DASI: Digital Archive for the Study of pre-islamic arabian Inscriptions: Epigraph details

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

Language

Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic

Alphabet

Ancient South Arabian

Script typology

Monumental writing

Writing technique

Incision

Measure of letters

0.25

Chronology

Period	D
Date	(end of the III cent. AD)

Textual typology

Dedicatory text

GENERAL NOTES

The short title of S²mr Yhrʿs² suggests
a date before the conquest of Ḥaḍramawt.

TEXT

Apparatus

1	while CIH reads Yh[... ...] and Beston [... ...], Jamme restores Hḥm[d.
2-5	there is a square with no text at the middle of the lines.
18	wdy (Beeston 1937 a), corrected ʿdy (Jamme 1958-1959 and Beeston 1976 b).

TRANSLATIONS

CSAI

English

   1  ʾbkrb [... ....]
   2  ḏ-S³rdd and N[...], mqtwy of
   3  S²mr Yhrʿs² king of Sabaʾ and
   4  ḏu-Raydān, son of Ys¹rm Yhnʿm
   5  king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, dedicated to
   6  ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Master of ʾwm, the statue of silver
   7  and two statue of bronze, in praise because
   8  ʾlmqh Ṯhwn Master of ʾwm aided and protected the body of
   9  his servant ʾbkrb from the disease from which he suffered in the
  10  the city of Mrb throughout eight months;
  11  and ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Master of ʾwm, granted His servant
  12  ʾbkrb the protection of his body from this
  13  disease; and in praise because ʾlmqh granted
  14  His servant ʾbkrb the favours he asked from
  15  Him, when they undertook a military expedition and assisted their lord S²mr
  16  Yhrʿs² king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, son of Ys¹rm
  17  Yhnʿm king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, when they undertook a military expedition and
  18  made war at S¹hrtn against the tribes of S¹hrtm
  19  and Dwʾt and Ṣḥrm and Ḥrt, when
  20  their lord S²mr Yhrʿs² fought against them in the
  21  valley ḏ-Ḍmdm, and met them upon
  22  ʿkwtnhn on the north side, until he drove them into (?)
  23  the sea; and they pursued after them and slew them
  24  in the middle of the sea; and in praise because he granted his servant
  25  ʾbkrb the slaughter of three warriors killed in battle,
  26  and two captives, and prisoners and booty, which may satisfy him.
  27  And may ʾlmqh continue to grant His servant ʾbkrb
  28  slayings and booty whenever they undertook an expedition and assist
  29  their lord the king; and may He grant him the favour and
  30  goodwill of their lord S²mr Yhrʿs² king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-
  31  Raydān, son of Ys¹rm Yhnʿm king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān,
  32  and protect them from the evil, defeat,
  33  humiliation and harm of any enemy; by ʾlmqh Ṯhwn Master of ʾwm.

21	the wādī Ḍamad is 12 km north of Jāzān, today in Saudi Araba (Robin 2013: 121).

Robin 2013	Robin, Christian J. 2013. À propos de Ymnt et Ymn: « nord » et « sud », « droite » et « gauche », dans les inscriptions de l'Arabie antique. Pages 119-140 in Françoise Briquel-Chatonnet, Catherine Fauveaud and Iwona Gajda (eds). Entre Carthage et l’Arabie heureuse. Mélanges offerts à François Bron. (Orient & Méditerranée, 12). Paris: de Boccard.

OBJECT INFORMATION

Deposit	Marseille, Musée Borély, 5302
Support type	Artefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription
Material	Stone
Measures	h. 92, w. 28, th. 12
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin

Modern site	Unknown
Ancient site	Unknown
Geographical area	Unknown
Country	Unknown
Archaeological context	Religious context: Temple of ʾlmqh Ṯhwn bʿl ʾwm
Link to site record

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Beeston 1937 a: 46-48	Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1937. Sabaean inscriptions. Oxford.
Jamme 1958-1959: 154-167, pl. II	Jamme, Albert W.F. 1958-1959. Les antiquités Sud-Arabes du Musée Borély à Marseille. Cahiers de Byrsa, 8: 149-189.
Beeston 1976 b	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.