| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic | ||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Writing technique | Incision | ||
| Measure of letters | 4.2-3.2 | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
| 1 | ʿInān: S¹bʾ w-Khln hqny ʾlmqh ṣlmnhn (but hqnyw in the Arabic transcription). |
| 2, 17-18 | ʿInān omits the epithet of ʾlmqh. |
| 3-4 | ʿInān: hwfy-hmw ʾmlʾ w-hwt s¹twklw. |
| 7-9 | ʿInān: ṯlṯn w-tbs²rw w-ʾklʾ-hw. |
| 10-11 | Jamme erroneously corrects his copy ḏmḏn into ḏ-m(nḏ), considering this a preposition of time (Ryckmans 1966: 492). ʿInān: ḏ-m-ḏn ḫrfn wṭmw hwt-ywmn ḏhb-hw. |
| English | |
1 The tribe of Sabaʾ Khln dedicated to ʾlmqh 2 Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, two statues in bronze 3 in praise because He gratified them in the favours and the support 4 they sought from their lord ʾlmqh, Lord of 5 ʾwm, for, because the rainy season of the third year of 6 Tbʿkrb, son of Wddʾl, of the family Ḥzfrm, failed, 7 and they received from ʾlmqh the good news that He would grant 8 them irrigation in winter in Mrb and its valleys and 9 its pasturelands in the fourth day of ḏ-Fqḥy of the month 10 ḏ-Mlyt of this very year, and in that very day 11 in which they sought favour from ʾlmqh He granted them 12 rain and irrigation which satisfied His servants until 13 the tenth day which is the twentieth in that very month 14 ḏ-Mlyt; may ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of 15 ʾwm, continue to grant and fulfill His servants, the tribe of Sabaʾ 16 Khln, in all the favours and the support which they will continue 17 to seek and ask Him for, and may 18 ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, grant them the goodwill and the satisfaction 19 of their lord S²mr Yhrʿs², king of Sabaʾ 20 and ḏu-Raydān, son of Ys¹rm Yhnʿm, king of 21 Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān. By ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm. |
| 13 | Beeston 1972: "Ryckmans here renders ḏ-ʿs²rnhn as 'des deux décades (écoulées)'. I would prefer to see here evidence that ESA, like other Semitic languages, employed decad numerals identical in form for cardinals and ordinals, and hence to translate 'which is the twentieth in this month'". |
| Ryckmans, Jacques 1966: 491-492 | Ryckmans, Jacques 1966. Himyaritica 2. Le Muséon, 79: 475-500. |
| Beeston 1972 e: 352 | Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1972. Review of 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. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 35/2: 349-353. |
| Support type | Artefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription |
| Material | Stone |
| Measures | h. 116, w. 39.2, th. 27.3 |
| Link to object record |
| Modern site | Maḥram Bilqīs |
| Ancient site | ʾwm |
| Geographical area | Maʾrib |
| Country | Yemen |
| Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of ʾlmqh Ṯhwn bʿl ʾwm |
| Link to site record |
| Jamme 1962 a: 158-159 | 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: 491-492 | Ryckmans, Jacques 1966. Himyaritica 2. Le Muséon, 79: 475-500. |
| ʿInān 1976: 381-382 | ʿInān, Zaid b. ʿA 1976. Taʾriḫ ḥaḍāra al-Yaman al-qadīm. Cairo. |