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

Jamme 1962 a: pl. 15
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INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

Language

Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic

Alphabet

Ancient South Arabian

Script typology

Monumental writing

Writing technique

Incision

Measure of letters

3-2.4

Chronology

Period

Textual typology

Dedicatory text

TEXT

TRANSLATIONS

CSAI

English

   1  Wfym ʾḥbr, of the family Ḥbb and Hynn
   2  and Ṯʾrn, he of ʿmd and S¹ʾryn and Ḥwlm,
   3  ʾqwl of the tribe Ṣrwḥ and Ḫwln Ḫḍlm and
   4  Hynn, mqtwy of S²mr Yhrʿs², king of Sabaʾ
   5  and ḏu-Raydān, dedicated to their lord ʾlmqh Ṯhwn,
   6  Lord of ʾwm, the statue in bronze in praise because
   7  He fulfilled them with His oracle in all the expeditions
   8  they went on and in which they performed service for their lord S²mr Yhrʿs², king of
   9  Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, in S¹hrtn Lyt and
  10  Ḫywn and Ḍdḫn and Tnʿm and Nbʿt and killed
  11  in that expedition five men in combat and one
  12  (was taken as) prisoner – good casualties and a notable succes in the view of
  13  the contingent – and he and his tribe came back with killings and
  14  prisoners and booty in quantity, that satisfied them; and in praise
  15  for the expedition on which they went again and in which they performed service for their lord
  16  S²mr Yhrʿs², king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, in the valley of
  17  Ḍmdm and they made a sally in its defiles against the tribe of Ḥrt
  18  and in it he killed five men in combat - a notable success
  19  in view of the contingent - and in it he was wounded with five wounds penetrating
  20  his tights and his feet, and his horse was also wounded,
  21  and he was in fear that his feet might be injured and his horse might die,
  22  and ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, saved him, and he and his tribe came back
  23  with killings and prisoners and booty that satisfied them;
  24  and in praise (because) they went on expedition and performed service for their lord S²mr
  25  Yhrʿs², king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, to the valley of Ḥrb at
  26  Qrytnhn and thereon their lord S²mr
  27  Yhrʿs², king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, ordered them – him and a hundred and seventy
  28  men whom he summoned from their tribe Ṣrwḥ and Ḫwln,
  29  and with them (there were) six cavalrymen – to confront and attack the tribes
  30  of ʿkm and ḏ-S¹hrtm and they attacked and confronted all the tribes
  31  and the nomad groups of ʿkm and ḏ-S¹hrtm at the fortress ḏ-Rgzgzn
  32  and they fought them from the appearance of dawn until the setting
  33  of the sun and throughout the entire night until the appearance of the star
  34  of the morning, and they routed them and made them surrender and killed among
  35  them - a notable success in the view of the contingent - one man in combat and two
  36  (were taken as) prisoners and the casualties that they inflicted at the fortress
  37  ḏ-Rgzgzn were one hundred and ten men (killed) in combat and
  38  forty-six men captured and four hundred and twenty
  39  prisoners and three hundred and sixteen
  40  riding camels with their equipment, and they took as booty and loot camels and
  41  cattle and sheep in abundance, and on the following day they performed service [... ...]

	Translation in Beeston 1976 b: 31-32.
21	Stein (2003 a: 93, fn. 376) notes that this occurrence of rgl has to be considered an exceptional writing for the dual rgly (cf. l.20). Ryckmans (1966: 487) had already pointed out that it could not be a singular (as Jamme 1962 a and later Beeston 1976 b did), due to the ending of the verb, but he considered it a plural used for a dual.
41	For the interpretation of w-l-ḏ-mḫr hwt ywmn, see Beeston 1974: 427-428.

Jamme 1962 a: 152	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.
Ryckmans, Jacques 1966: 487	Ryckmans, Jacques 1966. Himyaritica 2. Le Muséon, 79: 475-500.
Beeston 1974: 427-428	Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1974. Sabaean Marginalia II. Annali dell'Istituto Orientale di Napoli, 34/3: 421-428.
Beeston 1976 b: 31-32	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.
Stein 2003 a: 93, fn. 376	Stein, Peter 2003. Untersuchungen zur Phonologie und Morphologie des Sabäischen. (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, 3). Rahden: Marie Leidorf GmbH / Westf.: Marie Leidorf GmbH.

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support type	Artefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription
Material	Stone
Measures	h. 123.2, w. 35.7, th. 17.4
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin and provenance

Modern site	Maḥram Bilqīs
Ancient site	ʾwm
Geographical area	Maʾrib
Country	Yemen
Found	Reemployed. In ancient times
Archaeological context	Religious context: Temple of ʾlmqh Ṯhwn bʿl ʾwm
Link to site record

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jamme 1962 a: 151-153, pl. 15	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: 168-173	ʿInān, Zaid b. ʿA 1976. Taʾriḫ ḥaḍāra al-Yaman al-qadīm. Cairo.