CSAI

Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions


By kind permission of K. Noman
unpublished photo

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Sabaic » Southern Middle Sabaic
AlphabetAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Writing techniqueRelief
Chronology
PeriodD
Textual typologyConstruction text

TEXT


   1  ʾbkrb Yhẓbn bn Mḏr(ḥm) w-Ṯf(yn) w-M(ly)km ʾr(s²)w ʿlm ʾqw(l) s²ʿ(bn )(Mh)ʾnfm brʾ
   2  w-ṯwbn byty-hmw Mhwrn w-Ys¹r w-ms³wd-hmw Ḥrwr b-rdʾ ʿṯtr S²rqn w-ʾl-hmw ʿṯtr ḏ-
   3  G<w>ftm bʿl ʿlm w-S²rqn w-ḏt Ḥmym bʿly mḥrmn Rydn (w)-ʾl-hmw Bs²r w-mḍḥ-hmw Bʿl S²bʿn
   4  w-S²ms¹-hmw w-b-rdʾ w-tḥrg mrʾ-hmw Y(s¹)[r](m)-Yhṣdq mlk S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn w-b-ʾḫyl (s²)ʿb-(hmw )(Mhʾnfm) Yḍʿ

Apparatus
1Mḏrḥm is the clan of Mhʾnfm, often associated with Ṯfyn and Mlykm (e.g. CIH 40, Ja 651, BynM 2); ʾrs²w might be either a contracted plural form of ʾfʿlw pattern or a ʾfʿl plural form (cf. Stein 2003 a: 80, fn. 295).
1CIH integrated brʾ[w w-hwṯrn, but from the photo it is clear that there is no lacuna.

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  ʾbkrb Yhẓbn descendant of Mḏrḥm, Ṯfyn and Mlykm priests of ʿlm, ʾqwl of the tribe Mhʾnfm constructed
   2  and completed their two houses Mhwrn and Ys¹r and their hall Ḥrwr, by the help of ʿṯtr S²rqn and their god ʿṯtr ḏ-
   3  Gwftm Master of ʿlm, and S²rqn and ḏt Ḥmym, the two Masters of the temple Raydān, and their god Bs²r and their tutelary deity Master of S²bʿn
   4  and their solar deity, and by the help and the command of their lord Ys¹rm Yhṣdq king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, and by the power of their tribe Mhʾnfm Yḍʿ.

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support typeInscription on architectural structure
MaterialStone
Measuresh. 40, w. 100
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Provenance
Modern siteḌāf
Ancient siteḌfw
Geographical areaDhamār
CountryYemen
FoundReemployed. In modern times
Archaeological contextUrban context: Private house Mhwrn w-Ys¹r
NotesSimilarly to CIH 42 and CIH 43 this inscription, now reemployed at Ḍaf, could come from Yakār (Ns³ftm) (Wissmann 1976, 443).
Link to site record

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Stein 2003 aStein, Peter 2003. Untersuchungen zur Phonologie und Morphologie des Sabäischen. (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, 3). Rahden: Marie Leidorf GmbH / Westf.: Marie Leidorf GmbH.