w-ḥẓy mrʾ-hm[w] [.]
  10  [.] ws³f-hmw Tʾlb Rymm bry ʾʾḏnm w-mqymtm w-l wfy-hmw w-wfy [....]
  11  [..]w w-s²nʾ-hmw b-ʿṯtr w-ʾlmqh w-b s²ym-hmw Tʾlb (R)[ymm bʿl Kbdm]

Apparatus
1Ryckmans' reading of the inscription (Ryckmans 1953) begins with the fourth line of Glaser. The stone was at that time in Ǧidda Museum, broken in two pieces.
The epithet of the god is not sure. The integration is proposed by Schaffer, in fact there are several inscriptions dedicated by the family S¹ḫymm to Tʾlb bʿl Kbdm.
3Before Ḥrb, Schaffer suggests [s¹r]n or [b-s¹r]n, as in Ja 649, 25.
5In Ryckmans reading, the line (line 2 in Ryckmans) finished after bḍʿm.
The w at the beginning of the line may be the end of the verb [w-hrg]w.
For the lacuna at the end of the line, Shaffer suggests q[rḥm] "wounded".
6At the end of the line, Ryckmans reads Tʾlb.
Ryckmans understands s¹bʾ as S¹bʾ.
7S¹fln, "low land, depression", may be in this case the name of a tribe (cf. Ja 716, 7).
At the end of the line, Schaffer suggests s¹[ʿd …].
9At the beginning it is possible to integrate [b-kl ʾ]brṯ.
11Before s²nʾ-hmw, Schaffer integrates [ḍr-hm]w.

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  [Lḥyʿṯt and … … dedicated] to their Patron Tʾlb [Rymm, Lord of Kbdm …]
   2  [Yr]s¹m, when they undertook a military expedition and came to aid westwards of their domain, when they overcame the tribe […]
   3  […] Ḥrb, west of Yrs¹m; and they destroyed and took booty (from) that detachment from […]
   4  [… L]ḥyʿṯt, of the family S¹ḫym and, with him, five cavalrymen and two hundred sol[diers …]
   5  [… ...] from the detachment of those Arabs, two hundred soldiers, excluding those who returned w[ounded …]
   6  […] and the baggage-train, which (went) with that detachment; and Lḥyʿṯ thanked the force and the power of his Patron, [Tʾlb Rymm…]
   7  […] and routed the army of S¹fln and of those of the Arabs who supported them; and because He g[ranted …]
   8  […] and the integrity which pleased them; and may Tʾlb Rymm continue to grant and keep them safe […]
   9  [… in all] military campaigns to which they will participate; and may Tʾlb Rymm grant them the grace and the good will of their lord […]
  10  […] and may Tʾlb Rymm increase the integrity of faculties and of the strenght, and for their safety and the safety of […]
  11  [… ...] and their enemy. By ʿṯtr and ʾlmqh and by their Patron Tʾlb R[ymm, Lord of Kbdm]

OBJECT INFORMATION

DepositRiyāḍ, Museum, 14+14bis
Support typeStone inscription
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin. Conjectural
Modern siteShibām al-Ghirās / Shibām Sukhaym
Ancient siteS²bmm
Geographical areaBanī Ḥushaysh
CountryYemen
Archaeological contextReligious context: Temple of Tʾlb.
Link to site record

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ryckmans, Gonzague 1953: 270-273, pl. I, p. 320-26Ryckmans, Gonzague 1953. Inscriptions sud-arabes. Dixième série. Le Muséon, 66: 267-317.
Jamme 1970 b: 117-118Jamme, Albert W.F. 1970. The pre-Islamic Inscriptions of the Riyâdh Museum. Oriens Antiquus, 9: 113-139.
Schaffer 1972: 14-20, pl. II, 4Schaffer, Brigitte 1972. Sabäische Inschriften aus verschiedenen Fundorten. Sammlung Eduard Glaser. 7. (Sitzungsberichte der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philosophisch-historische Klasse, 282/1). Vienna: Böhlaus in Komm.