CIAS 39.11/o 2 ST 1
CIAS: i, 43
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 [R]ṯd(ʾ)[wm ... ... L]—
2 ḥyʿṯt Yrḫm mlk S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn [hqnyw]
3 (ʾl)mqh Ṯhwn bʿl-ʾwm ḏn ṣlmn ḏ-ḏh(b)[n ḥm]—
4 dm b-ḏt ḫmr-hmw ʾtw b-wfym w-mhrg[m b-]
5 (k)n wqh-hmw mrʾ-hmw Lḥyʿṯt Yrḫm mlk (S¹)[bʾ]
6 (w)-ḏ-Rydn l-s¹bʾ w-qtdmn w-qrn b-hgr[n Ḥḍ]—
7 rm b-ms²rq Ḏ(m)[ry ...] s²ʿbn S²ddm w-s¹(b)[ʾ R]—
8 (ṯ)dʾwm w-b-ʿm-h(w) s¹ṯt w-ʾrbʿy ʾs¹d(m)[ ...—
9 .]w ʿdy hgrn Mwgʾn ḏ-S²ddm w-ytqdmw R[ṯdʾ]—
10 wm w-ʾs¹d-hw b-ʿm ḫ(m)s¹y w-ṯty mʾtn (ʾ)[s¹dm]
11 [... ...]s¹bʾw [... ...]h l-ġzw ms²rqt (b)[...]
12 [... ... ]hgrn Mwgʾn w-ḫmr w-hws²ʿn ʾlmqh [Ṯhw—
13 n bʿ]l-ʾwm ʿbd-hw Rṯdʾwm bn Ḥbṣm w[..—
14 ... ... h]s¹ḥtn kl gys² hmt (ʾs²)ddn w-tgzm[. .]
15 (ḥ)t[..](([.]ḥt[..])) b-ʿly ʾs²zb-hmw l-hṯbn w-kḥym [...]
16 ḏ[..] Rṯdʾwm (w)-ʾs¹d-hw w-(ʾ)l ygbʾnn l-s¹[lm w-]
17 wzʾw tqd(m)n b-ʿm-hmw Rṯdʾwm w-ʾ(s¹)d-hw[ w-h]—
18 s¹ḥtw hm(t) ʾs²ddn ʿdy ʿdww hgrn Mwg[ʾn]
19 s¹ḥtm w-lfyw bn-hmw mhrgm ḏ-ʿs¹m w-ḥ[md R—
20 ṯ]dʾwm bn Ḥbṣm ḫyl w-mqm ʾlmqh-Ṯhw[n bʿ—
21 l]-ʾwm l-ḏ-hwfy-hmw b-ʾmlʾ s¹[tm](lʾw b)-ʿm-hw [...]
22 [w]fyt mqrnt-hmw Ḥḍrm w-l-ḫmr ʿbd-(hw )(R)[ṯdʾ]—
23 [wm ḥẓy w-rḍw ]mrʾ-hmw Lḥyʿṯt Yḫrm [mlk]
24 [S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn ... ...]
| 1 | Beeston in CIAS: [R]ṯdʾ[wm ]w-Ḫ[....]z[....... mqtt L]; the letter z is not visible on the photograph. |
| 7 | For the reconstruction of the lacuna, see Robin 1987 c: 127. He reads Ḏm(ry). |
| 8-9 | [ w-mḍy]w (Beeston in CIAS); [ w-mṣʾ]w (Beeston 1976: 69). |
| 10-11 | Beeston in CIAS: ʾ[s¹dm ʾ—s²ddm ḏ]-s¹bʾw. |
| 13-14 | At the end of l. 13, the w followed by lacuna might also be a conjunction. Beeston in CIAS: w[...]—[...w-h]s¹ḥtn. |
| 14-15 | Beeston in CIAS: w-tgzm[w w]-ḥt[.]wn, the latter interpreted as an infinite from a root Ḥ*W, that the scholar hypothetically compares to Ethiopic taḥassawa "to be proved a liar". However, the reading of the signs following ḥt is not sure and there seems not to be space enough for three letters. One cannot exclude a word from the root S¹Ḥt attested in the previous and following lines. As regards the verb from the root GZM, it is uncertain if it has to be restored as an infinite tgzmn or a finite form tgzmw. |
| 15-16 | Beeston in CIAS: gys² ḏnn. |
| 21-22 | Beeston in CIAS: w-l ḏ-wfyt. It is not certain if one more letter might be restored at the beginning of l. 22. |
| 23-24 | Only traces of few signs can be read on the photo. The reading and restoration follow Beeston in CIAS. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 Rṯdʾwm [... ... ] 2 Lḥyʿṯt Yrḫm king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān [dedicated] 3 to ʾlmqh Ṯhwn Lord of ʾwm this statue in bronze, in praise 4 because He granted to them the return in safety and with spoils 5 when their lord Lḥyʿṯt Yrḫm king of Sabaʾ 6 and ḏu-Raydān ordered them to carry out a military expedition and to do battle and to perform garrison duty in the town of Ḥḍrm 7 to the east of Ḏmry [... ...] the tribe S²ddm; and Rṯdʾwm 8 - and together with him forty six soldiers - undertook the military expedition [... ...] 9 towards the town of Mwgʾn of S²ddm, and Rṯdʾwm 10 and his soldiers did battle with two hundreds fifty soldiers 11 [... ...] they undertook the military expedition [... ...] to conduct a raid in the eastern part [... ...] 12 [... ...] the town Mwgʾn, and ʾlmqh Ṯhwn 13 Lord of ʾwm granted and accorded to His servant Rṯdʾwm of Ḥbṣm and 14 [... ...] the defeat of the whole contingent of those of the tribe S²dd ... ... 15 ... ... 16 ... ... Rṯdʾwm and his soldiers, and that they would not sue for peace, and 17 Rṯdʾwm and his soldiers proceeded to do battle with them, and 18 defeated those of S²ddm so that they retired to the town Mwgʾn 19 completely routed, and Rṯdʾwm and his soldiers obtained spoils in great number. And 20 Rṯdʾwm of Ḥbṣm praised the might and the power of ʾlmqh Ṯhwn Lord 21 of ʾwm for that He fulfilled them in the requests they sought from Him [... ...] 22 their defence of Ḥḍrm was successful, and that He granted to His servant Rṯdʾwm 23 [the goodwill and the satisfaction of] his lord Lḥyʿṯt Yrḫm [king 24 of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān[ ... ...] |
| 14-16 | Beeston in CIAS: "although the latter had sworn, / [forswearing themselves?], on their daggers to repulse ignominiously [the contingent of] this Rṯdʾwm and his soldiers, and that they would not sue for peace". A translation of parts of the text is given also by Beeston 1976: 55-56. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Deposit | Ṣanʿāʾ, Ministry of Tourism, ST 1 |
| Support type | Artefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription |
| Material | Stone |
| Measures | h. 41, w. 20.5, th. 14.5 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Maḥram Bilqīs |
| Ancient site | ʾwm |
| Geographical area | Maʾrib |
| Country | Yemen |
| Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of ʾlmqh Ṯhwn bʿl ʾwm |
| Link to site record |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Beeston 1976 b: 55-56, 59 | Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1976. Warfare in ancient South Arabian (2nd.-3rd. centuries A.D.). Qahtan. Studies in Old Arabian Epigraphy. 3. London: Luzac and Co. |
| CIAS: i, 41-45 (photo) | Beeston, Alfred F.L., Pirenne, Jacqueline and Robin, Christian J. 1977-1986. Corpus des inscriptions et antiquités sud-arabes: Vol. I (1977): Tome 1. Inscriptions. Tome 2. Antiquités; Vol. II (1986): Le Musée d’Aden. Tome 1. Inscriptions. Tome 2. Antiquités. Louvain: Peeters. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres] |
| Robin 1987 c: 127 | Robin, Christian J. 1987. L'inscription Ir 40 de Bayt Ḍabʿân et la tribu Ḏmry. Appendice: Les inscriptions Gl 1192, Gl 1197 et Gr 27. Pages 113-157 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. |