| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Early Sabaic | ||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Writing technique | Incision | ||
| Measure of letters | 24 | ||
| Chronology |
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| Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
| According to the linguistic analysis by P. Stein (2005 c), the inscriptions on the wall of the temple of Awām are dated between the end of the 4th and the end of the 2nd century BC (apart from Ja 552, which is dated to the 4th century BC). Their textual peculiarities show the shift from the Early to the Middle Sabaic linguistic periods. For the chronology, see the discussion in Wissmann 1982: 353 ff., Stein 2005 c: 187-189, Avanzini 2010: 188. |
| 1 | Stein notes that this is one of the earliest writing ḏy instead of the Early Sabaic ḏ for the nominative dual relative pronoun. |
| English | |
1 Lḥyʿṯt, son of Ḥywm and Ḥywm son, of Lḥyʿṯt, the two groups of Ḥwln, of the family Myṯʿm, ministers of Hwbs¹ and ʾlmqh, dedicated to ʾlmqh the completion of the wall from this line of the inscription to the top of the tower and of the two curtain walls, by ʾlmqh. |
| 1 | ʾrbʿnhn could be a proper name. |
| Support type | Inscription on architectural structure » Wall |
| Material | Stone |
| Measures | h. 24, w. 992 (measures of the text) |
| Link to object record |
| Modern site | Maḥram Bilqīs |
| Ancient site | ʾwm |
| Geographical area | Maʾrib |
| Country | Yemen |
| Found | In situ |
| Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of ʾlmqh bʿl ʾwm |
| Notes | The inscriptions Ja 550-557 are engraved on the outside enclosure wall of the temple, at the sides of the western door (see the location in Jamme 1962 a: ii, pl. C/1). Ja 555 is engraved on the left of l.4 of Ja 555. |
| Link to site record |
| Jamme 1962 a: i. 21-22 | Jamme, Albert W.F. 1962. Sabaean Inscriptions from Maḥram Bilqîs (Mârib). (Publications of the American Foundation for the Study of Man, 3). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. |
| ʿInān 1976: 291 | ʿInān, Zaid b. ʿA 1976. Taʾriḫ ḥaḍāra al-Yaman al-qadīm. Cairo. |
| Stein 2003 a: 146 | Stein, Peter 2003. Untersuchungen zur Phonologie und Morphologie des Sabäischen. (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, 3). Rahden: Marie Leidorf GmbH / Westf.: Marie Leidorf GmbH. |