CSAI

Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions


INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Sabaic » Early Sabaic
AlphabetAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Writing techniqueIncision
Chronology
PeriodB
Textual typologyDedicatory text - fragmentary

GENERAL NOTES

According to the linguistic analysis by P. Stein (2005 c), the inscriptions on the wall of the temple of Awām are dated between the end of the 4th and the end of the 2nd century BC (apart from Ja 552, which is dated to the 4th century BC). Their textual peculiarities show the shift from the Early to the Middle Sabaic linguistic periods. For the chronology, see the discussion in Wissmann 1982: 353 ff., Stein 2005 c: 187-189, Avanzini 2010: 188.

TEXT


   1  ʾbkrb bn Nbṭkrb ḏ-Zltn ʿbd Ydʿʾl Byn w-S¹mhʿly Ynf w-Yṯʿʾmr Wtr w-Ykrbmlk Ḏrḥ w-S¹mhʿly Ynf hqny ʾlmqh kl wld-hw w-qny-hw w-bny w-mlʾ tmlʾ nṭʿ hmlʾn w-hws³qn gnʾ ʾwm ln ḏn ʾwdn ḏ-s¹ṭrn w-rymm kl blq-hw w-ʿḍ-hw w-klʾy mḥfdnhn Yʾzl w-Drʿ w-mġbb-hmy ʿd s²qrm w-hqm ʾqnyt ʾbh-hw bny ḏ-Zltn b-ʿṯtr w-b ʾlmqh w-b-ḏt-Ḥmym w-b-ḏt-Bʿdn w-wḍʾ ʾbkrb b-ʾḏn ʾlmqh w-mlk Mryb S²[... ...]

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  ʾbkrb, son of Nbṭkrb, of the family Zltn, servant of Ydʿʾl Byn and of S¹mhʿly Ynf and of Yṯʿʾmr Wtr and of Ykrbmlk Ḏrḥ and of S¹mhʿly Ynf, dedicated to ʾlmqh all his children and his property and built and completed a construction (useful) for completing and filling the wall of ʾwm, from the line of this inscription and in height all its stones and its woodwork, and both the towers Yʾzl and Drʿ and their curtains, to the top. He raised up the possessions of his ancestors, the descendants of Zltn. By ʿṯtr and by ʾImqh and by ḏt Ḥmym and by ḏt Bʿdn. And ʾbkrb put under the will of ʾlmqh and of the king of Mryb, S²[... ...]
1nṭʿ could be a noun "type of construction".
The translation of the term ʿḍ is not so clear. It is a building material, supposedly wood. Probably in origin it denoted wooden beams or brushwood used as bedding for the stones (Beeston 1979).
Beeston 1979 b: 96-97Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1979. Studies in Sabaic Lexicography I. Raydān, 2: 89-100.

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support typeInscription on architectural structure » Wall
MaterialStone
Measuresh. 21.5, w. 1825
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin and provenance
Modern siteMaḥram Bilqīs
Ancient siteʾwm
Geographical areaMaʾrib
CountryYemen
FoundIn situ
Archaeological contextReligious context: Temple of ʾlmqh bʿl ʾwm
NotesOn the northwest temple wall.
Link to site record

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jamme 1962 a: 22-23Jamme, Albert W.F. 1962. Sabaean Inscriptions from Maḥram Bilqîs (Mârib). (Publications of the American Foundation for the Study of Man, 3). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.
Wissmann 1976 a: 376-379Wissmann, Hermann von 1976. Die Geschichte des Sabäerreichs und der Feldzug des Aelius Gallus. Pages 308–544 in Hildegard Temporini (ed.). Politische Geschichte. (Provinzen und Randvölker: Mesopotamien, Armenien, Iran, Südarabien, Rom und der Ferne Osten). Hildegard Temporini and Wolfgang Haase (eds), Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römischen Welt. Geschichte und Kultur Roms im Spiegel der neueren Forschung. II. 9/1. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter / New York: Walter de Gruyter.
Beeston 1979 b: 96-97Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1979. Studies in Sabaic Lexicography I. Raydān, 2: 89-100.
Wissmann 1982: 343-344, 354-355Wissmann, Hermann von 1982. Die Geschichte von Sabaʾ II. Das Grossreich der Sabäer bis zu seinem Ende im frühen 4. Jh. v. Chr. (Sitzungsberichte der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophischhistorische Klasse, 402). Vienna: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. [Walter W. Müller (ed.)]
Stein 2005 c: 182-189Stein, Peter 2005. Linguistic contributions to Sabaean chronology. Archäologische Berichte aus dem Yemen, 10: 179-189.