Editorial criteria

 

Epigraphs


Titles and Concordances

The titles and main alternative titles (concordances) under which the inscriptions were published are given.
Almost all of the epigraphic material in DASI is published material (with the exception of most of the inscriptions from the museums in Yemen and the USA). Concordances with the most important collections of epigraphic editions (CIH, RES, M, CIAS, Q, CSAI) are mentioned.
 
Language
The huge corpora of inscriptions in the ASA languages in this database have been subdivided on either a chronological or a geographical basis or both.
Only the Ḥaḍramitic texts have been gathered together in a single corpus.
The Sabaic documentation has been divided mainly on a chronological basis. The texts up until the 4th century BC pertain to Early Sabaic, while those documenting the last two centuries of South Arabian history (4th – 6th AD) are Late Sabaic. Between these two periods, from the 4th – 3rd century BC to the 4th AD, the inscriptions from the Sabaean homeland are considered to be in Central Middle Sabaic, while those from the high plateau south of Sana have been grouped as Southern Middle Sabaic and those from the town of Haram in the Jawf valley and from the wādī Shuḍayf to the north (whose language has elsewhere been referred to as Amīritic, Haramic or pseudo-Sabaic) have been grouped as Northern Sabaic. A further category (Undefined Sabaic) was created to catalogue the Sabaic inscriptions that cannot be assigned to either of those groups because they are fragmentary and/or lack visual documentation or information about their provenance.
The differences in language and provenance of some inscriptions written in the Qatabanic and Minaic languages have led to their being distinguished from the proper Central Qatabanic and Central Minaic inscriptions. The Qatabanic inscriptions from marginal areas can be divided into two groups: Marginal Qatabanic and Awsanite. The corpus of Minaic inscriptions attested outside southern Arabia, for instance at Dadan in northern Saudi Arabia, and a Minaic inscription on an Egyptian sarcophagus, have been assembled in a group that we have called Marginal Minaic.
The inscriptions whose language cannot be identified are grouped in the corpus of Undefined Ancient South Arabian language inscriptions.
 
Script typology
Examples of the two categories used:

Monumental writing (ASA musnad)


Minuscule writing (ASA zabūr)


Chronology
The suggested periodization comprises five phases labelled A to E, that correspond to the broad periods into which the history of South Arabia is traditionally divided: Parameters for dating a text do no rely on palaeography alone, but also on grammar, formularies and iconography, which can help follow the evolution of epigraphic styles across chronological periods

Mentioned date: When a date is mentioned in the text, the year is specified, both according to the internal dating system used and in absolute terms.

Textual typology
Inscriptions can generally be assigned to a specific typology because they follow textual models with fixed formal and structural characteristics. Epigraphs are known to be largely repetitive, but the textual model goes beyond the content of an inscription. It is a unique datum of the epigraphic material. For example, based on the textual model rather than the content, we have classified as dedicatory rather than commemorative those texts in which the record of the military campaigns are set within the frame of a dedicatory textual model.
The author deliberately chose which model he wished to follow; therefore these schemas are not reconstructions by modern scholars.
Categories such as the formula, formulary and textual typology form part of and characterize the semantic-syntactic structure of the text.
A formulary pattern is composed of certain constituent parts (lexical items – in particular the main verb of the inscription – and items with morpho-syntactic functions) and their linear layout. Identifying different formularies can shed light on the geographical and chronological differences among the various writing schools.

If the text is fragmentary and the typology is conjectural, this information is provided next to the indication of the typology.

Most of the monumental inscriptions written in ASA can be classified as either Commemorative texts, Construction texts, Dedicatory texts, Legal texts or (rarely) Abecedaries. Purely onomastic texts are not identified by a label. The other entries apply only to ASA minuscule texts.

Royal inscription: To facilitate research on rulers, their functions, and their activities, a separate category of inscriptions commissioned by kings (i.e. texts they are the subjects of) has been created.

General Notes
This field provides additional information regarding the epigraph that does not fall within the purview of the apparatus criticus (see Apparatus notes) or the cultural content (see Cultural Notes) of the text.

TEXT

Editing and Apparatus criticus
  Markers

Information on the onomastic data contained in the text can be accessed by clicking on the Markers’ button to activate the display of the textual encoding. Each onomastic category is associated with a specific colour, and pop-up windows with detailed information will appear as you pass the cursor over the text. When names are contained in a portion of text, they are set off between triangular icons.

Onomastic categories Textual portions Apparatus notes
Any notes relating to the edition of the text is contained in this section of the epigraph card. The number(s) of the line(s) to which the notes refer are given.

Translation
As there may be more than one translation of an epigraph, a label indicates the author of the translation and the bibliographical reference is given below the text. 

Object information (see also OBJECT)
An epigraph card is always be linked to an object card, where information regarding the support is given. In the Epigraph card, a preview of the main fields of the Object card is given. The Object card can be accessed via its link.
Conversely, an Object card can record information regarding an-epigraphic objects catalogued within the frame of collaborations with museums.

Origin and Provenance (see also SITE)
An epigraph card may be linked – via the object card – to one or more site cards, depending on the inscription’s origin and provenance. In the Epigraph card, a preview of the main fields of the Site card is given. The Site card can be accessed via its link.
 
 

Objects


Every inscription is associated with an object – the material support on which it was written. DASI is also engaged in cataloguing objects in collections worldwide that do not bear any inscription but are of scholarly interest.

Deposit
This section contains information regarding where the artefact is kept, at present or according to the latest available information:
Support type
We have made a broad primary distinction between monumental, immovable supports (including architectural structures, monumental stelae—that is, large objects intended to stand in public spaces—and rock surfaces) and objects. An additional category, “Unknown”, was introduced for texts whose editions provide no information about the type of support, or where the available evidence is too fragmentary to be identifiable.

The Object category mainly comprises artefacts—complete or fragmentary—that can be further assigned to narrower categories based on their features. It also includes instrumenta, such as cretulae and wooden sticks, as well as an indeterminate category, stone piece, which covers the large number of inscribed stone objects or fragments that cannot be assigned with certainty to any category of monumental supports (although they may originally have been stone blocks incorporated into buildings and later collapsed) or that are not carved on an object that can be defined in artistic terms.
 

If present in the inscription, the common noun used in the inscribed text referring to the support is recorded between brackets.


Material
Note that the field is multiple as more than one type of material may have been employed in the fabrication of an artefact. When it was not possible to determine the kind of stone used, the generic information “stone” is provided.

Dimensions
All measurements are expressed in centimeters. Abbreviations used: Decorations
Much work has been done on the section of the card devoted to the artistic aspects of the epigraph and its support, with a view to creating comprehensive iconographic indices, in which the main decorative elements of interest are listed. These lists can be updated with new terms as the cataloguing work proceeds.

Origin and Provenance (see also SITES)
An object card may be linked to one or more site cards, depending on its origin and provenance.

Origin / Provenance
Each object may be linked to one or more sites; for example, the artefact could have been produced in one location and discovered in a completely different place.
The origin site of the object is the place where the object was made or originated from. There will usually be some artistic or epigraphic evidence to indicate this.
The provenance site is where the object physically comes from, i.e. where it was found. This site may not coincide with the site of origin, especially if the object has been reemployed in ancient or modern times.
One site may constitute both the origin site and the provenance site, if an object has been found in situ, or internal evidence indicates that where it was found is also where it was made.

Context
The original context of the object represents additional information that may be evident from its archaeological context or from the content of the text inscribed on it (Agricultural irrigation context, Funerary context, Religious context, Urban context). Further relevant information may be available about the structure with which the object is associated (e.g., Temple of Wd, House Yfs², Eastern gate, etc).

Epigraphs (see also EPIGRAPHS)

This section of the card contains information on the epigraph(s) inscribed on the object, if any, with a link to the relevant epigraph card.
 
 

Sites


Every site is identified by its modern name. For the sites in South Arabia we have mainly adopted the spelling of the modern toponyms to be found in Chr. Robin and U. Brunner, Map of Ancient Yemen, Münich, 1997. For other toponyms we followed the guidelines in Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies and tried to adhere as much as possible to Geonames (www.geonames.org/).

There may be some variation in the amount of information provided on different cards. For the main sites, extensive descriptions are given, mainly based on the collaboration with J. Schiettecatte (CNRS).

Site Information
The description of the site includes, if known, the following information: Additional information may also be given, including (but not limited to):
Monuments
Some cards contain sections with a description of monuments of interest located at the same site, accompanied by a picture gallery.

Map
If the coordinates are known and have been recorded in the database, the location of the site on an interactive Map is provided.

Related Sites
In order to facilitate the identification of minor sites, their relative location with respect to better-known sites is provided (near, north of, southwest of, etc). By the same token, the card for a major site may list the modern names of surrounding, lesser known sites.

Related Material
This section provides access to all the epigraph and object cards linked to the site.
 


Common information


Cultural Notes
The DASI site has been designed for both scholars and the general public. For the benefit of non-specialists, inscriptions that shed light on interesting aspects of Arabian culture are provided with notes arranged in four broad categories: religion, society, economics and history.

Bibliography
The bibliography only lists the sources where the epigraph, or the images of artifacts without inscriptions, were first published and the bibliographic references mentioned in the notes of the card. For the epigraphic objects, bibliographic information is also recorded on the relative epigraph card.