Lion 1
Fontaine and Arbach 2006: 69 (photo)
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Qatabanic » Central Qatabanic | ||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Writing technique | Cast | ||
| Measure of letters | 1 | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
TEXT
1 S²bʿm bnt S²kyrm [ḏ-..]ḥbm ḏt byt Lḥym ḏ-Ms³ḥbm Mʿnytn s¹qnyt ḏt-Ṣntm lbʾy ḏhbn gmʿ—
2 m frʿt S²bʿm l-ḏt-Ṣntm bn ʿs³bt-s¹ rṯdt S²bʿm ḏt Ṣntm nfs¹-s¹ w-ʾḏn-s¹ w-bn-s¹yw S¹ʿdʾl w-Ġw—
3 ṯʾl w-Yḥmʾl w-Hwfʾl w-Ddn w-bny Ddn Lḥyʿṯt w-Ḍbʿm w-Fys²m w-kl ʾwld-s¹m w-ʾqny-s¹m b-ʾlh—
4 w Mʿnm w-Qtbn w-b ʾmrʾ-s¹m Wqhʾl Yṯʿ mlk Mʿnm w-S²hr Hll w-bn-hw Hwfʿm Yhnʿm ml—
5 kw Qtbn rṯdt S²bʿm ḏt-Ṣntm lbʾ-s¹yw bn ms¹nkrm w-ms¹fʾym bn ʾbrṯ-s¹m(y)
| 1 | it is probably to be integrated [ḏ-Ms³]ḥbm. |
| 1 | Arbach wrongly reads ḏhbm. |
| 5 | lbʾy-s¹w bn ms¹nkr-s¹m w-ms³fʾym-s¹m bn ʾbrṯ-s¹m (Arbach). |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 S²bʿm daughter of S²kyrm ḏ-Ms³ḥbm belonging to the house of Lḥym ḏ-Ms³ḥbm, the Minaean, dedicated to ḏt Ṣntm two lions of bronze as a whole that 2 S²bʿm offered to ḏt Ṣntm from her properties, S²bʿm committed to the protection of ḏt Ṣntm her life and her faculties and her sons S¹ʿdʾl and Ġw- 3 ṯʾl and Yḥmʾl and Hwfʾl and Ddn and the sons of Ddn Lḥyʿṯt and Ḍbʿm and Fys²m and all their children and their properties. By the gods of 4 Maʿīn and of Qatabān and by their lords Wqhʾl Yṯʿ king of Maʿīn and S²hr Hll and his son Hwfʿm Yhnʿm the two kings 5 of Qatabān. S²bʿm committed to ḏt Ṣntm her two lions against everyone who may damage them or may move them from their place. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Support type | Artefact » Sculpture in the round » Animal figure |
| Material | Bronze |
| Measures | h. 67, w. 70, h. base 9.5, th. 5 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Unknown |
| Ancient site | Unknown |
| Geographical area | wādī Ḥarīb |
| Country | Yemen |
| Notes | The lion has been found in the wadi Ḥarīb, but Arbach maintains a provenance from Timnaʿ. |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
The dedication is made by a Minaean woman. The king of Maʿīn and two kings of Qatabān are quoted.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Arbach 2005 a: 22-33, fig. 4 | Arbach, Mounir 2005. Un lion en bronze avec un nouveau synchronisme minéo-qatabānite. Pages 21-33 in Amida Sholan, Sabina Antonini and Mounir Arbach (eds). Sabaean Studies (Dirāsāt Sabaʾiyya). Archaeological, epigraphical and historical studies in honour of Yūsuf M. ʿAbdallāh, Alessandro de Maigret, Christian J. Robin on the occasion of their sixtieth birthdays. Naples: Università degli studi di Napoli l'Orientale. [University of Ṣanʿāʾ; Yemeni-Italian Centre for Archeological Reserches Ṣanʿāʾ; Centre français d'archéologie et de sciences sociales de Ṣanʿāʾ] |
| Fontaine and Arbach 2006: 69 (photo) | Fontaine, Hugues and Arbach, Mounir 2006. Yémen. Cités d'écritures. Manosque: Le bec en l'air éditions. |
| ʿAlī ʿAqīl and Antonini 2007: 232, photos | ʿAlī ʿAqīl,ʿAzza and Antonini, Sabina 2007. Bronzi sudarabici di periodo preislamico. Repertorio iconografico sudarabico. 3. Paris: de Boccard / Rome: IsIAO. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres; Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente] |
| Avanzini 2008 a: 627-628, figs 8, 10 | Avanzini, Alessandra 2008. Notes for a history of Sumhuram and a new inscription of Yashhurʾil. Pages 609-641 in Alessandra Avanzini (ed.). A port in Arabia between Rome and the Indian Ocean (3rd C. BC-5th C. AD). Khor Rori Report 2. (Arabia Antica, 5). Rome: «L'Erma» di Bretschneider. |