CSAI

Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions


Jamme 1952 a: pl. XXVI
Image free from copyright

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Qatabanic » Central Qatabanic
AlphabetAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Writing techniqueIncision
Textual typologyConstruction text

GENERAL NOTES

The inscription, on the basis of palaeography only, can be dated in the period B.

TEXT


   1  Ṣbḥk[r]b ḏ-Nʿmn ʿs¹y ẓrb qbr-s¹
   2  Gwr glm b-ḥg w-mqdm ʾnby

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  Ṣbḥkrb ḏ-Nʿmn, made and gained legal possession of his grave
   2  Gwr in its entirety, according to the orders and the command of ʾnby.

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support typeStone inscription
MaterialStone
Measuresh. 42.5, w. 91, th. 33
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin
Modern siteḤayd Ibn ʿAqīl
Ancient siteUnknown
Geographical areaWādī Bayḥān
CountryYemen
Archaeological contextFunerary context: Tomb Gwr
Link to site record

CULTURAL NOTES

ʾnby is part of the official Qatabanian pantheon. Similarly to texts for house construction, also in grave construction texts the god appears in the fixed expression "according to the orders of ʾnby, and let there be no violation thereof".
These texts, also, commemorate the name of the tomb and enumerate its parts, which have the same names as the parts of a house.
Even more than for the texts of the construction of a house, it was crucial for these to decree the ownership of the grave and establish who had the right to be buried there.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jamme 1952 a: 171-172, pl. XXVI/bJamme, Albert W.F. 1952. Pièces épigraphiques de Ḥeid bin ʿAqil, la nécropole de Timnaʿ (Hagr Koḥlân). (Bibliothèque du Muséon, 30). Louvain: Publications universitaires.