Mahyūb-Sāmiʿ 1
Mahyūb 2005: 52, pl. 1
- Mahyūb 2005: 52, pl. 1
- Mahyūb 2005: 53, fig. 4
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Southern Middle Sabaic | ||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Writing technique | Incision | ||
| Measure of letters | 10-20 | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Construction text - fragmentary |
TEXT
1 b-rdʾ w-tḥr(g) [... ...] (ʾs¹)ʿd bnt Qs²ʿt ḏt byt bny ʿrqm ḏ-Mʿfr(m)
2 n[..] byt-[h]w Yfʿ w-ʾrbyn hfʿrt w-nṭʿ w-brʾ w-hqs²b w-qṣʿ w-hqḥ
3 w-br[r ... ...] mnqln ḏ-ys¹myn Wnb bn hwṯr-hw ʿdy mrym-hw bn mṣrʿ mḥ—
4 [fd ... ... mḥ]fd ḏ-ʿs²s²tn ḏ-b-S¹rn ḏ-Bytn ʿdy fnw byt-hw |
5 [...] ḏ-Wnʾ w-b-rdʾ m[r]ʾ-[hmw] ḏ-Nmn ((Ḏnmn))ḏ-b-ḥyk Nʿrhtn b-bḍʿ ʿrn Wn[..] [.]ʾ[.]brm ḥṣ[.]t
6 bt-hw bnw ʿrq wʿ[.] brṯn ʾb(ʾr)n b-hw ms¹bʾm k-kwn ṣrtm m[.]bm w-hrʾt
7 hym[... ...] kl ʾḥrmm w-hʿgzm ḏ-b-qrb w-ws³f w-ntqb hfʿr nqzt
8 [...]nm b-hwt s¹rn ḏ-b-qrn ʾywn s¹tfs³bt [..] byt-hw bnw ʿr[qm] b-rd—
9 ʾ w-tḥrg Hyln Khln mnḍḥ bytn S²bʿn w-b-rdʾ-w-tḥrg m—
10 rʾ-hmw Klyb bn Ys²mr Yhḥmd ḏ-Mʿfrm
11 w-tqdm ḏn ʾs¹ṭr
12 ʾls²rḥ ʾs²wʿ
| The photo is poorly legible. We follow the editor's transcription | |
| 1 | Perhaps there are some missing lines before b-rdʾ. ʾs¹ʿd is probably the second element of the female name. |
| 2 | fʿrt seems a mistake by the scribe (or by the editor) for fʿlt "she made", but in the line 7 we have hfʿr. Perhaps we could compare Geez faḥara "to dig". |
| 3-4 | Mahyūb integrates: mḥ—[fd ḏ-... ... ʿdy mḥ]fd |
| 4 | On the interpretation of S¹rn ḏ-Bytn as a name of place, cf. the modern toponym Sirbayt. |
| 4-5 | A symbol is engraved in the middle of the lines. |
| 5 | ḏ-Nmn (or Ḏnmn) could be a theonym. |
| 5 | The editor restores ḥṣ[m]t. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 With the help and the command of [... ...] ʾs¹ʿdn daughter of Qs²ʿt, of the family ʿrqm of Mʿfrm 2 [...] her house/sanctuary Yfʿ and the priests she digged (?) and started and constructed and built and bore a tunnel and finished off 3 and opened up [... ...] the passway which is named Wnb, from foundation to top, from the gate of the tower 4 [... ...] the tower ḏ-ʿs²s²tn, in S¹rn ḏ-Bytn (the valley of Bytn ?) to the immediate surroundings of her house 5 [...] ḏ-Wnʾ, and with the help of [their] lord ḏ-Nmn in the village (?) of Nʿrhtn in the territory of the mountain Wn[.. ... ...] 6 her family (?) the banū ʿrq [...] this place, the wells in it, a watercourse when a drought (?) happened [... ...] 7 [......] which is in the vicinity, and he increased and excavated the excavating of the digging (?) 8 [... ...] in that valley, who is in guard of ʾywn [... ...] his/her house the family ʿrqm, with the help 9 and the command of Hyln Khln, protector of the house S²bʿn, and by the help and the command of their lord 10 Klyb son of Ys²mr Yhḥmd ḏ-Mʿfrm. 11 ʾls²rḥ ʾs²wʿ was in charge 12 of these inscribed lines. |
| 7 | The translation of this line is really hypothetical. It not clear who is the new subject and nqzt cannot be the main verb, the infinitive never precedes the main verb in ASA. |
| 8 | ḏ is masculine, but perhaps it is connected with the feminine noun s¹rn. |
| Mahyūb 2005: 46 | Mahyūb, Ghaleb Ahmed 2005. Naqš ǧadīd min Samiʿ. Maʿlūmāt tārīkhīa jadīda. Pages 43-53 in Sālih ʿAlī Bāsurrah (ed.). Sanʿāʾ. History and Cultural Heritage. Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Yemeni Civilization. (2 vols), 1. Ṣanʿāʾ. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Support type | Rock inscription |
| Measures | h. 150, w. 450 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Sirbayt |
| Ancient site | S¹rn ḏ-Bytn |
| Geographical area | Sāmiʿ |
| Country | Yemen |
| Found | In situ |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
Klyb, son of Ys²mr Yhḥmd, attested in the inscription Sharʿabī as-Sawā 1 (Klyb Yhʾmn), has put in relation with Χόλαιβος attested in the Periplus of the Erithrean Sea (§22). In Sharʿabī as-Sawā 1 are cited the family Mʿfrm and the palace S²bʿn (See Robin 1994e).
It is interesting to note that the author of the complex construction works is a woman, perhaps a priestess.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Robin 1994 e | Robin, Christian J. 1994. Kulayb Yuhaʾmin est-il le Χόλαιβος du Périple de la mer Érithrée?. Raydān, 6: 91-99. |
| Mahyūb 2005: 43-53, figs 1-5 | Mahyūb, Ghaleb Ahmed 2005. Naqš ǧadīd min Samiʿ. Maʿlūmāt tārīkhīa jadīda. Pages 43-53 in Sālih ʿAlī Bāsurrah (ed.). Sanʿāʾ. History and Cultural Heritage. Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Yemeni Civilization. (2 vols), 1. Ṣanʿāʾ. |