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

CIAS: ii, 51 (photo)

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

Language

Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic

Alphabet

Ancient South Arabian

Script typology

Monumental writing

Writing technique

Incision

Measure of letters

1.3

Chronology

Period

Textual typology

Dedicatory text

TEXT

Apparatus

	The reading by Beeston in CIAS is also based on on Jamme's reading and photograph before the object suffered damage.
1	Ltwf n[... ...] (Jamme).
7	Beeston in CIAS notes: "the root nṣf means 'serve', normally with a personal, not a non-personal, object; it should here be rather taken as an absolute use 'do service', and hgrn as an accusative of place (unless, indeed, we should actually restore [b]hgrn)".
7-8	s²w[ʿ] (Jamme). Beeston: "Jamme's restoration of the first letter [of the line] as ʿ cannot be accepted, since the verb šwʿ never has the deity as subject".
9	myt[t] "[and] was left dying" (Jamme). Beeston: "the justification for inserting 'and' is not apparent. It is fairly obvious that we should restore myt[m] as an adjective to ġlmm, i.e. the child was stillborn".
10	Omission of the nunation of mḥgln in the CIAS's edition.
13-14	According to Jamme, there is no place for the mimation of the noun mhbʾs¹ at the beginning of l. 14. Cf. the usual formula mhbʾs¹m ḏ-qrb w-rḥq.

TRANSLATIONS

CSAI

English

   1  Ltwf, descendant of Btʿ, dedicated to ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of
   2  ʾwm, this statue in bronze, in praise because He granted her
   3  the return of her husband Rbbns¹rm ʾwḥs², descendant of Btʿ, in safety
   4  from the town of Ṣʿdtm and the land of Ḫwln Gddm, when their lords
   5  ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl Byn, kings of Sabaʾ and
   6  ḏu-Raydān, sons of Frʿm Ynhb king of Sabaʾ, ordered to him to be commander and do service
   7  in the town of Ṣʿdtm and the land of Ḫwln Gddm, and in praise because ʾlmqh,
   8  Master of ʾwm looked after, protected and saved the person of His servant Ltwf,
   9  descendant of Btʿ, from the travail in which she brought forth a stillborn male child,
  10  thought she was not illprovided with (?sustinence?) in the confinement chamber; and ʾlmqh Master of ʾwm
  11  helped her and protected her person from that sickness; and may
  12  ʾlmqh Master of ʾwm continue to help her against sickness, distress, trouble,
  13  evil, mischief, maleficence, malice of any enemy or evildoer,
  14  near or far and backbiting (?); and may ʾlmqh, Lord of ʾwm, grant the safety
  15  of the person of her husband Rbbns¹rm ʾwḥs², descendant of Btʿ, and the safety
  16  of her person, and may He protect the persons of her two daughters Kmlʾwm and ʾbḥlk
  17  descendants of Btʿ, and may He grant her male healthy children,
  18  and may ʾlmqh Master of ʾwm grant them the goodwill and the satisfaction of their two
  19  lords ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl Byn,
  20  kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, sons of Frʿm Ynhb king of Sabaʾ,
  21  and may ʾlmqh, Lord of ʾwm, help them and deliver them
  22  from evil and mischief and all evil chance and accidents,
  23  that they are unaware of or aware of; by ʾlmqh, Lord of ʾwm.

10	The translation of the line is very uncertain. Here, Beeston in CIAS has been followed, but cf. Jamme: "without any quantity of food in the state chamber".
14	for nqrm Beeston says: "Arabic naqara is litterally 'peck at', and although 'backbiting' seems a plausible implication, other types of unfriendly action could be envisaged".
22-23	See also the translation in Nebes 1994.

Doe and Jamme 1968: 13-15	Doe, D. Brian and Jamme, Albert W.F. 1968. New Sabaean Inscriptions from South Arabia. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 100/1: 2-28.
CIAS: ii, 50-53	Beeston, Alfred F.L., Pirenne, Jacqueline and Robin, Christian J. 1977-1986. Corpus des inscriptions et antiquités sud-arabes: Vol. I (1977): Tome 1. Inscriptions. Tome 2. Antiquités; Vol. II (1986): Le Musée d’Aden. Tome 1. Inscriptions. Tome 2. Antiquités. Louvain: Peeters. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres]
Nebes 1994: 195	Nebes, Norbert 1994. Verwendung und Funktion der Präfixkonjugation im Sabäischen. Pages 191-211 in Norbert Nebes. Arabia Felix. Beiträge zur Sprache und Kultur des vorislamischen Arabien. Festschrift Walter W. Müller zum 60. Geburtstag. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

OBJECT INFORMATION

Deposit	Aden, The National Museum, NAM 2495=AM 846
Support type	Artefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription
Material	Stone
Measures	h. 42, w. 22, th. 15
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin

Modern site	Maḥram Bilqīs
Ancient site	ʾwm
Geographical area	Maʾrib
Country	Yemen
Archaeological context	Religious context: Temple of ʾlmqh bʿl ʾwm
Link to site record

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Doe and Jamme 1968: 5, 12-15, pl. II	Doe, D. Brian and Jamme, Albert W.F. 1968. New Sabaean Inscriptions from South Arabia. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 100/1: 2-28.
CIAS: ii, 49-53 (photo)	Beeston, Alfred F.L., Pirenne, Jacqueline and Robin, Christian J. 1977-1986. Corpus des inscriptions et antiquités sud-arabes: Vol. I (1977): Tome 1. Inscriptions. Tome 2. Antiquités; Vol. II (1986): Le Musée d’Aden. Tome 1. Inscriptions. Tome 2. Antiquités. Louvain: Peeters. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres]