CSAI

Corpus of Northern Middle Sabaic Inscriptions (work in progress)


INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Sabaic » Northern Middle Sabaic
AlphabetAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Writing techniqueIncision
Chronology
PeriodC
Textual typologyLegal text - fragmentary

TEXT


   1  mn-(m) ḥmnm yḥrṭ s¹lḥm mʿd Ḥlfn
   2  wḍʾm ʾw bhʾm k-ʾḫḏ b-mqs¹mm hn |
   3  l-yngs¹n s¹lḥ-hw w-dmwm b-s²—
   4  yʿ-hw-(l)-y(ẓ)lʿn l-ʾlt ʿṯtr
   5  w-ʾrs²wwn ʿs²r ḥyʾlym w-
   6  hm lm ydmw l-*yẓ*lʿn ḫm—
   7  s¹ ḥyʾlym ḏ-yndyn mrʾm |
   8  mn mḥrmn l-yẓlʿn ḫms¹ ʾs¹—
   9  lʿm w-ʿ(l)-m bdʾn l-ywfyn ẓlʿ—
  10  n w-ḏ-kr nṭs² ʿs²t mḥrmn w-(y)—
  11  wfy b-ʾrṯt ṯwrm w-b kl m—
  12  ḥrmn ʾkylm w-ʿqb s²nnm w-d—
  13  bs¹m w-lbbm w-kll rzʾn ʿly k—
  14  l ʾn(s¹)n w-ywfyn ḏn ḥ(g)n ʿs²rt
  15  ʾḫrftm mn wrḫ ḏ-S¹lʾm ḏ-[...]—
  16  [...]ʿt S²ḥm ḏ-ʾls¹ʿd ḏ-Ḫlʿṯ[t ...]—
  17  [...]ʿrt-hw dmtn ḏt mn-m yr[...]
  18  [... ...]

Apparatus
1"mngr ḥmnm" in Halévy's transcription is rendered by CIH as "mn grḥ mnm"; Beeston: "mngr ḥm[y]m".
6l-ẓylʿn in the original transcription.
9The original transcriptions is w-ʿg-m.
10-11While the previous editors accepted the reading w-hwfy, Stein corrects in w-ywfy (Stein 2007: 37, note 78).
11ʿrṯt<m> (Stein).
14The original transcriptions is ḥ(l)n.
15-17The presence of a lacuna across the lines is not proved.
17CIH reports Halévy's transcription -hw in South Arabian characters, but changes in -hmw in the Hebrew transcription, followed by Robin. Beeston and Stein record -hw.

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  Whoever ... brings a weapon at the feast of Ḥlfn,
   2  going out or coming in, if it is proved by the oracle that
   3  his weapon is defiled and there is blood on
   4  his dress, let him pay a fine to those of ʿṯtr
   5  and to the priests, ten ḥyʾl-coins; and
   6  if he is not defiled with blood, let him pay five
   7  ḥyʾl-coins. Whoever drives out a man
   8  from the sanctuary, let him pay five s¹lʿ-
   9  coins; and in case of the first occasion, let him pay the fine,
  10  but the one who repeats the offence (?) to the order (?) of the temple, let him
  11  pay at ʾrṯt a bull, and, in the whole
  12  sanctuary, food (?) and the price of fermented milk and honey
  13  and palm hearts and the whole cost that falls on every
  14  man and let he perform this pilgrimage for ten
  15  years from the month of ḏ-S¹lʾm in the [year of ... ...]
  16  [..]ʿt S²ḥm ḏ-ʾls¹ʿd ḏ-Ḫlʿṯ[t ... ...].
  17  [... ...]
  18  [... ...].
2"qu'il soit étranger ou memebre de communauté, lorsqu'il est reconnu coupable par serment" (Robin).
2End: "in order to obtain (an oracle) at the shrine of oracles" (Beeston).
10-11"but whoso repeats the offence must be expelled (?) from (?) the sanctuary, and pay at ʾrṯt a bull" (Beeston); "wer aber wiederholt das Leben des Tempels stört (?), soll im (Tempel) ʾAraṯat<um> einen Stier bezahlen" (Stein).
12"de la farine, le prix du lait caillé, du miel" (Robin).
13-15"and cakes; and the whole cost is to fall on every man (or, and repair the mischief which affects every man). And let this law be observed for ten years" (Beeston).

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support typeInscription on architectural structure » Pillar
MaterialStone
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin and provenance
Modern siteKharibat Hamdān
Ancient siteHrm
Geographical areaJawf - Wādī Madhab
CountryYemen
FoundIn situ
Archaeological contextReligious context: Temple of Ḥlfn (ʾrṯtm)
NotesWhen the inscriptions of the temple were recorded by Halévy, they were in situ. They disappeared after his visit.
Link to site record

CULTURAL NOTES

This text defines the rules regulating the access to the temple of Ḥlfn.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Beeston 1937 a: 52-55Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1937. Sabaean inscriptions. Oxford.
Robin 1992 a: 78-81Robin, Christian J. 1992. Inabbaʾ, Haram, al-Kāfir, Kamna et al-Ḥarāshif. Fasc. A: Les documents. Fasc. B: Les planches. Inventaire des inscriptions sudarabiques. 1. Paris: de Boccard / Rome: Herder. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres; Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente]
Stein 2007: 37-38Stein, Peter 2007. Materialien zur sabäischen Dialektologie: Das Problem des amiritischen ("haramischen") Dialektes. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 157: 13-47.