| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Early Sabaic | ||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Script cursus | Boustrophedon | ||
| Writing technique | Incision | ||
| Measure of letters | 21.5 | ||
| 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, 2 | In l. 1 there is one of the earliest examples of writing –y for the plural pronoun and in l. 2 of oblique dual status constructus (Stein 2003 a: 148, 92). |
| English | |
1 Ḏmrkrb son of ʾbkrb, of the family S²wḏbm, qyn of Yṯʿʾmr, Ykrbmlk, S¹mhʿly, Ydʿʾl and Ykrbmlk, dedicated to ʾlmqh the whole construction and the completion of the wall, from the lines of the inscription to top, and his son S²rḥʾl, son of Ykrbmlk Wtr, and all his sons S¹mhʾmr, 2 Hlkʾmr, Yṯʿkrb, Ḫyrhmw and Ns²ʾkrb, of the family S²wḏbm, and ʿmyṯʿ and Yṯʿkrb, of the family Ṣbḥrym, and Ḥmʿṯt he of Ḏkr, and all his offspring and his house Yhr and his palmgroves ḏ-Ṣwm, ḏ-Rmdn, ḏ-ʾnwyn, ḏ-Mqldn, S²rwn, ʿgntn, ḏ-Ms¹qmm, Ymlʾṣḥl 3 and ʾḥṭbn in Ys¹rn, open to the waters, and his palmgrove ḏ-Ms²mn in the territory of Ns²q, and his house Ḥrwr in the town Ghrn and his houses and his fields and his lands and his canals in the territory of the two tribes Mhʾnfm and Ybrn, when ʾlmqh granted him what He had promised him and when He appointed him qyn of Mrb 4 and when he waged war with S¹mhʿly Ynf in the land of Qatabān and supplied all the shields and garments and all the provision for the war of S¹mhʿly, and S¹mhʿly expressed gratitude, rights and favours to him. By ʿṯtr, by ʾlmqh, by ḏt Ḥmym, by ḏt Bʿdn and by Ykrbmlk Wtr and by Yṯʿʾmr Byn. |
| 3 | mflqn ("open to the waters") is the retaining dam which blocks the flux of the wādī and from which the waters flow into the lands nearby. ḏt tbnʾ-hw: it is uncertain who is the subject of the sentence and to whom the pronoun refers (the god or the author of the text). In the present case, the subject is probably the god. |
| Support type | Inscription on architectural structure » Wall |
| Material | Stone |
| Measures | h. 126.7 (max. height of the superimposed stones), w. 1069 (max. lenght 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 |
| Link to site record |
| Jamme 1962 a: 18-21 | 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: 287-290 | ʿInān, Zaid b. ʿA 1976. Taʾriḫ ḥaḍāra al-Yaman al-qadīm. Cairo. |
| Wissmann 1976 a: 376-379 | Wissmann, Hermann von 1976. Die Geschichte des Sabäerreichs und der Feldzug des Aelius Gallus. Pages 308–544 in Hildegard Temporini (ed.). Politische Geschichte. (Provinzen und Randvölker: Mesopotamien, Armenien, Iran, Südarabien, Rom und der Ferne Osten). Hildegard Temporini and Wolfgang Haase (eds), Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römischen Welt. Geschichte und Kultur Roms im Spiegel der neueren Forschung. II. 9/1. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter / New York: Walter de Gruyter. |
| Stein 2005 c | Stein, Peter 2005. Linguistic contributions to Sabaean chronology. Archäologische Berichte aus dem Yemen, 10: 179-189. |
| Avanzini 2010: 188 | Avanzini, Alessandra 2010. A reassessment of the chronology of the first millennium BC. Aula Orientalis, 28: 181-192. |