CSAI

Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions


Robin 1992 a: pl. 4/a-c
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INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Minaic » Central Minaic
AlphabetAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Writing techniqueIncision
Measure of letters8 (first face), 7 (second face)
Chronology
PeriodA
Textual typologyDedicatory text

TEXT


   1  (Ḏʾ)b(ʾ)ws¹ ← (s¹ḥ)dṯ m(s¹)lm((m(ʾ)lm))
   2  S¹mʿ ḏ-Frʿ

Apparatus
The first part of l.1 is inscribed on the face of the altar opposed to the one with the spout; the inscription then continues on the leftward face.
1Robin reads mʾlm "hall for the banquet". In the Jawf, the ritual banquet was celebrated for the god ʿṯtr ḏ-Ḏbn in the sanctuary on the Jebel al-Lawḏ, where some dedications to S¹mʿ were also found.
However, as the reading of the second letter is uncertain and could be a "s¹", it is highly possible that the object of the dedication refers to the offering table itself, "ms¹lm".
2ḏ-Frʿ seems to be to a new epithet of the god S¹mʿ, but it cannot be excluded that it is verb in a relative clause.

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  Ḏʾbʾws¹ dedicated the offering table of
   2  S¹mʿ ḏ-Frʿ.
1"the offering table" (if ms¹lm) or "the banquet hall" (if mʾlm).
2An alternative translation for ḏ-frʿ is "that he offered".

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support typeArtefact » Offering table » Undefined (ms¹lm)
MaterialStone
Measurestotal h. 115; top of the altar: h. 17, w. 27, th. 36
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin and provenance
Modern siteInabbaʾ
Ancient siteʾnbʾ
Geographical areaJawf - Wādī Madhab
CountryYemen
NotesThe altar was found on the site by the MAFRAY.
Link to site record

CULTURAL NOTES

The god S¹mʿ is attested in the Minaic inscriptions only three times: in this inscription, in as-Sawdāʾ 91 and in YM 10598. It is the god of the Sabaic settlements in the Jawf and it was also venerated at Inabbaʾ.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Robin 1992 a: 7-8, pl. 4/a-cRobin, Christian J. 1992. Inabbaʾ, Haram, al-Kāfir, Kamna et al-Ḥarāshif. Fasc. A: Les documents. Fasc. B: Les planches. Inventaire des inscriptions sudarabiques. 1. Paris: de Boccard / Rome: Herder. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres; Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente]
Rossi 2022: 378-379, 494, fig. 74Rossi, Irene 2022. The city-states of the Jawf at the dawn of Ancient South Arabian history (8th-6th centuries BCE). II. Corpus of the inscriptions. (Arabia Antica, 17/2). Roma: «L'Erma» di Bretschneider.