CSAI

Corpus of Sabaic Inscriptions (work in progress)


Bron 1992: 81
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INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic
AlphabetAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Writing techniqueIncision
Chronology
PeriodD
Textual typologyDedicatory text

TEXT


   1  [Krbʿṯt Ydfṯ w-S¹ʿdʿṯt]r Ys¹kr bny Grt w-
   2  [ḏ-Zbnr w-Tzʾ]d ʾqwl s²ʿbn Ḏmry ʾrbʿw S¹mh—
   3  [rm hqnyw ʾ]lmqh-Ṯhwn-bʿl-ʾwm ṯny ṣlmn ḏ-ḏhbn ḥ—
   4  [mdm ]b-ḏt tʾwly w-s¹twfyn mrʾy-hmw ʾls²rḥ Y—
   5  ḥḍb w-ʾḫy-hw Yʾzl Byn mlky S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn bny Fr—
   6  ʿm Ynhb mlk S¹bʾ w-ḫms¹-hmy w-ʾfrs¹-hmy bn s¹b—
   7  ʾt s¹bʾy w-ḍbʾ b-ʿly Ḥbs²t w-ʿkm w-ḏ-S¹hrtm
   8  w-kl ḏ-kwn kwn-hmw b-S¹hrtn w-tʾwl bn hnt s¹bʾ—
   9  tn w-ḍbʾtn b-wfym w-mhrgtm w-ʾḥllm w-s¹bym w-ġ—
  10  nmm w-mltm ḏ-ʿs¹m ḏ-hrḍw w-hḫḍfn mrʾy-hmw ʾls²—
  11  rḥ Yḥḍb w-ʾḫy-hw Yʾzl Byn mlky S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn w-ḥm—
  12  dm b-ḏt tʾwl w-s¹twfyn ʿbd-hmw Krbʿṯt bn Grt b—
  13  n hnt s¹bʾtn w-ḍbʾtn ḏ-s¹bʾw w-s²wʿn mrʾy-hmw ʾls²r—
  14  ḥ Yḥḍb w-ʾḫy-hw Yʾzl Byn mlky S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn b-wfym w-m—
  15  hrgtm w-s¹bym w-ġnmm ḏ-hrḍw-hmw w-l-wzʾ ʾlmqh-Ṯhwn-b—
  16  ʿl-ʾwm wḍʿ w-ḍrʿ w-hms¹ w-hkms¹ kl ḍr w-s²nʾ mrʾy-h—
  17  mw ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb w-ʾḫy-hw Yʾzl Byn mlky S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn
  18  w-ḥmdm b-ḏt hwfy ʾlmqhw-Ṯhwn-bʿl-ʾwm ʿbdy-hw K—
  19  rbʿṯt w-S¹ʿdʿṯtr bny Grt b-kl hwkl w-ʾmlʾ w-ṣ—
  20  ry w-tbs²r s¹twklw w-s¹tmlʾn b-ʿm ʾlmqh-Ṯhwn-b—
  21  ʿl-ʾwm b-kl ḫrft w-ʾbrq b-qdmy ḏt hqnytn w-ḥ—
  22  mdm b-ḏt ḫmr w-hws²ʿn ʿbdy-hw Krbʿṯt w-S¹ʿdʿṯt—
  23  r bny Grt b-nkl w-mqḥ hklw w-hwṯrw w-hṯbn
  24  w-hs²qrn b-byt-hmw b-byt Grt b-hgrn Nʿḍ w-l-w—
  25  zʾ ʾlmqh-Ṯhwn-bʿl-ʾwm ḫmr ʿbdy-hw Krbʿṯt
  26  w-S¹ʿdʿṯtr bny Grt ḥẓy w-rḍw mrʾy-hmw ʾls²rḥ
  27  Yḥḍb w-ʾḫy-hw Yʾzl Byn mlky S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn w-l
  28  s¹ʿd-hmw bry ʾʾḏnm w-mqymtm w-ʾwldm ʾ—
  29  ḏkrm hnʾm w-nʾd dṯʾ w-ḫrf w-s¹ʿs¹ʿm w-mly—
  30  m w-ʾbrq w-ʾḏnm w-ḫryft w-ʾṯmr ṣdqm hnʾm
  31  mhs²fqm ʿdy kl ʾrḍ-hmw ḏ-tfrw w-ytfrnn bn—
  32  w Grt b-ms²rqm w-ʿltm w-l-ḫryn-hmw ʾlmqh-Ṯh—
  33  wn-bʿl-ʾwm bn nḍʿ w-s²ṣy w-ġbṭ w-tṯʿt s²nʾm w-m—
  34  hbʾs¹m ḏ-bn-hw dʿw w-ḏ-bn-hw ʾl dʿw b-ʾlmqh-Ṯhw—
  35  n-bʿl-ʾwm w-b-mrʾy-hmw ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb w-ʾḫy-hw Yʾ—
  36  zl Byn mlky S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn

Apparatus
The text between brackets was still extant when Iryānī and Ghul copied the inscription.
1Ghul's reading Ydfṯ (see Bron 1992) confirms ʿInān's transcription, instead of Iryānī's Ydf.
8Beeston transcribes w-tʾwlw, but the absence of the final w is clear on the photograph.
32-33Beeston division of the epithet Ṯhwn between the lines is wrong.
33Both Beeston and Bron transcribe ġbt instead of ġbṭ.

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  Krbʿṯt Ydfṯ and S¹ʿdʿṯtr Ys¹kr, of the families Grt and
   2  ḏ-Zbnr w-Tzʾd, ʾqwl of the tribe Ḏmry, quarters of S¹mhrm,
   3  dedicated to ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, two statues in bronze,
   4  in praise because they came back and were safe their lords ʾls²rḥ
   5  Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl Byn, kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, sons of Frʿm
   6  Ynhb, king of Sabaʾ, with their army and their cavalry from the expeditions
   7  they made and fought against the Ḥbs²t and ʿkm and ḏ-S¹hrtm
   8  and all their supporters in S¹hrtn, and they returned from those expeditions
   9  and fightings in safety and with enemy casualties and spoils and prisoners and booty
  10  and loot in quantity, which satisfied and gratified their lords ʾls²rḥ
  11  Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl Byn, kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān; in praise
  12  because His servant Krbʿṯt, of the family Grt, came back and was safe
  13  from those expeditions and fightings that they made and (during which) they accompanied their lords ʾls²rḥ
  14  Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl Byn, kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, in safety and with
  15  enemy casualties and prisoners and booty of which satisfied them; may ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord
  16  of ʾwm, continue to destroy and humiliate and overwhelm and crush every enemy and ill-wisher of their lords
  17  ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl Byn, kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān;
  18  in praise because ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, saved His servants
  19  Krbʿṯt and S¹ʿdʿṯtr, of the family Grt, in all the favours and requests and
  20  favourable oracles and good announcements that they had sought and requested from ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord
  21  of ʾwm, in all the autumns and rainy seasons before this dedication; in
  22  praise because He granted and bestowed favours to His servants Krbʿṯt and S¹ʿdʿṯtr,
  23  of the family Grt, in the works and the completion they did and built and completed
  24  and finished off in their house, in the house of Grt in the town of Nʿḍ; may
  25  ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, continue to grant their servants Krbʿṯt
  26  and S¹ʿdʿṯtr, of the family Grt, the goodwill and the satisfaction of their lords ʾls²rḥ
  27  Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl Byn, kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, and may He
  28  grant them soundness of faculties and material resources and healthy male
  29  children and abundance of spring and autumn and summer and winter
  30  and thunderstorms and rains and autumn harvests and good healthy crops
  31  in abundance in all their land that the family Grt have cultivated and will cultivate
  32  in the East and in the highland; may ʾlmqh Ṯhwn,
  33  Lord of ʾwm, deliver them from the malice and the maleficence and the envy and the slander of any enemy
  34  and evildoer, the one they are aware of and the one they are not aware of. By ʾlmqh Ṯhwn,
  35  Lord of ʾwm, and by their lords ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl
  36  Byn, kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān.

OBJECT INFORMATION

DepositMuscat, The National Museum
Support typeArtefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription
MaterialStone
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin
Modern siteMaḥram Bilqīs
Ancient siteʾwm
Geographical areaMaʾrib
CountryYemen
Archaeological contextReligious context: Temple of ʾlmqh Ṯhwn bʿl ʾwm
Link to site record

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sharafaddīn 1961: 43 (photo)Sharafaddīn, Aḥmad H. 1961. Yemen. Arabia Felix. Taʿizz.
Sharafaddīn 1967: ii, 51, fig. 44Sharafaddīn, Aḥmad H. 1967. Taʾrīḫ al-Yaman al-ṯaqāfī. Cairo.
al-Iryānī 1973: 114-119al-Iryānī, Muṭahhar 1973. Fī taʾriḫ al-Yaman. Cairo.
Ryckmans, Jacques 1974 a: 503-505Ryckmans, Jacques 1974. Himyaritica 4. Le Muséon, 87: 493-521.
Beeston 1975 a: 190-192Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1975. Notes on Old South Arabian Lexicography IX. Le Muséon, 88: 187-198.
ʿInān 1976: 245-251ʿInān, Zaid b. ʿA 1976. Taʾriḫ ḥaḍāra al-Yaman al-qadīm. Cairo.
al-Iryānī 1990: 148-152al-Iryānī, Muṭahhar 1990. Fī-taʾrīḫ al-Yaman. Nuquš musnadiya wa-taʿliqāt. Ṣanʿāʾ: Markaz al-dirāsāt wa-l-buḥūṯ al-Yamanī.
Bron 1992: 79-83 (photos)Bron, François 1992. Mémorial Mahmud al-Ghul. Inscriptions sudarabiques. Paris: Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner / Sanʿāʾ: Centre français d'études yéménites.
Beeston 1994: 37-39, pls 15-16Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1994. Lineation of the Sabaic text Ir 19. Raydān, 6: 37-39, pls 15-16.