CSAI

Corpus of Sabaic Inscriptions (work in progress)


Noman 2012: 225, fig. 1
By kind permission of K. Noman

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Sabaic » Early Sabaic
AlphabetAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Script cursusBoustrophedon
Writing techniqueIncision
Measure of letterslh. 5
Chronology
PeriodA
Textual typologyDedicatory text - fragmentary

TEXT


      [... ...]
   1  [... ...] (ḏ)-(s²ft)-(h)w w-tʾḏ(n) [... ...ʿ]—
   2  ṯt(r) ḏ-S¹mʿn n(f)s¹-hw w-[... ...]
   3  [w-qny-hw b-ʿ]ṯtr ḏ-(Ṭ)m(m) w-b ḏt (Ḥmy)[m]
   4  [Yṯʿ](ʾ)mr Byn w-(b) [... ...]

Apparatus
1If the reading is correct, we have the first attestation of the t-stem of ʾḏn.
1-2Pirenne reads only: ʿṯtr ḏ-S¹mʿn n[... ...]

TRANSLATIONS

French

   1  [... ...] ce qu'il lui a promis et a confié/collicité [... ...]
   2  ʿṯtr ḏ-S¹mʿn sa personne [et ses enfants]
   3  [et ses proprietés à] ʿṯtr ḏ-Ṭmm et ḏt Ḥmym
   4  [Yṯʿ]ʾmr Byn et par [......]
Noman 2012: 30Noman, Khaldon 2012. A Study of south Arabian Inscriptions from the region of Dhamār (Yemen). (PhD, Università di Pisa). 2016/05/10; https://etd.adm.unipi.it/theses/available/etd-08112012-151251/.
Noman 2023: 43Noman, Khaldon 2023. Nouvelles inscriptions de Maṣnaʿāt Māriya. Pages 41-57 in Iwona Gajda and Françoise Briquel-Chatonnet (eds). Arabie – Arabies. Volume offert à Christian Julien Robin par ses collègues, ses élèves et ses amis. Avec la collaboration de Denise Aigle. Paris: Geuthner.

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support typeStone inscription
MaterialStone
Measuresh. 25, w. 36
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Provenance
Modern siteMaṣnaʿat Mariya
Ancient siteS¹mʿn
Geographical areaDhamār
CountryYemen
FoundReemployed. In modern times
NotesPirenne saw the inscription reused in a wall at Baynūn, but the stone is now in the village of Māriya.
Link to site record

CULTURAL NOTES

The inscription probably invokes a 7th c. BCE Sabaean ruler named Yṯʿʾmr Byn, who could be the mukarrib, son of S¹mhʿly Ynf.
The inscription proves that ʿAthtar ḏ-S¹mʿn and ʿAthtar ḏ-Ṭmm, gods of the city of Samiʿān and of the Muhaqraʾum tribe, were venerated since the earliest times (cf. also A-20-263 from Afq).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Noman 2012: 30, fig. 1Noman, Khaldon 2012. A Study of south Arabian Inscriptions from the region of Dhamār (Yemen). (PhD, Università di Pisa). 2016/05/10; https://etd.adm.unipi.it/theses/available/etd-08112012-151251/.
Pirenne 1987: 101-102, fig. 2Pirenne, Jacqueline 1987. Documents inédites de Baynūn. Pages 99-112 in Christian J. Robin and Muḥammad ʿA. Bāfaqīh (eds). Ṣayhadica. Recherches sur les inscriptions de l'Arabie préislamique offertes par ses collègues au professeur A.F. L. Beeston. (Arabie préislamique, 1). Paris: Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner.
Arbach 2023: 42-44, fig. 2Arbach, Mounir 2023. Samʿī, un royaume des Hautes-Terres (au nord de Sanaa) au VIIe siècle av. J.-C.. Pages 31-39 in Iwona Gajda and Françoise Briquel-Chatonnet (eds). Arabie – Arabies. Volume offert à Christian Julien Robin par ses collègues, ses élèves et ses amis. Avec la collaboration de Denise Aigle. Paris: Geuthner.