CSAI

Corpus of Sabaic Inscriptions (work in progress)


Top = MaMB 234
Jamme 1962 a: pl. 36
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INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic
AlphabetAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Writing techniqueIncision
Measure of letters2.6
Chronology
PeriodD
Textual typologyDedicatory text

TEXT


   1  [s²ʿbn S¹bʾ Khln ](ʿd) hgrn Mrb w-ʾs¹rr-hw Khln ʾs¹(d)
   2  ʾḏhbn hqnyw mrʾ-hmw ʾlmqh-bʿl-ʾwm ṣlmnhn ḏy-ḏhbm ḥ—
   3  mdm b-ḏt ḫmr w-tbs²rn ʾdm-hw s²ʿbn S¹bʾ Khln k-yḫmrn w-
   4  s¹qy brq ḫrf b-wrḫ ḏ-ʾbhy ḏ-ḫrf Tbʿkrb bn Wddʾl bn Kbr Ḫ—
   5  ll ts¹ʿn l-qbly ḏ-hḫb s¹qy w-ḏ(n)m ʾrḍn Mrb w-ʾs¹rr-hw w-ʾklʾ-hw
   6  ṯlṯ ʾbrqm b-qdmy ḏt brq w-ybs¹w ʾmṭrn w-hmḥlt kl ʾs¹rr w-
   7  ʾklʾ Mrb w-mwt ḏ-bn ʾʿmdn bn ṣmʾm w-ybs¹ ḏ-bn ʾbʾrn w-s¹bʾ—
   8  w kl s²ʿbn S¹bʾ w-bnt Mrb b-ʿbr ʾlmqh ʿdy mḥrmn ḏ-ʾwm w-s¹f—
   9  ḥw rqt-hmw w-tʿrbn l-mrʾ-hmw ʾlmqh w-ʾnṯn ʿṭwf-hn w-s¹tml—
  10  ʾw w-tbs²rn b-ʿm mrʾ-hmw ʾlmqh l-ḫmr-hmw s¹qy w-hġṯn Mrb-w-
  11  ±[ʾm]ṭrn w-ʾs¹rrn [w-... ...] ʾlmqhw ʾmrm frʿm k-ys¹qyn-hmw w-s¹ʾr-b—
  12  [n] hwt ywmn tʾtww bn mn mḥrmn ḏ-ʾwm ḏnm w-mẓʾ ḏʿbn b-l—
  13  [l]yn w-mlʾw ʾmṭrn w-s¹qyw kl ʾs¹rrn ḏrm w-wzʾw hrʿgn—
  14  [n] w-s¹qy kl ʾnḫln w-ʾrḍtn s²fqm ʾs¹yṭm ʿs¹mm w-bʿd-n-h—
  15  w f-hfs¹w mnfs¹tn w-ḏnm kl ʾklʾn w-ḥmdw ʾdm-hw s²ʿb—
  16  n S¹bʾ Khln ḫyl w-mqm mrʾ-hmw ʾlmqh-bʿl-ʾwm b-ḏt ḫm()r
  17  | w-hwfyn h(y)t brqn ḥg-n tbs²r ʾdm-hw w-l-wzʾ ʾlmqh-bʿl-ʾwm
  18  | ʾdm-hw s²ʿbn S¹bʾ Khln hwfyn l-hmw kl ʾmlʾ w-tbs²r yzʾnn
  19  s¹tmlʾn w-tbs²rn b-ʿm-hw b-ʾlmqh-bʿl-ʾwm

Apparatus
13Jamme hrʿln; SD hrʿgn.

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  The tribe of Sabaʾ Khln, in the city of Mrb, and its valleys Khln, those of
   2  the irrigated lands, dedicated to their lord ʾlmqh, Lord of ʾwm, these two statues both in bronze
   3  in praise because He granted and announced good news to His servants, the tribe of Sabaʾ Khln, that He would grant and
   4  irrigate the rains of the autumn in the month of ʾbhy, in the year ninth of Tbʿkrb, son of Wddʾl,of Kbr Ḫll,
   5  because irrigation and rain had failed in the land of Mrb and its valleys and its pasturelands (during)
   6  three rainy seasons before this one; and the fields dried up and all the valleys and
   7  the pasturelands of Mrb suffered from drought, and some of the trees ʿmd died of thirst, and some of the wells dred up; and
   8  all the tribe of Sabaʾ and the daughters of Mrb presented themselves before ʾlmqh into the temple of ʾwm, and
   9  their female magicians performed ceremonies and gave pledges to their lord ʾlmqh, while the (other) women assisted, and they implored
  10  and received good news from their lord ʾlmqh, that He would grant them to irrigate and send abundant rain on Mrb and
  11  on the fields and the valleys and [... ...] ʾlmqh a celestial sign, so that they could irrigate them, and for the rest of
  12  that day, in which they had retired from the temple of ʾwm it rained, and the flash flood came during
  13  the night so they filled the fields and they irrigated all the valleys copiously, and they continued to fill with rainwater
  14  and to irrigate all the palmgroves and the coultivated lands abundantly with numerous rainwater cisterns; and
  15  thereafter they opened up the sluice and rain fell on all the pasturelands. And His servants, the tribe of
  16  Sabaʾ Khln, praised the power and the might of their lord ʾlmqh, Lord of ʾwm, because He granted
  17  and bestowed this rainy season as He announced to His servants; and may ʾlmqh, Lord of ʾwm,
  18  (for) His servants, the tribe of Sabaʾ Khln, continue to bestow on them all the help and good news (for which) they shall continue
  19  to seek and ask to Him. By ʾlmqh, Lord of ʾwm.
9Jamme 1962: 211-212 translates "and (also) loving wifes"; Ryckmans J. 1966: 499 the analysis of ʾnṯn ʿṭwf-hn is doubtful; Beeston 1972 e: 352 "while the (other) womenfolk were their supporters".
Jamme 1962 a: 211-212Jamme, 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.
Ryckmans, Jacques 1966: 499Ryckmans, Jacques 1966. Himyaritica 2. Le Muséon, 79: 475-500.
Beeston 1972 e: 352-353Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1972. Review of 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. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 35/2: 349-353.

OBJECT INFORMATION

DepositMārib
Support typeArtefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription
MaterialStone
Measuresh. 67, w. 70.7, th. 28.2
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

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

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jamme 1962 a: 211-212, 226, pl. 36Jamme, 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.
Höfner 1964 b: 425Höfner, Maria 1964. Review of 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. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 114: 423-426.
Ryckmans, Jacques 1968/1972Ryckmans, Jacques 1968/1972. Un rite d'istisqâʾ au temple sabéen de Mârib. Annuaire de l'Institut de Philologie et d'Histoire Orientales et Slaves, 20: 379-388.
Beeston 1972 e: 352-353Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1972. Review of 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. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 35/2: 349-353.
Ryckmans, Jacques 1966: 499-500Ryckmans, Jacques 1966. Himyaritica 2. Le Muséon, 79: 475-500.
Beeston 1978 b: 207-209Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1978. Notes on Old South Arabian Lexicography XI. Le Muséon, 91: 195-209.
Bron 1985 a: 136Bron, François 1985. Sur une locution conjonctive en araméen et en sabéen. Pages 133-136 in Christian J. Robin (ed.). Mélanges linguistiques offerts à Maxime Rodinson par ses élèves, ses collègues et ses amis. (Comptes rendus du Groupe linguistique d'études chamito-sémitiques. Supplément, 12). Paris: Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner.
Jamme 1985: 223-224Jamme, Albert W.F. 1985. Miscellanées d'ancient arabe XIV. Washington. 2019/07/23; https://cuislandora.wrlc.org/islandora/object/cuislandora%3A203545#page/1/mode/1up. [Privately printed]
Müller, Walter W. 1988 a: 450-452Müller, Walter W. 1988. Altsüdarabische Rituale und Beschwörungen. Pages 438-452 in Christel Butterweck (ed.). Rituale und Beschworungen 2. Religiöse Texte. 3. Otto Kaiser (ed.), Texte aus der Umwelt des Alten Testaments. 2. Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus Gerd Mohn.
Nebes 1995 a: 40, 228Nebes, Norbert 1995. Die Konstruktionen mit /fa-/ im Altsüdarabischen. Syntaktische und epigraphische Untersuchungen. (Veröffentlichungen der Orientalischen Kommission, 40). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.