VL 9 Q 899; CSAI I, 72
al-Ghūl 1959 b: pl. I
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INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Qatabanic » Central Qatabanic |
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian |
| Script typology | Monumental writing |
| Writing technique | Incision |
| Textual typology | Construction text |
GENERAL NOTES
| This inscription belongs probably to period B, but in this case we have no sure elements to date it. |
TEXT
1 ʾws¹ʾl bn Lḥyʿṯt ḏ-Rwyn kbr Mʿnm b-Tmnʿ w-Mʿnm bkl Tm—
2 nʿ bnyw w-ʿly w-s¹ḥdṯ qbr-hmw Ẓrbn bn s²rs¹m ʿd frʿm |
3 glm b-ḥg ʾnby w-ʾl tʿly ʾs¹lmm ḏ-Ẓlwmn w-Ḏymm ḏ-Kyl
4 w-ʾws¹n ḏ-Brqm w-Wfdm ḏ-Ḥḏk[.] w-Yhrʾl ḏ-ʾws¹n w-(S²)hrm |
5 ḏ-ʿs²zr w-Hwkn ḏ-Mḏym tqdmw mhlk w-mbny qbrn Ẓrbn
6 l-(s²)ʿb-s¹m Mʿnm ʾnby w-Nkrḥm rdʾw |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 ʾws¹ʾl, son of Lḥyʿṯt of the family Rwyn kbr of Mʿnm, and Mʿnm in Tm- 2 nʿ built and brought up and restored their grave Ẓrbn from foundation to top 3 in its entirety, according to the orders of ʾnby, and let there be no violation thereof; ʾs¹lmm of the family Ẓlwmn and Ḏymm of the family Kyl 4 and ʾws¹n of the family Brqm and Wfdm of the family Ḥḏk[.] and Yhrʾl of the family ʾws¹n and S²hrm 5 of the family ʿs²zr and Hwkn of the family Mḏym directed the realization and the construction of the grave Ẓrbn 6 for their tribe Mʿnm. ʾnby and Nkrḥm helped. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Support type | Stone inscription |
| Material | Stone |
| Measures | h. 19, w. 70 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Ḥayd Ibn ʿAqīl |
| Ancient site | Unknown |
| Geographical area | Wādī Bayḥān |
| Country | Yemen |
| Archaeological context | Funerary context: Tomb Ẓrbn |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
The text is historically interesting as a further evidence of the Minaean presence in Timnaʿ, which is already indicated by other texts. The dedicator, head of the Minaean community in Timnaʿ, commissions a tomb for the Minaean citizens living in the Qatabanian capital.
The text follows the Qatabanic textual model: the pronoun in h (qbr-hmw) and fixed Qatabanian expressions, but in the verbal sequence inserts a typically Minaic verb: ʿly, and ends the text not only mentioning the Minaean god Nkrḥm, but also with a sentence syntactically and lexically non-Qatabanic: ʾnby w-Nkrḥm rdʾw.
It is quite interesting to note that the text’s script is peculiar and different from the Qatabanic ductus.
The text follows the Qatabanic textual model: the pronoun in h (qbr-hmw) and fixed Qatabanian expressions, but in the verbal sequence inserts a typically Minaic verb: ʿly, and ends the text not only mentioning the Minaean god Nkrḥm, but also with a sentence syntactically and lexically non-Qatabanic: ʾnby w-Nkrḥm rdʾw.
It is quite interesting to note that the text’s script is peculiar and different from the Qatabanic ductus.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| al-Ghūl 1959 b: 419-423, pl. 1 | al-Ghūl, Maḥmūd ʿA. 1959. New Qatabāni Inscriptions - II. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 22: 419-438. |