CSAI

Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions


INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Sabaic » Late Sabaic
AlphabetAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Writing techniqueRelief
Chronology
PeriodE
Date580 Ḥim
Textual typologyConstruction text

TEXT


   1  [ʾbym b]n ʾbs²mr w-ḥs²(k)t-hw ʾbʿly w-ʾlwd-hmy Y[..]—
   2  [.. w-] (M)rṯdʾln bnw Ḥryn w-Ḏrḥ w-Khnl w-Bʾln w-
   3  Nḥs¹n w-Hywtm brʾw w-hwṯrn w-hs²qrn byt-hmw
   4  Yrs³ l-ḥyw w-ṣlḥ ʾfs¹-hmw w-ʾlwd-hmw
   5  w-s¹hm-hmw w-nʿm-hmw w-b-
   6  rdʾ w-ḫyl mrʾ-hmw ʾln
   7  bʿl s¹myn w-ʾrḍn w-b-rdʾ
   8  s²ʿb-hmw Ys³rʾl w-b-rdʾ mrʾ-hmw S²rḥ(b)—
   9  ʾl mlk S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn w-Ḥḍrmwt w-l-(ḫ)—
  10  mr-hmw b-hw Rḥmnn ḥywm ks³ḥ[m] wr[ḫ]-
  11  hw ḏ-Ṯbtn ḏ-l-ṯmny w-ḫms¹ mʾ[tm] (ʾm)[n]

Apparatus
1Robin integrates the first name: [Bny](m)n. The reading: ʾbym b]n is suggested by Müller on the basis of the first monogram.
1-2(Y)[hw-d](ʾ) (Robin).
2at the end of the line Ḏʾln (Gajda).
11Müller integrates a w- before ʾmn.

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  [ʾbym son of] ʾbs²mr, his wife ʾbʿly and their children [..]
   2  [..] Mrṯdʾln, those of the clan Ḥryn, Ḏrḥ, Khnl, Bʾln,
   3  Nḥs¹n and Hywtm built, laid foundations, completed their house
   4  Yrs³ for the life and the prosperity of themselves, their children,
   5  their servants and their possession. With
   6  the help and the power of their Lord ʾln,
   7  the Master of the heaven and of the earth, and with the help
   8  of their tribe of Israel and with the help of their lord S²rḥbʾl,
   9  king of Sabaʾ, ḏu-Raydān and Ḥaḍramawt. May
  10  Rḥmnn give in it (in the house) an unblemished life. The month
  11  of Ṯbtn of the year five hundred eighty. Amen.

OBJECT INFORMATION

DepositẒafār, Museum, ZM 2000
Support typeInscription on architectural structure
MaterialStone
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin
Modern siteUnknown
Ancient siteUnknown
Geographical areaUnknown
CountryUnknown
Archaeological contextUrban context: Private house Yrs³
Link to site record

CULTURAL NOTES

This inscription is considered by Gajda the first certain evidence of a conversion of the south Arabian inhabitants to Judaism (but see Gar Bayt al-Ashawal 1, one century earlier, and the remarks on it).
The king S²rḥbʾl, who is to identify with S²rḥbʾl Ykf according to the editor, bears curiously the short title of mlk S¹bʾ w-ḏ Rydn w-Ḥḍrmwt.
This however has other parallels in earlier times (for instance during the reign of Ṯʾrn Yhnʿm) and does not reflect any political change.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gajda 2004 a: 197-202Gajda, Iwona 2004. Une nouvelle inscription juive de Ẓafār. Pages 197-202 in Alexander V. Sedov (ed.). Scripta Yemenica. Issledovanija po Južnoj Aravii. Sbornik naučnyh statej v čest' 60-letija M.B. Piotrovskogo. Moscow: Vostochna.
Robin 2004 a: 882-883Robin, Christian J. 2004. Ḥimyar et Israël. Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres: 831-908.
Müller, Walter W. 2010: 81-82Müller, Walter W. 2010. Sabäische Inschriften nach Ären datiert. Bibliographie, Texte und Glossar. (Veröffentlichungen der Orientalischen Kommission, 53). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.