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

CIH: i/iv, pl. XXXV

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

Language

Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic

Alphabet

Ancient South Arabian

Script typology

Monumental writing

Writing technique

Incision

Chronology

Period

Textual typology

Dedicatory text

GENERAL NOTES

The inscription was found in the upper Jawf.

TEXT

Apparatus

3	tqd[m] (Rhodokanakis).
4	Ḥ[ḍrmwt w]-m[ṣyr]-hmw (CIH); Ḥ[ḍrmwt w-mṣr]t-hw (Rhodokanakis, on the base of Mordtmann and Glaser's copy ...rthw).
5	Beginning: w-ṯ]br; mṣyrt-h[w ] (CIH) and mṣyrt-[hw ] (Rhodokanakis).
5-6	Ġ....m (Rhodokanakis); possibly Ġ[db]m (CIH); ḏt Ġ[y](l)m (Jamme 1962: 297).
7-8	w-[qdm-h]w (CIH); w-[tqdm]w (Rhodokanakis).
8-9	w-[ʿs¹yw] (Rhodokanakis).
9	Beginning: hyrtn (CIH); end: tqdm[w w-] (Rhodokanakis, Beeston 1976 b: 49).
10-11	[w-kl ḏ-wr]d (CIH); [w-kl ʾs¹]d (Rhodokanakis, Beeston 1976 b: 49).
13	s²trḥt (CIH); s²trḥ(n) (Rhodokanakis).
16	Beginning: [bkn] (CIH and Rhodokanakis).
17	Beginning: [nṭr] (CIH), s¹bʾ (Rhodokanakis).
17-18	hgrn[hn m]wt (CIH).
18	(R)s¹wt w-Ṣwʾrn (two towns in Dhofar, according to Jamme 1962: 298).
21-22	[ʿbd-h]w (CIH).
22-23	w-[s¹by]m (CIH).
27-28	w-ḫr[f] b-[nkl ʾr]ḍ-hmw (CIH); w-ḫr[f ʿdy kl ʾrḍ-hmw (Rhodokanakis).
28-29	[bn kl n]ḍʿ (CIH).

TRANSLATIONS

CSAI

English

      [... ...]
   1  S²ʿrm ʾwtr king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān son of ʿlhn
   2  Nhfn king of Sabaʾ and in gratitude because he granted favour to their lord S²ʿrm
   3  ʾwtr and his two khamīs, Sabaeans and Ḥimyarites, when they came to a confrontation
   4  with ʾlʿz king of Ḥaḍramawt and his Ḥaḍramite forces
   5  and defeated the latter and all his forces in the region of ...
   6  The dedicant was ordered by his lord the king
   7  to furnish assistance to the camp of the king and the two khamīs
   8  with two hundred men of the Ḥumlān levy; for the Rdmn levy
   9  [had launched an assault] on the camp on the same day that they [had taken the field];
  10  the dedicant came into conflict with them,
  11  [he and the troops] who were with him of the Ḥumlān levy, and they put the Radmanites to flight
  12  from the camp in disorder and rout, so that the camp of their lord
  13  the king and the two khamīs were safe and unharmed.
  14  Also in gratitude because the deity kept His servant the dedicant safe
  15  after receiving two wounds
  16  in the brush with the Rdmn levy at the camp. On a further occasion,
  17  they [campaigned] and rendered service to their lord the king at
  18  Shabwah and Ṣwʾrn. So the dedicant gives thanks to the might
  19  and power of the deity for the return
  20  of their lord the king and his two khamīs in safety from all
  21  those campaigns; and thanks for his granting
  22  His servant the dedicant a safe return with spoils,
  23  [captives] and booty to their contentment. Also because the deity granted him
  24  the plundering and routing of the people of Ḫṭlm; and may Tʾlb
  25  grant him the satisfaction of their lord S²ʿrm ʾwtr king of Sabaʾ and
  26  ḏu-Raydān and their lords of the banu Hmdn and their tribe Ḥ(s²d)[m]
  27  and may Tʾlb Rymm grant them the firstfruits of the spring [... ...]
  28  [... ...]their land and their fields and may Tʾlb save them
  29  from the harm and the malice of the enemies; by Tʾlb Rymm.

Translation of ll. 1-24 by Beeston 1976 b: 49.

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.

OBJECT INFORMATION

Deposit	Berlin, Altes Museum (formerly Königlisches Museum), 2672
Support type	Stone inscription
Material	Stone
Measures	h. 74, w. 32
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin

Modern site	Unknown
Ancient site	Unknown
Geographical area	Unknown
Country	Unknown
Archaeological context	Religious context: Temple Tʾlb Rymm bʿl Trʿt
Link to site record

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Mordtmann 1893: pl. III	Mordtmann, Johannes H. 1893. Himjarische Inschriften und Alterthümer in den königlichen Museen zu Berlin. (Mitteilungen aus den orientalischen Sammlungen, 7). Berlin: W. Spemann.
Rhodokanakis 1940: 55-60	Rhodokanakis, Nikolaus 1940. Die Inschriften Gl 424 und 825. Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, 47: 50-60.
Jamme 1962 a	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.
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.