CSAI

Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions


INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic
AlphabetAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Writing techniqueIncision
Chronology
PeriodD
Textual typologyDedicatory text

GENERAL NOTES

Iryānī gives a division of the text into paragraphs, without respecting the lines.

TEXT


   1  Rbm ʾrym w-ʾḫ-hw S²rḥṯt ʾzʾn w-bn-hmw Yfrʿ bnw Kbs¹ym ʾqwl s²ʿbn Tnʿmm w-Tnʿmt hqnyw ʾlmqh Ṯhwn bʿl ʾwm ṣlmn ḥmdm b-ḏt s¹twfy ʾtyt mrʾ-hmw Whbʾl Yḥz mlk S¹bʾ ʿdy bytn S¹lḥn
   2  w-b-ḏt ṣdq w-hwfyn ʾlmqh ʾdm-hw bny Kbs¹ym b-kl ʾmlʾ s¹tmlʾw b-ʿm-hw w-ḥmdm b-ḏt hwfy ʾlmqh ʿbdy-hw Rbm w-S²rḥṯt k-yʾtwn ʿdy mʾḫḏ-hmw ḏ-Yfd s¹qym bʿd ḏt s¹tʾzl ʿdy ʿdy-hw s¹qym ʿs¹m ḫryftm b-qdmy ḏt hqnytn
   3  w-ḥmdy ʿbdy-hw Rbm w-S²rḥṯt ḫyl w-mqm ʾlmqh b-ḏt ʾtw hwt mʾḫḏn ḏ-Yfd s¹qym ḏ-hrḍw-hmw w-b-ḏt yzʾn ʾlmqh ṣdq w-hwfyn ʾdm-hw bny Kbs¹ym b-kl ʾmlʾ ys¹tmlʾnn b-ʿm-hw w-l-wzʾ ʾtw ʿdy hwt mʾḫḏn s¹qym
   4  w-l-ḫmr-hmw ḥẓy w-rḍw mrʾ-hmw Whbʾl Yḥz mlk S¹bʾ w-l-s¹ʿd-hmw ʾṯmr w-ʾfql ṣdqm bn kl ʾrḍ-hmw w-ʾs¹rr-hmw
   5  w-l-ḫryn-hmw bn bʾs¹tm w-nḍʿ w-s²ṣy s²nʾm w-rṯdw hqnyt-hmw ʿṯtr S²rqn b-ʾlmqh w-ḏt Ḥmym w-ḏt Bʿdnm w-b-s²ms¹ mlkn Tnf

Apparatus
L.1: Rbm ʾrym [... ...]t ʾzʾn [.. ...] w-bny-hmy Yfrʿ bhy (Inan).
L.2: ʿbd-hw; ʿdw ʿdy-hw (Inan).
L.3: S²rḥʿṯ; tbn Kbs¹ym ; mʾḫḏn s¹qy (Inan).
L.4: ʾṯmrm w-fql ṣdm (Inan).

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  Rbm ʾrym and his brother S²rḥṯt ʾzʾn and their son Yfrʿ, of the family Kbs¹ym, ʾqwl of the tribe Tnʿmm and Tnʿmt, dedicated to ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, the Lord of ʾwm, the statue in praise because He protected the return of their master Whbʾl Yḥz, the king of Sabaʾ, to the palace S¹lḥn;
   2  and because ʾlmqh maintained in proper order and saved His servants, the family of Kbs¹yn, in all the favours they sought from Him; and in praise because ʾlmqh granted to His two servants Rbm and S²rḥṯt that the floods could come to their basin ḏ-Yfd, after that the floods had failed to arrive to it for several years previously to this dedication.
   3   His two servants Rbm and S²rḥṯt praised the power and the authority of ʾlmqh because He brought floods, that satisfied them, into the basin ḏ-Yfd. Because might ʾlmqh maintain in proper order and save His servants, the family Kbs¹yn, in all the favours they will seek from Him; might He continue to bring floods to that basin.
   4  Might He grant to them the favour and the goodwill of their master Whbʾl Yḥz, the king of Sabaʾ; might He grant to them good fruits and crops from all their land and valleys.
   5  Might He deliver them from harm, maleficence, enemy's malefice. They committed their dedication to ʿṯtr S²rqn; by ʾlmqh, ḏt Ḥmym, ḏt Bʿdnm and by the solar deity of the king Tnf.

OBJECT INFORMATION

DepositṢanʿāʾ, Unknown (Private collection)
Support typeArtefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription
MaterialStone
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin
Modern siteMaḥram Bilqīs
Ancient siteʾwm
Geographical areaMaʾrib
CountryYemen
Archaeological contextReligious context: Temple of ʾlmqh bʿl ʾwm
Link to site record

BIBLIOGRAPHY

al-Iryānī 1973: 48-50al-Iryānī, Muṭahhar 1973. Fī taʾriḫ al-Yaman. Cairo.
Ryckmans, Jacques 1974: 242-243Ryckmans, Jacques 1974. Himyaritica 3. Le Muséon, 87: 237-263.
Beeston 1975 a: 188-189Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1975. Notes on Old South Arabian Lexicography IX. Le Muséon, 88: 187-198.
ʿInān 1976: 224-227ʿInān, Zaid b. ʿA 1976. Taʾriḫ ḥaḍāra al-Yaman al-qadīm. Cairo.
Nebes 1987: 89Nebes, Norbert 1987. Zur Konstruktion von Subjekt und Objekt abhängiger Infinitive in Sabäischen. Pages 75-98 in Christian J. Robin and Muḥammad ʿA. Bāfaqīh (eds). Ṣayhadica. Recherches sur les inscriptions de l'Arabie préislamique offertes par ses collègues au professeur A.F. L. Beeston. (Arabie préislamique, 1). Paris: Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner.
al-Iryānī 1990: 80-83al-Iryānī, Muṭahhar 1990. Fī-taʾrīḫ al-Yaman. Nuquš musnadiya wa-taʿliqāt. Ṣanʿāʾ: Markaz al-dirāsāt wa-l-buḥūṯ al-Yamanī.
Korotayev 1994: 157Korotayev, Andrey V. 1994. The social sense of Middle Sabaean epithet names. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 24: 157-164.