A-20-216
By kind permission of GOAM
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic | ||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Writing technique | Incision | ||
| Measure of letters | 4.3 | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
TEXT
1 [... ... w-]ʾḫw-h w-bn-hn bny ʾmt S²[.]ʾ((ʾmt S²[.]ʾ)) bn Ḏbdt ḏ-ʾl Ḥddn ḏ-ʾl ʿqn
2 hqnyw S²ms¹ w-ʾlht Ġr w-Hn ʾlt w-ḏt b-S¹mwy w-Brmlky (w)-Btmlkyʾ w-
3 ʾlht [Grḍ] {w-}(ʾ)fs¹-hmw w-ʾ<w>ld-hmw w-ʾqny-hmw w-ʾn[ʿ](m)-hm<w> [b-S²]ms¹ |
4 w-Hn-ʾlt-w-ḏt-b-S¹mwy (w)-(B)[r](mlkyʾ) w-Btmlkyʾ w-ʾlht Grḍ (w)-b (ʿ)—
5 ṯtr w-ʾl<m>qh w-b-ḏt Ḥmym w-b-ḏt Ns²qm b-s¹nt s¹bʿ S¹lk mlk w-b Yd—
6 [ʿ]ʾl Byn w-rṯdw ms³nd-hmw ʿṯtr w-ʾl(m)qh bn (n)s²ʾ w-hn(krn) |
| 2 | Letter s² of S²ms¹ reversed. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 [... ...] and her brothers and their son (or: children), descendants of ʾmt S²[.]ʾ (or: of the servant of S²[.]ʾ), son of Ḏbdt, of the clan Ḥddn of the tribe ʿqn 2 dedicated to S²ms¹, the goddess (or: goddesses) of Ġr, Hn ʾlt, ḏt b-S¹mwy, Brmlky, Btmlkyʾ 3 and the goddess (or: goddesses) of Grḍ their lives, their children, their properties and their goods, by S²ms¹ 4 Hn ʾlt, ḏt-b-S¹mwy, Brmlkyʾ, Btmlkyʾ and the goddess (or: goddesses) of Grḍ, and by ʿ‒ 5 ṯtr and ʾlmqh, and by ḏt Ḥmym and by ḏt Ns²qm, during the seventh year of the reign of Seleucus, and by Yd‒ 6 ʿʾl Byn; they committed their inscription to ʿṯtr and ʾlmqh, against any removal or damage. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Deposit | Ṣanʿāʾ, University Museum, A-20-216 |
| Support type | Stone inscription |
| Material | Stone |
| Measures | h. 27.2, w. 47, th. 10 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Unknown |
| Ancient site | Unknown |
| Geographical area | Unknown |
| Country | Unknown |
| Notes | In the museum catalogue the inscription is said to come from al-Bayḍāʾ. |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
The text shares a number of traits in common to the Sabaic text Ry 547. According to Nebes (communication in the 2007 Seminar for Arabian Studies) the inscription, commissioned by inhabitants of Gerrha settled in South Arabia, might date back to the reign of the king Seleucus I (end of 4th century BC). In fact, A-20-216 is written by members of the same clan for the same divinity, and apparently also contains that very dating formula (l.5), even if with a different year. In addition to the well-known Minaean-Persian synchronism, a new Sabaean-Seleucid synchronism seems then be attested in these latest revealed inscriptions.
This text is a dedication to the goddess Shams and to other South Arabian and foreign divinities, among which the goddess Hn ʾlt, Herodotus' ʾAlilat, is mentioned.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Prioletta 2011: 283-294, figs 1-4 | Prioletta, Alessia 2011. The Sabaic inscription A–20–216: a new Sabaean-Seleucid synchronism. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 41: 283-294. |
| Robin and Prioletta 2013: 167, fig. 9 | Robin, Christian J. and Prioletta, Alessia 2013. Nouveaux arguments en faveur d'une identification de la cité de Gerrha avec le royaume de Hagar (Arabie orientale). Semitica et Classica, 6: 131-185. |