CSAI

Corpus of Sabaic Inscriptions (work in progress)


INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Sabaic » Early Sabaic
AlphabetAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Writing techniqueIncision
Chronology
PeriodA
Textual typologyDedicatory text

GENERAL NOTES

This text is Sabaic, but the verb of dedication is the Madhabaic s³lʾ.

TEXT


   1  Ḥ*n*bṣm bn Ḥlwm ʾ—
   2  b Ntnm <w>-Ṣdqyfʿ
   3  ḏ-ʾhl Nʿmn s³lʾ M—
   4  tbnṭyn ʿṯt ywm
   5  hqdm-hw Yḏmrmlk|
   6  ḍbʾ ʾws¹n w-ḍbʾ *g*b—
   7  ḏ ḏhb Ns²n w-ʿqb b-N—
   8  s²n ḫrfm /2/ ʿd ʿtb-
   9  hmw Krbʾl Ns²n w-ṯ—
  10  br-h w-ʿs¹y b-hgrn ym—
  11  [...] w-ʾḫ*ṭ*b-hw w-Ṣd—
  12  qn w-Yʿd w-Fnwn w-<ʾḫ>—
  13  ṭb-hw w-[ʿs¹y] nwy-h—
  14  w Ḍfw w-ʿs¹y b-ḏhb—
  15  y Qtbt w-ḏ-Ḥqr[ ..]—
  16  [.] w-Qhd w-b-S¹ybn f—
  17  qḥ ḏ-Ḫlwkl b-ʾḥg—
  18  wn tfdm mʾtm mm<d>
  19  w-wfd Fys²n mmd w-h—
  20  nbṭ Tġl{|} w-nḥl-hw Y—
  21  ḏmrmlk nwym l-Ḥn—
  22  bṣm w-ḏbḥ ḏ-Qbḍ w-
  23  Wdm ṯnym b-rʿẓ ʾl—
  24  mqh w-Mtbnṭyn w-Yḏm—
  25  rmlk w-b-Bʿṯtr w-b
  26  Hrmm w-ʾlmnbṭ w-bn-
  27  hw w-hʿs²r ḏ-hwrṯ-hw

Apparatus
1Halévy read Ḥybṣm, but cf. ll. 21-22; the correction Ḥnbṣm has been proposed by CIH.
2The conjunction between the two names was not recorded in the copy by Halévy.
4We do not know whether the object of the dedication (ʿṯt) is the pillar or a person.
6Halévy read hbḏ, but cf. the record of the same events in RES 3945/14: w-gbḏ ʿs²r w-Byḥn w-kl ʾḏbh-hw.
11-12It is not clear whether Ṣdqn, Yʿd and Fnwn are toponyms or names of buildings. The masculine suffix pronoun -hw should not refer to the word hgrn, that is feminine. Note that in Haram 24/2, Yʿd and Fnwn are probably buildings, as they are the object of the verb bny.
19Fys²n seems to be a local toponym (the name of the cultivated land), but Robin suggests that this is a reference to the Sabaean tribe (see Robin 1992 a, 59: "il se pourrait que cela signifie l'établissement de colons sabéens à Haram").

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  Ḥnbṣm son of Ḥlwm,
   2  father of Ntnm and Ṣdqyfʿ,
   3  of the clan Nʿmn, dedicated
   4  to Mtbnṭyn ʿṯt, when
   5  Yḏmrmlk charged him
   6  with the campaign against Awsān and the campaign of plundering
   7  of the oasis of Nashshān, and he was governor in
   8  Nashshān for two years until Krbʾl
   9  required Nashshān from them and
  10  destroyed it, and took in the city [... ...]
  11  and its constructions and Ṣdqn
  12  and Yʿd and Fnwn and
  13  its constructions, and took its ditch (?)
  14  Ḍfw and took in the two oasis
  15  Qtbt and ḏ-Ḥqr [... ...]
  16  and Qhd and in S¹ybn
  17  the irrigated land (or, the half) of ḏ-Ḫlwkl in
  18  ʾḥgwn - field (?) of a hundred measures (?) -,
  19  and he cultivated Fys²n in measures (?),
  20  and he excavated Tġl and Yḏmrmlk granted it
  21  as a ditch (?) to Ḥnbṣm,
  22  and he made a sacrifice for ḏ-Qbḍ
  23  and Wdm twice, by the command of
  24  ʾlmqh and Mtbnṭyn and
  25  Yḏmrmlk and by Bʿṯtr and by
  26  Haram and ʾlmnbṭ and his son,
  27  and he made pay the tithe of what he made him inherit (?).
7It is not clear whether the subject is still Yḏmrmlk and ʿqb is governed by the verb hqdm, "and (Yḏmrmlk appointed him) governor in Nashshān", or here a new sentence starts whose subject is the dedicant of the inscription.
11, 13The word ḫṭb refers to a part of a building (Beeston et al. 1982: "lower storey").
13, 21For the meaning of nwy, see Avanzini 1995: 97 ("retaining ditch"), with a reference to Müller, Walter W. 1962: 108. Robin translates "domaine octroyé" (Ar. nawà "conserver").
17fqḥ means "exploit land by irrigation" or "half".
19"et il multiplia les parcelles pour Fys²n" (Robin). The SD gives a different meaning for wfd: "cultivate".
26-27"Il décupla (?) ce dont il hérita" (Robin). It is not clear who is the subject of this sentence. It could be the author of the text, who pays the thite on his concessions. It remains unclear who are "ʾlmnbṭ and his son" and which role they play: we know that the name ʾlmnbṭ was typical of the royal dynasty of Nashshān.
Avanzini 1995Avanzini, Alessandra 1995. As-Sawdāʾ. Inventaire des inscriptions sudarabiques. 4. Paris: de Boccard / Rome: Herder. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres; Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente]
Beeston et al. 1982 (=SD)Beeston, Alfred F.L., al-Ghūl, Maḥmūd ʿA., Müller, Walter W. and Ryckmans, Jacques 1982. Sabaic Dictionary (English-French-Arabic). Dictionnaire Sabéen (anglais-français-arabe). Louvain-la-Neuve: Éditions Peeters / Beirut: Libraire du Liban.

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support typeInscription on architectural structure » Pillar
MaterialStone
Measuresh. 260, w. 55, th. 25
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin and provenance
Modern siteKharibat Hamdān
Ancient siteHrm
Geographical areaJawf - Wādī Madhab
CountryYemen
FoundIn situ
Archaeological contextReligious context: Temple of Mtbnṭyn
NotesWhen the inscriptions of the extra muros temple were recorded by Halévy, they were in situ; they disappeared after his visit. For the reconstruction of the position of the pillars in the temple, see Robin 1992 a: 19, fig. 1.
The temple was originally called Hdnn.
Link to site record

CULTURAL NOTES

This text is an interesting point of view on the campaigns of Krbʾl Wtr against Nashshān at the beginning of the 7th century, giving information on the role of the kingdom of Haram. The dedicant was charged by Yḏmrmlk, king of Haram, of the campaign against Awsān and of the plundering of the territory of Nashshān. Then he was governor (ʿqb) of Nashshān for two years, until Krbʾl lead his final attack to the town: the territories that Krbʾl gave to Yḏmrmlk after the defeat of Nashshān (RES 3945) were probably a compensation for his support in the war.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Robin 1992 a: 82-85Robin, Christian J. 1992. Inabbaʾ, Haram, al-Kāfir, Kamna et al-Ḥarāshif. Fasc. A: Les documents. Fasc. B: Les planches. Inventaire des inscriptions sudarabiques. 1. Paris: de Boccard / Rome: Herder. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres; Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente]