CSAI

Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions

DASI

RES 3951 Gl 1571


Fragment B
Robin and Ryckmans, Jacques 1982: pl. 43/b
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INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic
AlphabetAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Script cursusBoustrophedon
Writing techniqueIncision
Chronology
PeriodB
Textual typologyLegal text
Royal inscriptionYes

TEXT


   1  kn hṯbw w-hḥr Krbʾl Wtr bn Yṯʿʾmr mlk S¹bʾ w-S¹bʾ ms¹ḫnn ʿdʾl((ʿdʾl)) ḏ-s¹tqr[ʾ w-Ḫ]ll bhʾw dwmm w-Nzḥt w-ʿhrw Fys²n w-ʾrbʿn w-ḥs³rw M(r)[... ... ... ...]dn l-Yṯ[ʿ](kr)b kbr Ṣrw—
   2  ḥ bn Ḏrḥʾl w-ms³wd S¹rw[ḥ w-s²ʿ]bn Ṣrwḥ w-bn-hmw w-ʾdwmt-hmw l-k-ḏ ʾl s¹ʾlw ʾs¹d ʾmlk(n) [ʾl](w) yhwṣtn b-ʿly ʾs²ʿbn w-S¹bʾ ns²ʾn w-ʾs²ʿbn qs¹dn w-mkrn w-s³lʾn b-Rḥbtn w-K(b)tn w-
   3  Mʿlltn w-ʾs³mdn ḫrṣ w-s²rk w-rzm b-ʿm-hmw wrqm w-dʿtm w-ṭḥnm w-kl mnṣḥtm w-ḫrṣm w-s²rkm ms³wd Ṣrwḥ w-s²ʿbn Ṣrwḥ w-bn-hmw w-ʾdwmt-hmw w-kl mnṣḥtm w-gzfm w-mnqlm b-ʿm
   4  s²ʿy S¹bʾ b-ms¹bʾn ʾtm s²ʿbm w-ʾs¹m l-rʾs¹-hw w-l ʾs¹ yhrs¹ b-hgrn Ṣrwḥ w-b kl ʾmdrn w-l-k-ḏ nfqm w-s³ḫlm bn ʿly ms³wd Ṣrwḥ w-s²ʿbn Ṣrwḥ w-bn-hmw w-ʾdwmt-hmw kl ḫrṣ w-s²rk w-m—
   5  nṣḥ w-mṯbt w-ʾrzm w-ʾgzf b-hmw s²rkw w-ḫrṣ w-hṯb w-hwrṯ w-hʿḏb w-gzf b-ʿly ms³wd Ṣrwḥ w-s²ʿbn Ṣrwḥ w-ʾkbrw-hmw w-ʾdwmt-hmw b-qdmy w-ʾṯr ḏt mṯbtn w-ḥgm k-hḥrw ʾmlk
   6  S¹bʾ w-S¹bʾ l-s²ʿbn Ṣrwḥ hḥr[w] l-hmw w-kwnt ḏt mṯbtn b-f-rʾ ḏ-Nylm ḏ-ḫrf Hlkʾmr bn G(r)mn s¹mʿm ḏt-ʿlm Krbʾl w-Yqhmlk ḏ-Yfʿn w-ʾbʾmr bn Ḥzfrm w-ʾbkrb ḏ-Nzḥtn w-ʿmy—
   7  ṯʿ bn Mwnyn w-Lḥyʿṯt bn Mlḥn ḏ-ʾrbʾnhn w-ʾs¹dḏkr bn Qlẓn w-Ns²ʾkrb ḏ-Nzḥtn

TRANSLATIONS

CSAI
English

   1  Thus decreed and ordained Krbʾl Wtr, son of Yṯʿʾmr, king of Sabaʾ, and Sabaʾ the Council, (i.e.) ʿdʾl, whom he convoked, and Ḫll who entered on a tour of office as eponym, and Nzḥt, and the nobles of Fys²n, and the townsfolk and the poorer class of Mr [... ...] to Yṯʿkrb, kbr of Ṣrwḥ,
   2  son of Ḏrḥʾl, and the council of S¹rwḥ and the tribe of Ṣrwḥ and their descendant and their vassals: that the royal soldiers not lay claim, those that (the king) appoints at the expense of the tribe and Sabaʾ, the ns²ʾn, and the tribes, the qs¹dn and the traders and the tribute-paying class in Rḥbtn and Kbtn and
   3  Mʿlltn and ʾs³mdn, the assessment and the crop-sharing and the land-tax from them of vegetable crops and crops and flour; and that any dispositions and assessment and crop-sharing of the council of Ṣrwḥ and the tribe of Ṣrwḥ and their descendant and their vassals, and any dispositions and wholesale transaction and transfer with
   4  the vassals of Sabaʾ in the field are to be agreed on by tribe and person for himself and for the man, (and that) the military service is performed in the city of Ṣrwḥ and in all the territories; and that there shall be binding and obligatory upon the council of Ṣrwḥ and the tribe of Ṣrwḥ and their descendant and their vassals every assessment and crop-sharing and agreement
   5  and command, and (all) commandeerings and wholesale transaction with them, that made a crop sharing and an assessment and decreed and hwrṯ (?) and organized and effected a wholesale transaction with the council of Ṣrwḥ and the tribe of Ṣrwḥ and their ʾkbrw and their vassals, before and after this decree. And as the kings of
   6  Sabaʾ and Sabaʾ ordained to the tribe of Ṣrwḥ, so they ordained to them. And this decree was in the first decade of (the month) ḏ-Nylm, during the year of Hlkʾmr, son of G(r)mn; witnesses who authenticated are Krbʾl and Yqhmlk ḏ-Yfʿn, and ʾbʾmr, of Ḥzfrm, and ʾbkrb ḏ-Nzḥtn, and w-ʿmyṯʿ,
   7  of the family Mwnyn, and Lḥyʿṯt, of Mlḥn, the two of the ʾrbʾn, and ʾs¹dḏkr, of Qlẓn, and Ns²ʾkrb ḏ-Nzḥtn.
Rhodokanakis sees in the text a decree authorising the raising of military taxes.
Beeston 1937: 72 "the text contains a decree compelling the population of Ṣirwaḥ and the neighbouring countryside to supply with provisions the royal soldiers stationed there". Beeston is wrong in the translation of the line 2 of the text: "that the royal soldiers shall not be called to account", the text says the contrary: the population of Ṣirwaḥ has not to supply with provisions the royal soldiers.
1ʿdʿl ḏ-S¹tqrʾ (A. Beeston 1980).
In 1937 Beeston translated: "to that, which he publishes".
2"welche stationiert werden zu Lasten der Stämme" (W. Müller 1983).
2"sowohl der sabäischen Vornehmen" (W. Müller 1983).
2qs¹dn w-mkrn w-s³lʾn: "Kleruchen und Händlern und Wagemeistern (?)" (N. Rhodokanakis 1927 a);
"der Siedler und Händler und Tributpflichtigen" (W. Müller 1983).
For qs¹dn see also MAFRAY-al-Ğiḏma 1.
3wrqm w-dʿtm w-ṭḥnm: "Gold und Guthaben und Mehl" (N. Rhodokanakis 1927 a);
Gemüse und (anderen) Bodenprodukten und Mehl (W. Müller 1983).
3w-kl mnṣḥtm w-ḫrṣm w-s²rkm ms³wd Ṣrwḥ: "und zwar (finde statt betreff) aller Verträge und jedes Schätzens und Repartierens mit (bei) den Adeligen von Ṣirwāḥ" (N. Rhodokanakis 1927 a)
"vielmehr (stehen) alle Verfügungen, nämlich Schätzung und Aufteilung der Ratsversammlung von Sirwah" (W. Müller 1983).
5b-ʿly ms³wd Ṣrwḥ: "bindend für die Adeligen von Ṣirwāḥ" (Rhodokanakis 1927 a);
"which they put upon the ms³wd of Ṣrwḥ" (A. Beeston 1937 b);
"obligen der Ratsversammlung von Sirwah" (W. Müller 1983).
7ḏ-ʾrbʾnhn: "davon zwei mit dem entsprechenden ḏū-beinamen sind Häupter der unter den Gruppen in Z. 1 genannten Nzḥtn (bzw. ʾrbʿn);
"von den beiden (Stammesgruppen der) Rabiʿa (W. Müller 1983).
Rhodokanakis 1927 a: 103-107Rhodokanakis, Nikolaus 1927. Altsabäische Texte I. (Sitzungsberichte der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, 206). Wien und Leipzig: Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky A.-G..
Beeston 1937 b: 75Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1937. Two South Arabian inscriptions. Some suggestions. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society: 59-68.
Beeston 1975 a: 191-192Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1975. Notes on Old South Arabian Lexicography IX. Le Muséon, 88: 187-198.
Beeston 1980 a: 20-21Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1980. Studies in Sabaic Lexicography II. Raydān, 3: 17-26.
Müller, Walter W. 1983: 271-273Müller, Walter W. 1983. Altsüdarabische Dokumente. Pages 268-282 in Diethelm Conrad (ed.). Dokumente zum Rechts- und Wirtschaftsleben. Otto Kaiser (ed.), Texte aus der Umwelt des Alten Testaments. 1.3. Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus Gerd Mohn.

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support typeStone inscription
MaterialStone
Measuresw. 1.90
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Provenance
Modern siteṢirwāḥ-Khawlān
Ancient siteṢrwḥ
Geographical areaṢirwāḥ
CountryYemen
FoundReemployed. In modern times
Archaeological context: Reemployed in a modern house.
Link to site record

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Rhodokanakis 1927 a: 103-107Rhodokanakis, Nikolaus 1927. Altsabäische Texte I. (Sitzungsberichte der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, 206). Wien und Leipzig: Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky A.-G..
Beeston 1937 a: 71-75Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1937. Sabaean inscriptions. Oxford.
Höfner 1976: 16-20, pl. IV/2Höfner, Maria 1976. Inschriften aus Ṣirwāḥ, Ḫaulān. (II Teil). Sammlung Eduard Glaser. 12. (Sitzungsberichte der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philosophisch-historische Klasse, 304/5). Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
Robin and Ryckmans, Jacques 1982: 121-122, pls 43/b-cRobin, Christian J. and Ryckmans, Jacques 1982. Dédicace de bassins rupestres antiques à proximité de Bâb al-Falaǧ (Mârib). Archäologische Berichte aus dem Yemen, 1: 107-115.