Pars Antiques 2
Kitchen 1998 a: 146, fig. 4
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic | ||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Writing technique | Incision | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
TEXT
1 Rbʿt ḏ-Frznn hqny (m)—
2 rʾ-hw Hwfʾl bn Grm—
3 m ṣlmnhn ḏ-ṣrfn w-
4 ḏ-ḏhbm ḏ-s²ft-hw l-ḏt
5 hʿn w-mtʿn Hwfʾl bn
6 ḥlẓ ḥlẓw w-l-ḏt |
7 yzʾn Hwfʾl h—
8 ʿn w-mtʿn grybt-h—
9 mw bn ḥlẓm
| 2-3 | According to Kitchen, Hwfʾl is a man with special medical ability and Grmm the name of his family. On the contrary, we hypothetically keep to the suggestion by Robin (2012: 97) that Hwfʾl was a divinised man. Grmm may be his patronymic. |
| 4 | The editor transcribes ḏhbn; ḏhbm is probably an epigraphic mistake for ḏhbn. |
| 6, 9 | In Kitchen's edition: ḥlz, ḥlzw, ḥlzm instead of ḥlẓ, ḥlẓw, ḥlẓm. |
| 7-8 | One would have expected an augmented infinitive hʿnn. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 Rbʿt of (the clan) Frznn has dedicated to his 2 master Hwfʾl son of Grmm 3 these two statues of silver and 4 of bronze, which he had promised him, because 5 Hwfʾl had saved and delivered (them) from the 6 illness that they were ill with; and so that 7 Hwfʾl might continue to 8 save and deliver their 9 persons from illness. |
| The fact that the statues dedicated are two and the verbs and pronouns referring to the healed people are in the plural would indicate that both the author of the text and Hwfʾl himself were healed. However, if we keept ot Robin's suggestion that Hwfʾl was a divinised man, the plural verbs and pronouns might also refer to another person, which had been healed but is not mentioned in the text, or to the whole family of the author, Frznn. |
| Kitchen 1998 a: 148 | Kitchen, Kenneth A. 1998. Three Sabaean dedications: a well and three statues. Pages 143-150 in Carl S. Phillips, Daniel T. Potts and Sarah Searight (eds). Arabia and its neighbours. Essays on prehistorical and historical developments. Essays presented in honour of Beatrice de Cardi. (Abiel, 2). Turnhout: Brepols. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Support type | Artefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription |
| Material | Alabaster |
| Measures | h. 13, w. 8.9, th. 6 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Unknown |
| Ancient site | Unknown |
| Geographical area | Unknown |
| Country | Unknown |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
The inscription is a dedication to a - probably - divinised man, Hwfʾl bn Grmm, in praise of the healing from illness.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Kitchen 1998 a: 148-149, fig. 4 | Kitchen, Kenneth A. 1998. Three Sabaean dedications: a well and three statues. Pages 143-150 in Carl S. Phillips, Daniel T. Potts and Sarah Searight (eds). Arabia and its neighbours. Essays on prehistorical and historical developments. Essays presented in honour of Beatrice de Cardi. (Abiel, 2). Turnhout: Brepols. |
| Robin 2012 a: 97 | Robin, Christian J. 2012. Matériaux pour une typologie des divinités arabiques et de leurs représentations.. Pages 7-118 in Isabelle Sachet (ed.). Dieux et déesses d'Arabie. Images et représentations. Actes de la table ronde tenue au Collège de France (Paris) les 1er et 2 octobre 2007. Paris: De Boccard. [en collaboration avec Christian Julien Robin] |