CSAI

Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions


CIAS: i, 141

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Qatabanic » Central Qatabanic
AlphabetAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Writing techniqueIncision
Measure of letters3
Chronology
PeriodC
Textual typologyLegal text
Royal inscriptionYes

TEXT


   1  [... ...tẓ](rbn )w-(gdy)tn s²r(ḥ)m w—
   2  [hb] (mlkn) Wrwʾl w-ʾmlk Qtbn l-ʾdm-s¹m ʾḥrm w-Ḏr—
   3  ʾm w-ʾḥd(b) w-S¹ʿdm w-l-bn-s¹m w-l-ḏ-ʾʿḏr-s¹m w-l-ḏtn ʾbytn
   4  w-l ʾḫṭb-s¹m w-ms³wd-s¹m w-ṣrḥt-s¹m w-kl s¹hmm w-qnym |
   5  (b)-(yk)n w-yks³ʾ ws¹ṭ ḏtn ʾbytn w-ʾḫṭb-s¹m w-ms³wd-s¹m w-
   6  ṣrḥt-s¹m w-ḏ(n)-(mw) tẓrbn w-gdytn l-yʿtbr kl-ḏm b-ymd
   7  w-nkr ʾḥrm w-Ḏrʾm w-ʾḥdb w-S¹ʿdm w-ḏ-ʾʿḏr-s¹m w-ḏtn
   8  ʾbytn b-nḥl ḏn ḏ-tẓrbn w-gdyt[n ...] Wr(wʾ)l ʾdm-s¹ |
   9  ʾḥrm w-Ḏrʾm w-ʾḥd(b) w-S¹ʿdm [w-ḏ]-(ʾ)ʿ(ḏr)-(s¹m l)-(s¹)ṭr [.]
  10  [... ...](ḏn t)[ẓrbn ... ...]

Apparatus
1-2see Mazzini 2004 a for a new proposal of the missing section of text.

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  [... ...] the land concession and the renewal as a guarantee which gran-
   2  ted the king Wrwʾl and the kings of Qatabān to their vassals ʾḥrm and Ḏr-
   3  ʾm and ʾḥdb and S¹ʿdm and to their children and to their descendants and to these houses
   4  and to their lower rooms and their halls and their upper rooms and all servants and properties
   5  which are and are found within these houses and their lower rooms and their halls and
   6  their upper rooms; let this property right and renewal be put into effect with regard to whoever be unwilling
   7  and deny (the authority of) ʾḥrm and Ḏrʾm and ʾḥdb and S¹ʿdm and their descendants and these
   8  houses on the basis of the concession of this present property right and renewal [... ...] and ordered Wrwʾl for his vassals
   9  ʾḥrm and Ḏrʾm and ʾḥdb and S¹ʿdm and their descendants to engrave
  10  [... ...] this land concession [... ...]
4qnym could mean 'cattle'.
6-8Translation by Mazzini 2020: 67
Mazzini 2020: 66-67Mazzini, Giovanni 2020. The Ancient South Arabian royal edicts from the Southern Gate of Timnaʿ and the Ǧabal Labaḫ. (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, 8).

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support typeStone inscription
MaterialStone
Measuresh. 30.5 (left), 29.5 (right), w. 39, th. 9
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin
Modern siteal-Ḥinū
Ancient siteUnknown
Geographical areawādī Bayḥān
CountryYemen
Link to site record

CULTURAL NOTES

The text may be considered as a special type of royal decree, namely a "renewal of decree" (Lundin 1987: 51-53), most probably dealing with concession of territories previously granted by the royal authority to the tribes mentioned in the text. The actual amount of the concession was probably the subject of the original decree which is unfortunately not available. An analogous case is that of the inscription CSAI I, 200=RES 3693 reaffirming the content of the decrees CSAI I, 196=RES 3688 and CSAI I, 197=RES 3689.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CIAS: i, 139-145, photoBeeston, Alfred F.L., Pirenne, Jacqueline and Robin, Christian J. 1977-1986. Corpus des inscriptions et antiquités sud-arabes:
Vol. I (1977): Tome 1. Inscriptions. Tome 2. Antiquités;
Vol. II (1986): Le Musée d’Aden. Tome 1. Inscriptions. Tome 2. Antiquités
. Louvain: Peeters. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres]
Höfner 1987: 39-48, pl. 5/4Höfner, Maria 1987. Neuinterpretation Zweier Altsüdarabischer Inschriften. Pages 37-48 in Christian J. Robin and Muḥammad ʿA. Bāfaqīh (eds). Ṣayhadica. Recherches sur les inscriptions de l'Arabie préislamique offertes par ses collègues au professeur A.F. L. Beeston. (Arabie préislamique, 1). Paris: Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner.
Lundin 1987Lundin (=Loundine), Avraam G. 1987. Katabanskiy dekret o zemlepol'zovanii RES 3854. Vestnik Drevnej Istorii, 3: 43-62.
Mazzini 2004 aMazzini, Giovanni 2004. A new proposal for the lost beginning of Qatabanic inscription CIAS 47.82/j 1. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 15/1: 72-75.