Ag 2 Buraʿ al-Aʿlā 1
al-Aġbarī 2013: 179, fig. 1
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Late Sabaic | ||||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||||
| Writing technique | Incision | ||||
| Measure of letters | 6.5 | ||||
| Chronology |
| ||||
| Textual typology | Construction text |
TEXT
1 Mʿdkrb ʾs²wʿ bn Ḍrn
2 w-Gmln w-ʾḥrm wzʿ Mḍ—
3 ḥym bn ʾbydʿ tqdm mq—
4 ṣʿt mwgln l-byt mlkn H—
5 rgb b-rdʾ ʾln bʿl s¹myn b-w—
6 rḫn Ṣyd ḏ-l-ṯmnt w-ṯmnhy w-
7 ṯlṯ mʾtm ḫryftm
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 Mʿdkrb ʾs²wʿ descendant of Ḍrn, 2 Gmln and ʾḥrm, governor of the tribe Mḍ- 3 ḥym, son of ʾbydʿ, 4 directed the extraction of the marble for the king's palace H- 5 rgb, by the help of ʾln Master of heaven, in the month 6 Ṣyd of the year three hundred 7 eighty-eight. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Support type | Rock inscription |
| Measures | h. 68, w. 70 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Ḍayq Buraʿ al-Aʿlā |
| Ancient site | Unknown |
| Geographical area | Wādī Buraʿ |
| Country | Yemen |
| Found | In situ |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
This may be the earliest dated monotheistic inscription attested in South Arabia (355 ± 10 AD). See also the inscription B 8457 (dated to 354 AD).
Mʿdkrb ʾs²wʿ, author of this inscription, holds the title of wzʾ, which seems to indicate a governor administrating a territory (and a tribe) on behalf of the king. This would imply that the king has taken control of the tribe of Maḍḥī after the rule of S¹ʿdm Yhs¹kr, the prince under whom the father of Mʿdkrb wrote the other inscription Ag 3 (cf. Robin 2005-2006: 58).
The text commemorates the construction of the palace Hrgb, which is the royal palace of Ẓafār (cf. Gar Sharahbil A/3).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Robin 2005-2006 a | Robin, Christian J. 2005-2006. Les banū Haṣbaḥ, princes de la commune de Maḍḥām. Arabia. Revue de Sabéologie, 3: 31-110. |
| al-Aġbarī 2013: 174, fig. 1 | al-Aġbarī, Fahmī 2013. Nuqūš sabaʾiyya ǧadīda taḥtawī ʿalāʾ aqdam naqš tawḥīdī muʾarraḫ. Raydān, 8: 167-183. |