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RES 4233 Ry 115


By kind permission of University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic
ScriptAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Text directionRight-to-left
Text appearanceRecessed
Execution techniqueIncision
Measure of letters1.2
Chronology
PeriodD
Textual typologyDedicatory text - fragmentary

TEXT

marker


   1  [Yṣbḥ ... ...]
   2  [....]m [hqny ʾlmqh-Ṯh]wn-bʿl-ʾw—
   3  [m] ṣlmn ḏ-ḏhbn ḥmdm b-[ḏ]t ḫm[r ..]—
   4  [..] ʾlmqh-Ṯhwn ʿbd-hw Yṣ[bḥ ... ...]
   5  [... ...]-hw bn ḥrmn hḥrm [... ...]
   6  [... ...]w ʾws¹n Ḫwlyn b-ʿbr mrʾ-[hmw]
   7  mlkn w-b-ḏt ḫmr w-hwknn ʾlmq[h]
   8  ʿbd-hw Yṣbḥ hwfyn-hw b-mlʾ [s¹]—
   9  tmlʾ b-ʿm-hw l-ʿḏb w-hkrb (ġ)[l]—
  10  (m)tn ḏt ts¹tmyn ʾbwfy b-k[l]—
  11  [..]n((Bkl[yt]n)) b-hgrn S²bmm w-l-wzʾ ʾlmqh hw—
  12  [fyn] ʿbd-hw Yṣbḥ b-ʾmlʾ ys¹tml(ʾ)[n]
  13  [b-ʿm-hw] w-l-ḫmr-hw ḥẓy w-rḍw mrʾ-[h]—
  14  [w Ns²ʾkrb] Yʾ[m]n Yhrḥb m(lk) S¹bʾ w-(ḏ)-
  15  [Rydn bn ʾls²r]ḥ Yḥḍb w-Yʾzl Byn mlk—
  16  [y S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn w-l]-wfy grybt-hmw w-l-ḫry[n]-
  17  [hmw bn nḍʿ w-s²ṣ](y) (s²nʾm b)-(ʾlmqh)

Apparatus
5-6at the end of the line: b-kn (Ryckmans).
10-11Beeston suggests to read Bkl[yt]n "the Bakilite woman".

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  [Yṣbḥ ... ...]
   2  [....]m dedicated to ʾlmqh Ṯhwn Master of ʾwm
   3  the statue in bronze, in praise because ʾlmqh Ṯhwn
   4  granted [....] His servant Yṣbḥ [... ...]
   5  [... ...].. concerning the ban he was subject to [... ...]
   6  [... ...] ʾws¹n Ḫwlyn on the responsibility of their lord
   7  the king, and because ʾlmqh granted and bestowed
   8  on His servant Yṣbḥ to gratify him with the favour
   9  he petitioned Him for, in order that he might pay the dowry for (or: leave his parents' house) and marry
  10  the girl whose name is ʾbwfy, the Bakilite (?)
  11  in the city of Shibām; and may ʾlmqh continue
  12  to gratify His servant Yṣbḥ with the favours he will petition
  13  Him for, and to grant him the satisfaction and goodwill of his lord
  14  Ns²ʾkrb Yʾmn Yhrḥb, king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-
  15  Raydān son of ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb and Yʾzl Byn kings
  16  of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, and to save their persons and protect
  17  them from the maleficence and malice of the enemy, by ʾlmqh.

OBJECT INFORMATION

DepositPhiladelphia, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 30-47-96
Support typeArtefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription
MaterialStone
Dimensionsh. 30, w. 18.5
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

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

CULTURAL NOTES

On the basis of his interpretation of the verb ʿḏb, translated following the meaning of the Hebrew ʿazaba "leave the father's house", Beeston considers this inscription as one example of uxorical marriage arrangement.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Legrain 1934 a: 66, fig. 2Legrain, Léon 1934. In the Land of the Queen of Sheba. American Journal of Archaeology, 38: 329-337.
Legrain 1934 b: 72, fig. 2Legrain, Léon 1934. Au pays de la reine de Saba. Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 6/11: 65-85.
Ryckmans, Gonzague 1935: 164-168, pl. IRyckmans, Gonzague 1935. Inscriptions sud-arabes. Troisième série. Le Muséon, 48: 1-187.
Mlaker 1943: 56-57Mlaker, Karl 1943. Die Hierodulenlisten von Maīn: nebst Untersuchungen zur altsüdarabischen Rechtsgeschichte und Chronologie. (Sammlung orientalistischer Arbeiten, 15). Leipzig: Harrassowitz.
Beeston 1981 b: 28Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1981. Two epigraphic South Arabian roots: HYʿ and KRB. Pages 21-34 in Roswitha G. Stiegner (ed.). al-Hudhud. Festschrift Maria Höfner zum 80. Geburtstag. Graz: Karl-Franzens-Universität.
Avanzini 1991: 159Avanzini, Alessandra 1991-1993 [1992]. Remarques sur le "matriarcat" en Arabie du sud. Pages 157-161 in Christian J. Robin (ed.). L'Arabie antique de Karibʾîl à Mahomet. Nouvelles données sur l'histoire des Arabes grâces aux inscriptions. (Revue du Monde Musulman et de la Mediterranée, 61). Aix-en-Provence: Édisud.