CSAI

Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions

DASI

as-Sawdāʾ 30 RES 2886; M 111


INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Minaic » Central Minaic
AlphabetAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Writing techniqueIncision
Chronology
PeriodB
Textual typologyLegal text - fragmentary
Royal inscriptionYes

GENERAL NOTES

Halévy's copy.
Different dates have been proposed for the text, based on the mention of the king Ḥfnm Ṣdq (Wissmann: 405 BC; Pirenne: style E3, mid-2nd century BC). On the topic, see Avanzini 1995: 50-52.

TEXT


   1  s²kn ftḥ w-s¹[ṯb] Ḥfnm Ṣdq mlk [Mʿn ... ...]
   2  bn Yṯʿkrb ḏ-Ḥdṯ w-b-ʿmh Ḫlyf[ʿ ... ...]—
   3  t ḏ-Bʿdʾl k-ʾy ʾṯrt s²wʿnyhn w[... ...]
   4  ʾwl f[.] ʾḥdh ʾwl[... ...]

Apparatus
2Instead of ʿmh, Halévy reads wmh.

TRANSLATIONS

CSAI
English

   1  Thus decreed and prescribed Ḥfnm S¹dq, king of [Maʿīn ... ...]
   2  son of Yṯkrb ḏ-Ḥdṯ and with Ḫlyf[ʿ ... ...]
   3  [... ...] ḏ-Bʿdʾl for ʾṯrt the two priests[... ...]
   4  [... ...]

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support typeStone inscription
MaterialStone
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Provenance
Modern siteas-Sawdāʾ
Ancient siteNs²n
Geographical areaJawf - Wādī al-Buhayra
CountryYemen
Link to site record

CULTURAL NOTES

Religion
This text contains one of the few references to the goddess ʾṯrt in the Minaic corpus.
Society
The context is fragmentary, but it is clear that two priests are involved. Probably, as is the case in other Minaic texts, the king is wielding the royal prerogative of assigning priests to the god's temple.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Avanzini 1995: 128-130Avanzini, Alessandra 1995. As-Sawdāʾ. Inventaire des inscriptions sudarabiques. 4. Paris: de Boccard / Rome: Herder. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres; Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente]
Pirenne 1956: 218-219Pirenne, 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 1976 a: 66Wissmann, Hermann von 1976. Die Geschichte des Sabäerreichs und der Feldzug des Aelius Gallus. Pages 308–544 in Hildegard Temporini (ed.). Politische Geschichte. (Provinzen und Randvölker: Mesopotamien, Armenien, Iran, Südarabien, Rom und der Ferne Osten). Hildegard Temporini and Wolfgang Haase (eds), Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römischen Welt. Geschichte und Kultur Roms im Spiegel der neueren Forschung. II. 9/1. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter / New York: Walter de Gruyter.