CSAI

Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions


Pirenne 1956: pl. XXXI
Image free from copyright

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic
AlphabetAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Measure of letters3
Chronology
PeriodB
Textual typologyLegal text

GENERAL NOTES

The concordance siglum RES 2725 gives bibliographical references only.

TEXT


   1  w-s³ḫly w-ʿhd Hlkʾmr bn ʿ—
   2  nmtn w-Ḥmʿṯt ʿbd Ḏrḥʾl bn
   3  Ydʿʾb l-Yhfrʿ bn Ḏrḥʾl ʾl—
   4  fm blṭm mṣʿm ḥyʾlytm blṭ
   5  ʿhdy ʾbʿly w-Yhfrʿ bn Ḏrḥʾ—
   6  l (l)-Hlkʾmr bn ʿnmtn w-Ḥmʿṯt ʿ—
   7  bd Ḏrḥʾl bn Ydʿʾb b-ʾrḍ w-ʿbr—
   8  t w-ḏwwdt whb ʾlmqh ʾbʿly w-
   9  Yhfrʿ b-s¹yrnhn Ms²r w-Mṣyḥm
  10  w-ʾbʿly w-Yhfrʿ rʾ hgbʾy l-ʾlm—
  11  qh hwt ʾrḍn w-l yhqbln l-ʾlmq—
  12  h w-ẓhrn ḏ-hẓhr b-ʿly Hlkʾmr w-
  13  Ḥmʿṯt s³ḫlm w-nfqm bn ʿly-hmy
  14  ḏ-b-hw hẓhry hn blṭn ʾlfn ʾh—
  15  nn ʿkr w-l yfʿn k-ʿd hʾ ẓhrn b-
  16  ʿm Yhfrʿ w-tʿlm Yhfrʿ b-ḏn m—
  17  ṣdqn

Apparatus
11For the use of hwt with the feminine noun ʾrḍ, see Stein 2003: 142, n. 83.

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  Now there did bind themselves and covenant Hlkʾmr son of ʿ-
   2  nmtn and Ḥmʿṯt slave of Ḏrḥʾl son of
   3  Ydʿʾb, with Yhfrʿ son of Ḏrḥʾl, for one thousand
   4  "blṭ", good coin of ḥyʾl, which "blṭ"
   5  ʾbʿly and Yhfrʿ son of Ḏrḥʾl agreed upon with
   6  Hlkʾmr son of ʿnmtn and Ḥmʿṯt
   7  slave of Ḏrḥʾl son of Ydʿʾb, as the price of the land and mea-
   8  dows and pasture grounds which ʾlmqh granted to ʾbʿly and
   9  Yhfrʿ in the two districts Ms²r and Mṣyḥm;
  10  and ʾbʿly and Yhfrʿ returned to (or, leased out on behalf of ?) ʾlm-
  11  qh this land, and may it be fruitful for (or, let it be so returned to) ʾlmq-
  12  h. (This is) the published document of indebtedness on the part of Hlkʾmr and
  13  Ḥmʿṯt, effective and binding on them,
  14  in which they acknowledge these thousand "blṭ", when-
  15  soever it may be denied (?); and let (the agreement) be preserved according to (or, let there be recorded the annulment of?) this document
  16  on the part of Yhfrʿ; and Yhfrʿ signed this
  17  attestation.
12-16Jamme: "The document, which bore witness against Halakʾmr and Ḥammʿaṯat, [is] binding and legal against them both, in which both have assented to those one thousand blṭ. [Would] someone oppose, so let it be upheld as [it is] in that document in favor of Yuhafriʿ".
Stein: "Und das Dokument, welches beglaubigt ist auf (die Namen bzw. Personen von) HLKʾMR un ḤMʿṮT, ist verbindlich und gültig für die beiden, (das Dokument nämlich), auf welchem beglaubigt sind jene (sc. die in Z. 3f. genannten) 1000 blṭ(-Münzen)". "Wenn Einspruch erhoben wird, werde es (sc. das Dokument) bekannt gemacht, solange sich jenes Dokument bei YHFRʿ befindet".
Stein notes that both occurrences of the verb hẓhr/hẓhry in ll. 12 and 14 should be interpreted as passive. In fact, in l. 14, the subject is blṭn as demonstrated by the nominative pronoun hn and the verb has to be interpreted as a 3rd person feminine.
Beeston 1937 aBeeston, Alfred F.L. 1937. Sabaean inscriptions. Oxford.
Jamme 1976: 83Jamme, Albert W.F. 1976. Carnegie Museum 1974-75 Yemen Expedition. (Special Publication, 2). Pittsburgh: Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
Stein 2003 a: 143 (180), 242 (574)Stein, Peter 2003. Untersuchungen zur Phonologie und Morphologie des Sabäischen. (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, 3). Rahden: Marie Leidorf GmbH / Westf.: Marie Leidorf GmbH.

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support typeInscription on architectural structure » Pillar
MaterialStone
Measuresw. 39.5
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin and provenance
Modern siteṢirwāḥ-Khawlān
Ancient siteṢrwḥ
Geographical areaṢirwāḥ
CountryYemen
NotesThe pillar was found lying down north of a modern building west of the temple (Jamme 1976: 82).
Link to site record

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Conti Rossini 1931: 52Conti Rossini, Carlo (=Karolus) 1931. Chrestomathia Arabica Meridionalis Epigraphica. Rome: Istituto per l'Oriente.
Beeston 1937 a: 43-46Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1937. Sabaean inscriptions. Oxford.
Pirenne 1956: pl. 31Pirenne, Jacqueline 1956. Paléographie des inscriptions sud-arabes. Contribution à la chronologie et à l'histoire de l'Arabie du sud antique. (Verhandelingen van de Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten van België. Klasse der letteren, 26). Brussels: Paleis der Academiën.
Höfner 1976: 5-6, pl. I:1Höfner, Maria 1976. Inschriften aus Ṣirwāḥ, Ḫaulān. (II Teil). Sammlung Eduard Glaser. 12. (Sitzungsberichte der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philosophisch-historische Klasse, 304/5). Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
Jamme 1976: 82-87Jamme, Albert W.F. 1976. Carnegie Museum 1974-75 Yemen Expedition. (Special Publication, 2). Pittsburgh: Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
Nebes 1995 a: 222Nebes, Norbert 1995. Die Konstruktionen mit /fa-/ im Altsüdarabischen. Syntaktische und epigraphische Untersuchungen. (Veröffentlichungen der Orientalischen Kommission, 40). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.