CSAI

Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions


INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic
AlphabetAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Writing techniqueIncision
Measure of letters4
Chronology
PeriodD
Textual typologyDedicatory text

TEXT


   1  ʾs¹ʿd Hzd ḏ-ṣry-hw Ṣdqʾl w-bny-hw S²rḥʾwm ʾs¹ʾr ḏ-ṣry-hw S¹mhkrb w-(ʾ)[lrm R]—
   2  ym ḏ-ṣry-hw ʾbʾmr ḏ-Ḏbyn w-Rs²wn w-rs²w ʾlmqh b-<ʾ>wm hqnyw mr—
   3  ʾ-hmw ʾlmqh Ṯhwn bʿl ʾwm ṣlmn ḏ-ṣrfn w-ḫms¹t ʾṣlmm ḏhbm ḥmdm b-
   4  ḏt ḫmr w-ṯwbn ʾdm-hw bny ḏ-Ḏbyn w-Rs²wn ʾwldm ʾḏkrm w-bntm ḏ-hrḍ-hmw w-
   5  ḥmdw mqm mrʾ-hmw ʾlmqh w-l-wzʾ ḫmr-hmw ʾwldm ʾḏkrm hnʾm ḏ-kwkbt ṣdq—
   6  m w-l-ḫmr-hmw ʾṯmrm w-ʾfqlm hnʾm bn-kl ʾrḍt-hmw w-mfnt-hmw w-rṯdw ʾlmqh
   7  kl wld-hmw w-ʾrḍt-hmw bn kl bʾs¹tm w-qlmtm w-l-ḫmr-hmw ḥẓy w-rḍw ʾm—
   8  rʾ-hmw ʾmlk S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn w-rḍw s²ʿb-hmw S¹bʾ w-l-ḫmr-hmw ḥyw grybtm w-b—
   9  ry ʾʾḏnm w-mqymtm w-l-mtʿn ʾdm-hw ʾs¹ʿd w-bny-hw S²rḥʾwm w-ʾlrm w-kl
  10  wld-hmw bny ḏ-Ḏbyn w-Rs²wn bn kl bʾs¹tm w-nkytm w-bn nḍʿ w-s²ṣy |
  11  w-tṯʿt s²nʾm ḏ-bn-hw dʿw w-ḏ-bn-hw ʾl dʿw w-rṯdw ʾlmqh Ṯhwn bʿl |
  12  ʾwm hqnyt-hmw bn mʾḫrm w-ms³wrm w-ds³s³m b-ʾlmqh Ṯhwn bʿl ʾwm

Apparatus
1-2The interpretation of the first two lines is not clear at all. Here we follow the interpretetion of J. Ryckmans: ḏ-ṣry-hw "dont le protecteur est"; A. Jamme considers ḏ-Ṣryhw a lineage name.
2Perhaps the w before rs²w has to be deleted.

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  ʾs¹ʿd Hzd, of whom Ṣdqʾl is the protector, and his two sons, S²rḥʾwm ʾs¹ʾr, of whom S¹mhkrb is the protector, and ʾlrm
   2  rym, of whom ʾbʾmr is the protector, of the families of Ḏbyn and Rs²wn and priest of ʾlmqh in ʾwm, dedicated to
   3  their lord ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, this statue in silver and five statues in bronze, in praise because
   4  He granted and rewarded his servants, the vassals of Ḏbyn and Rs²wn, male children and daughters, which satisfied them; and
   5  they praised the power of their lord ʾlmqh; and may He continue again to grant them male, healthy, in good fortune, right children;
   6  and may He grant them crops ad healthy harvests in all their coultivated lands and their irrigated lands; and they entrusted to ʾlmqh
   7  all their children and their lands against all misfortunes and insect pests; and may He grant them the favour and the goodwill of
   8  their lords the kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, and the goodwill of their tribe of Sabaʾ; may He grant them the life of the bodies and the
   9  healthy of faculties and of power. May He save His servants ʾs¹ʿd and his two sons S²rḥʾwm and ʾlrm and all
  10  their children, the descendants of Ḏbyn and Rs²wn, from all misfortunes and mischiefs, and from the maleficence, the malice
  11  and the calumny of any enemy, the one they are aware of and the one they are not away of; and they entrusted to ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of
  12  ʾwm, their dedication against any destroyer, violator and who hides (the text). By ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm.
12Frantsouzoff 1995: 20 translates ms³wr "who removes".
Beeston 1972 a: 539 compares ds³s³ with the Ar. dassahu fī l-turāb "he hid, buried in the ground".
Frantsouzoff 1995: 20Frantsouzoff, Serguei A. 1995. The Inscriptions from the temples of Dhat Ḥimyam at Raybūn. With a Postscript by Alfred F.L. Beeston. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 25: 15-28.
Beeston 1972 a: 539Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1972. Notes on old South Arabian lexicography VII. Le Muséon, 85: 535-544.

OBJECT INFORMATION

DepositMārib
Support typeArtefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription
MaterialStone
Measuresh. 138.5, th. min. 20.5, th. max. 30.5
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin
Modern siteMaḥram Bilqīs
Ancient siteʾwm
Geographical areaMaʾrib
CountryYemen
Archaeological contextReligious context: Temple of ʾlmqh bʿl ʾwm
Link to site record

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jamme 1962 a: 193-194Jamme, Albert W.F. 1962. Sabaean Inscriptions from Maḥram Bilqîs (Mârib). (Publications of the American Foundation for the Study of Man, 3). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.
Höfner 1964 b: 424Höfner, Maria 1964. Review of Jamme, Albert W.F. 1962. Sabaean Inscriptions from Maḥram Bilqîs (Mârib). (Publications of the American Foundation for the Study of Man, 3). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 114: 423-426.
Ryckmans, Jacques 1964 b: 92Ryckmans, Jacques 1964. Review of Jamme, Albert W.F. 1962. Sabaean Inscriptions from Maḥram Bilqîs (Mârib). (Publications of the American Foundation for the Study of Man, 3). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. Bibliotheca Orientalis, 21: 90-94.
Nebes 1995 a: 86-87Nebes, Norbert 1995. Die Konstruktionen mit /fa-/ im Altsüdarabischen. Syntaktische und epigraphische Untersuchungen. (Veröffentlichungen der Orientalischen Kommission, 40). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.