CSAI

Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions


Beeston 1995: 204, fig. 1
Image free from copyright

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Qatabanic » Central Qatabanic
AlphabetAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Writing techniqueIncision
Chronology
PeriodC
Textual typologyDedicatory text

GENERAL NOTES

Besides palaeography, this text shows a number of features in the textual formulas that make date it in the period C.

TEXT


   1  Bnʾl ʾṣdq bn Hwfʿm ḏ-Hrn
   2  w-ḏ-Ḏrʾn s¹qny ʾl-s¹ w-mrʾ-s¹ ʾṯr—
   3  t bʿl Mhnn b-hgrn-Ḫḏry ṣlm ḏhb—
   4  n l-bn-s¹ ʾbkrb ḥg-ḥrg-s¹ Bʿl Mhnn
   5  rṯd Bnʾl Bʿl Mhnn ʾḏn-s¹ w-mq(m)-(s¹) [w-]
   6  nfs¹ bn-s¹ ʾbkrb w-ṣl(m)-(s¹)[ bn kl]
   7  ms¹nkrm w-ms¹fʾy(m)[ bn brṯ-s¹]

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  Bnʾl ʾṣdq, son of Hwfʿm, ḏ-Hrn
   2  and ḏ-Ḏrʾn, dedicated to his God and Lord ʾṯr-
   3  t, Master of Mhnn, in the town of Ḫḏry the bronze sta-
   4  tue for his son ʾbkrb as the Master of Mhnn had ordered to him;
   5  Bnʾl has committed to the Master of Mhnn his faculties and his material resources and the
   6  life of his son ʾbkrb and his statue against everyone who
   7  may damage it or may move it from its place.

OBJECT INFORMATION

DepositLondon, The British Museum, BM 2004,0603.1
Support typeArtefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription
MaterialStone
Measuresh. 28.5, w. 29.8
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin
Modern siteUnknown
Ancient siteUnknown
Geographical areaUnknown
CountryUnknown
Archaeological contextReligious context: Temple of ʾṯrt bʿl Mhnn
NotesThe toponym Ḫḏry, mentioned in the text and from which the inscription may come, is probably to be identified with Ḫudrāʾ (see also Doe 2).
Link to site record

CULTURAL NOTES

In this text the dedication is to ʾṯrt bʿl Mhnn, while in the rest of the text the goddess is called Bʿl Mhnn. ʾṯrt, who was the main god of Ḥinū az-Zurayr, has often masculine epithets, as in this inscription, where she is called "god" and "master".

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bron 1992: 20-22, photoBron, François 1992. Mémorial Mahmud al-Ghul. Inscriptions sudarabiques. Paris: Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner / Sanʿāʾ: Centre français d'études yéménites.
Beeston 1995: 203-205, fig. 1Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1995. Capt. Aylward's Qatabanian Inscriptions. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 6/3: 203-205.