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

Fakhry 1952: pl. LV/a
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INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

Language

Ancient South Arabian » Minaic » Central Minaic

Alphabet

Ancient South Arabian

Script typology

Monumental writing

Writing technique

Incision

Measure of letters

7.5

Chronology

Period

Textual typology

Dedicatory text

Royal inscription

Yes

TEXT

Apparatus

14	lʾ-ʿtny (Ryckmans, Gonzague 1952); ms¹ʿtny (Wissmann 1982); ls¹-ʿtny or l-s¹ʿtny (Gnoli 1993).
15	Gnoli restores s¹[ʾl]; Jamme 1972: 72 s¹[qb].

TRANSLATIONS

CSAI

English

   1  ʿmyṯʿ Nbṭ son of
   2  ʾbkrb, king of Maʿīn,
   3  with (the people of) Maʿīn and Yṯl, paid (for the damage)
   4  and did penance to ʿṯtr ḏ-
   5  Yhrq, because they removed the documents
   6  which (came) from their temples
   7  in the city of Y-
   8  ṯl, documents (of the people) of Maʿīn, and
   9  their dedications; and because
  10  they transgressed the decree that was promulgated for the
  11  irrigated land of Yṯl, which is under the protection of
  12  the gods of Maʿīn and Yṯl,
  13  with the condition that the irrigated land should not be
  14  colonised by immigrants; and because they did not respect (?)
  15  the communities [...] of Maʿīn
  16  for the estates of Yṯl, for ʿṯtr
  17  S²rqn and for the gods
  18  [of Maʿīn and Yṯl].

2	the meaning of the term ʾrs² is debated. For "pay for the damage" see von Wissmann 1982: 363, n. 301; for "se lacérer le visage" see G. Ryckmans 1945: 6. We accepted here Gnoli's translation.
14	the difficult reading of the last word of the line prevents from understanding the third reported misdeed. The presence of the verb ʿtny, though unsure if in a positive or negative context, suggests that problems occurred with some kind of responsibility of or over some communities; up to now it is not possible to discern if those were political or religious entities.

Gnoli 1993	Gnoli, Gherardo 1993. Shaqab al-Manaṣṣa. Con diciotto tavole fuori testo. Inventaire des inscriptions sudarabiques. 2. Paris: de Boccard / Rome: Herder. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres; Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente]
Ryckmans, Gonzague 1945	Ryckmans, Gonzague 1945. La confession publique des péchés en Arabie méridionale préislamique. Le Muséon, 58: 1-14.
Wissmann 1982	Wissmann, Hermann von 1982. Die Geschichte von Sabaʾ II. Das Grossreich der Sabäer bis zu seinem Ende im frühen 4. Jh. v. Chr. (Sitzungsberichte der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophischhistorische Klasse, 402). Vienna: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. [Walter W. Müller (ed.)]

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support type	Inscription on architectural structure » Pillar
Material	Stone
Measures	h. 150, w. 36
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Provenance

Modern site	Barāqish
Ancient site	Yṯl
Geographical area	Southern Jawf
Country	Yemen
Notes	The pillar was found in Baraqish, but it is thought to come from Shaqab al-Manaṣṣa.
Link to site record

Origin

Modern site	Shaqab al-Manaṣṣa
Ancient site	Yhrq (?)
Geographical area	Southern Jawf
Country	Yemen
Archaeological context	Religious context: Temple of ʿṯtr ḏ-Yhrq
Link to site record

CULTURAL NOTES

Religion

This penitential inscription records the offences that the king and the communities of Maʿīn and Yṯl committed against the temples of Yṯl and the written documents which established that the sacred territories of this town should not be colonised. Accordingly, like the other ancient royal penitential texts, this one can be said to be a testimony of the clashes between political and religious authorities.
ʿṯtr ḏ-Yhrq is one of the main gods of Baraqish and its territory: the sanctuary of Shaqab al-Manaṣṣa was dedicated to him. Many inscriptions testify the existence of a "congregation" (qhlt) of ʿṯtr ḏ-Yhrq, which had a seat in the temple of Nkrḥ in Baraqish, whose offices we don't know. It is unsure whether the ʾqhl in this inscription (l. 15) refer to these very congregations related to the god or to the whole community of Maʿīn.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Fakhry 1952: i, 150, fig. 106 (facsimile)	Fakhry, Ahmed 1952. An archaeological Journey to Yemen (March-May 1947). (3 vols), Cairo: Government Press.
Fakhry 1952: iii, pl. LV (photo)	Fakhry, Ahmed 1952. An archaeological Journey to Yemen (March-May 1947). (3 vols), Cairo: Government Press.
Pirenne 1956: pl. XIX/b (photo, partim)	Pirenne, Jacqueline 1956. Paléographie des inscriptions sud-arabes. Contribution à la chronologie et à l'histoire de l'Arabie du sud antique. (Verhandelingen van de Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten van België. Klasse der letteren, 26). Brussels: Paleis der Academiën.
Wissmann 1982: 362-366, fig. 119 (facsimile)	Wissmann, Hermann von 1982. Die Geschichte von Sabaʾ II. Das Grossreich der Sabäer bis zu seinem Ende im frühen 4. Jh. v. Chr. (Sitzungsberichte der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophischhistorische Klasse, 402). Vienna: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. [Walter W. Müller (ed.)]
Gnoli 1993: 100-112, pl. 18	Gnoli, Gherardo 1993. Shaqab al-Manaṣṣa. Con diciotto tavole fuori testo. Inventaire des inscriptions sudarabiques. 2. Paris: de Boccard / Rome: Herder. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres; Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente]
Ryckmans, Gonzague 1952	Ryckmans, Gonzague 1952. Epigraphical texts. Ahmed Fakhry, An archaeological Journey to Yemen (March-May 1947). ii. Cairo: Government Press.
Jamme 1972	Jamme, Albert W.F. 1972. Miscellanées d'ancient arabe III. Washington. 2019/07/23; https://cuislandora.wrlc.org/islandora/object/cuislandora%3A206336#page/1/mode/1up. [Privately printed]