Language | Ancient South Arabian » Ḥaḍramitic | ||
Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
Writing technique | Incision | ||
Chronology |
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Textual typology | Construction text |
This is one of the first texts seen in South Arabia, discovered in 1835 by Palinurus' officials Wellsted and Cruttenden. The first photo was published only in 1971 by Doe. |
1 | A vertical sign is visible before the ʿ, which leads Robin to read: gʿl. |
2 | At the beginning of the line, we assume that the initial ʾ was written by mistake. Robin reads: gʿl-ʾhy. A vacuum of about two letter-width is left after mnʿym. |
English | |
1 Hbs¹l son of S²gb directed the construction works of the city wall of Myfʿt and of its gate, made of stone, wood and bricks, and the construction of the houses 2 on its city wall, from foundation to top, [...] and he completed and raised what Ṣdqydʿ had walled of it. |
French | |
1 Hbs¹l ibn S²gb a dirigé la construction de l'enceinte de Myfʿt et de sa porte en pierre de taille, en bois et en brique crue (?), ainsi que la construction des habitations qu'il a placées 2 contre (?) son enceinte, depuis les fondations jusqu'au faîte ... Il a achevé et élevé ce que l'enfant (?) de celle-ci (= Myfʿt), Ṣdqydʿ, avait déjà muni d'une enceinte. |
Robin 1987 b | Robin, Christian J. 1987. Naqab al-Hajar. Les inscriptions. Syria, 64: 17-20. |
Support type | Inscription on architectural structure » Walls |
Material | Stone |
Link to object record |
Modern site | Naqb al-Hajar |
Ancient site | Myfʿt |
Geographical area | Wādī Mayfaʿa |
Country | Yemen |
Found | In situ |
Archaeological context | Urban context: City walls |
Link to site record |
Ryckmans, Gonzague 1939 b: 312 | Ryckmans, Gonzague 1939. Inscriptions sud-arabes. Sixième série. Le Muséon, 52: 297-319. |
Pirenne 1956: 207, pl. XXIXd | Pirenne, 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. |
Doe 1971: 188, pl. 84 | Doe, D. Brian 1971. Southern Arabia. London: Thames and Hudson. |
Robin 1987 b: 18-19, photos 9, 16 | Robin, Christian J. 1987. Naqab al-Hajar. Les inscriptions. Syria, 64: 17-20. |