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 letters1.7
Chronology
PeriodD
Textual typologyDedicatory text

TEXT


   1  Rṯdʾlw ʾzk[n w-b]ny-[hw Ḥy]—
   2  wm bny Kb[s¹ym ʾ]qw[l s²ʿbn]
   3  Tnʿmm w-Tnʿmtm hqnyw ʾl[m]q(h)-[Ṯ]—
   4  hwn-bʿl-ʾwm ṣlmn ḏ-ḏhb[n ](ḥ)md—
   5  m b-ḏt hwfy-hmw ʾlmqh b-[tbs²]rt
   6  tbs²rw b-ʿm-hw k-ymlʾn mnḫt-hmw
   7  ḏ-Yfd b-ṯny brqn [w]-ḫmr-hmw ʾlmq—
   8  h bʿl ʾwm ml(ʾ)[ mʾ]d(b)(([mʾ]ḫ(ḏ)))-hmw ḏ-Yfd
   9  b-s¹qy dṯʾ w-ḫrf ḏ-ḫrf Wddʾl b—
  10  n ʾbkrb bn Kbr-Ḫll rbʿn w-b-mw
  11  ḏn ḫrfn f-hfs¹ḥ b-Ṣlyn((b-ṣlyn)) Mṣ[ly]—
  12  nn((mṣ[ly]nn)) w-l-wzʾ ʾlmqh ṣdq w-hwf[y ʿ]—
  13  bdy-hw Rṯdʾlw w-Ḥywm bny Kb[s¹y]—
  14  m b-kl ʾmlʾ ys¹tmlʾn b-ʿm-hw [w-l]
  15  s¹ʿd-hmw ʾlmqh frʿ dṯʾ [w-ḫ]rf [w-w]—
  16  fy mʾḫḏ-hmw ḏ-Yfd w-mḏhbt-hw w-[by]—
  17  t-hw w-mʾḫḏt-hw w-mfs¹ḥt-hw w-l-s¹[ʿd-h]—
  18  mw ʾlmqh wfy kl ʾġyl yfʿw [w-y]—
  19  tġln b-ʾrḍ Tnʿmm ʾġyl kwnw [kw]—
  20  n Rṯdʾlw w-Ḥywm bny Kbs¹ym [w-l]
  21  ḫmr-hmw ʾlmqh ʾdm-hw bny K[bs¹y]—
  22  m w-s²ʿb-hmw Tnʿmm w-Tnʿmtm [ʾṯ]—
  23  mrm w-ʾfqlm hnʾm b-kl ʾrḍ-hmw |
  24  w-ms²ymt-hmw w-ʾs¹rr-hmw w-l-ḫmr-hm[w]
  25  ʾlmqh ʿbdy-hw Rṯdʾlw w-Ḥywm bn—
  26  y Kbs¹ym ḥẓy w-rḍw mrʾ-hmw N[s²ʾk]—
  27  rb Yʾmn Yhrḥb mlk S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Ry[d]—
  28  n bn ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb w-Yʾ[z]l Byn ml—
  29  ky S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn w-l-s¹ʿd-hmw ʾlmqh
  30  nʿmt w-wfym w-ḥẓym w-l-hʿnn-hmw ʾ—
  31  lmqh bn bʾs¹tm w-nkytm w-nḍʿ w-s²—
  32  ṣy s²nʾm b-ʿṯtr w-ʾlmqh bʿl-ʾwm
  33  w-b-s²ym-hmw ʾlmqh bʿl S²wḥṭ w-b-ḏ—
  34  t Ḥmym w-b-ḏt Bʿdnm w-b-s²ms¹y-hmw
  35  bʿlty qyf Rs²m w-b-rbʿ-hmw ḏt Ḥm—
  36  ym ʿṯtr-Ygr

Apparatus
8Jamme: [ mʾ]d(b)-hmw ḏ-Yfd, but Ryckmans notes that ḏ-Yfd is is mentioned also in Ja 627 and Ja 628 as mʾḫḏ, and it is defined as such in l. 16 of this text.

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  Rṯdʾlw ʾzkn and his son Ḥywm,
   2  of the family Kbs¹ym, ʾqwl of the tribe
   3  Tnʿmm and Tnʿmtm, dedicated to ʾlmqh
   4  Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, the statue in bronze in praise
   5  because ʾlmqh fulfilled them in the requests
   6  they requested from Him that He would fill their basin
   7  ḏ-Yfd in two rainy seasons, and ʾlmqh,
   8  Lord of ʾwm, granted them to fill their reservoir ḏ-Yfd
   9  in the irrigation season of spring and fall in the fourth year of Wddʾl, son
  10  of ʾbkrb, of the family Kbr Ḫll, and in
  11  this very year He enlarged (?) in Ṣlyn (?) and Mṣ[ly]nn (?);
  12  may ʾlmqh grant and fulfill
  13  His two servants Rṯdʾlw and Ḥywm, of the family Kbs¹ym,
  14  in all the favours he will request from Him and
  15  may ʾlmqh grant them first-fruits of spring and fall and
  16  the protection of their reservoir ḏ-Yfd and its alluvial land
  17  and its reservoirs and its enlargements; may
  18  ʾlmqh grant them the safety of all the watercourses which spring and
  19  flow in the land of Tnʿmm, watercourses which belong
  20  to Rṯdʾlw and Ḥywm, of the family Kbs¹ym, and may
  21  ʾlmqh grant them, His servants, the family Kbs¹ym,
  22  and their tribe Tnʿmm and Tnʿmtm, healthy crops
  23  and harvests in all their land
  24  and their fields and their valleys; may
  25  ʾlmqh grant His servants Rṯdʾlw and Ḥywm, of the family
  26  Kbs¹ym, the goodwill and the satisfaction of their lord Ns²ʾkrb
  27  Yʾmn Yhrḥb, king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān,
  28  son of ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb and Yʾzl Byn, kings of
  29  Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān; may ʾlmqh grant them
  30  prosperity and safety and goodwill and may
  31  ʾlmqh deliver them from any evil and mischief and the malice and the
  32  maleficence of any enemy. By ʿṯtr and ʾlmqh, Lord of ʾwm,
  33  and by their patron ʾlmqh, Lord of S²wḥṭ, and by ḏt
  34  Ḥmym and by ḏt Bʿdnm and by their two solar deities,
  35  the Ladies of the qyf-monument of Rs²m, and by their lunar deity ḏt Ḥmym
  36  ʿṯtr of Ygr.

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support typeArtefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription
MaterialStone
Measuresh. 85, w. 24.2
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin and provenance
Modern siteMaḥram Bilqīs
Ancient siteʾwm
Geographical areaMaʾrib
CountryYemen
FoundReemployed. In ancient times
Archaeological contextReligious context: Temple of ʾlmqh Ṯhwn bʿl ʾwm
NotesThe stone was re-used in the western pavement of the temple.
Link to site record

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jamme 1962 a: 118-120Jamme, 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.
ʿInān 1976: 142-145ʿInān, Zaid b. ʿA 1976. Taʾriḫ ḥaḍāra al-Yaman al-qadīm. Cairo.
Ryckmans, Jacques 1966: 479-481Ryckmans, Jacques 1966. Himyaritica 2. Le Muséon, 79: 475-500.