Ry 508
Ryckmans, Gonzague 1953: pl. IV
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INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Late Sabaic | ||||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||||
| Writing technique | Incision | ||||
| Measure of letters | 7 | ||||
| Chronology |
| ||||
| Textual typology | Commemorative text |
TEXT
1 qyln S²rḥʾl Yqbl bn S²rḥbʾl Ykml bnw Yzʾn w-Gdnm w-Ḥbm w-Ns¹ʾn w-Ġbʾ
2 ts¹ṭrw b-ḏn ms¹ndn ḏ-s²mw b-s¹bʾtm ʾwd-h k-hm ʿm mrʾ-hmw mlkn Ys¹f ʾs¹ʾr
3 ʿly ʾḥbs²n b-Ẓfr w-dhrw qls¹n w-wrd mlkn ʾs²ʿrn w-ḏky-hw b-gys²m w-ḥrb Mḫwn w-h{g}rg
4 kl ḥwr-hw w-dhr qls¹n w-ḥrb kl mṣnʿ S²mr w-s¹hl-hw w-hdr(k) mlkn b-ʾs²ʿrn w-tgmʿ kl
5 ḏ-hrgw w-ġnmw ʾgys² mlkn ṯlṯt ʿs²r ʾʾlfm mhrgtm w-ḫms¹ mʾtm w-ts¹ʿt ʾʾlfm s¹b*y*m
6 w-ṯmnyt w-ṯty mʾtn ʾʾlfm ʾʾblm w-bqrm w-ʿnzm w-bn ḏky-hw mlkn l-qrn ʿly Ngrn b-n—
7 qrm bn ʾzʾn w-b-ʾs²ʿb ḏ-Hmdn w-hgr-hmw w-ʿrb-hmw w-ʾʿrb Kdt w-Mrdm w-Mḏḥgm w-mlkn h—
8 rzy b-mqrnt Ḥbs²t w-l-ṣnʿn s¹s¹lt Mdbn [... ...] b-ʾgys²-hw w-ʿm-hw ʾḫwt-hw ʾqwln Lḥyʿ—
9 t Yrḫm w-S¹myfʿ ʾs²wʿ w-S²rḥbʾl ʾs¹ʿd ʾlht Yzʾn b-s²ʿb-hmw ʾzʾnn wrḫ-hw ḏ-Qyẓn ḏ-l-ṯl—
10 ṯt w-ṯlṯy w-s¹ṯ mʾtm w-ʾʾlhn ḏ-l-hw s¹myn w-ʾrḍn l-yṣrn mlkn Ys¹f b-ʿly kl ʾs²nʾ-hw w-b-
11 ḫfr Rḥmnn (ḏ)n ms¹ndn bn kl ḫs¹s¹{s¹}m w-mḫdʿm w-trḥm ʿly kl ʿlm Rḥmnn rḥm-k mrʾ ʾt
| 2 | G. Ryckmans reads k-hm rgʿm specifying that the letters rg have been erased. |
| 3 | hgrg on the stone. |
| 4 | G. Ryckmans and Müller read hdrʾ. |
| 5 | s¹bmm on the stone. |
| 6 | Rodinson and Müller emend: w-bn-hw before ḏky. |
| 7 | ʾzʾn, in the line 9 it is written: ʾzʾnn; G. Ryckmans and Müller: ʾʿrb-hmw. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 The qayl S²rḥʾl Yqbl, son of S²rḥbʾl Ykml banū Yzʾn, Gdnm, Ḥbm, Ns¹ʾn, Ġbʾ 2 recorded in this inscription what they carried out in some military expeditions accomplished when they were with their lord, the king Yusuf ʾs¹ʾr 3 against the Abyssinians in Ẓfr when they burnt the church . And the king fell on ʾs²ʿrn (when the king) sent him with a detachment. They fought against Mḫwn eand they killed 4 all its inhabitans, burnt the church and attacked all the fortresses of S²mr and its plain, while the king moved toward ʾs²ʿrn. The number of 5 all that the armies of the king killed and captured was of thirteen tousand deathsand nine thousand five hundred prisoners, 6 two hundred eighty thousand camels, cows and goats. Then the king sent them to fight against Najrān with 7 the armies of the ʾzʾn, with the tribes of ḏ-Hmdn: their citizens and their nomads; and the Arabs of Kinda, Murād, Madhḥig. 8 The king provided support against the Abyssinians to reinforce the chain of Mandab whith his armies and with him his brothers, the qayls Lḥyʿ- 9 t Yrḫm, S¹myfʿ ʾs²wʿ, S²rḥbʾl ʾs¹ʿd of the clan of Yzʾn with his tribe, the ʾzʾnn. The month of Qyẓn of 10 six hundred thirty-three. Might the God, to whom belong the heavens and the earth, give to the king Yusuf the victory on his ennemies. For 11 the protection of Rḥmnn this inscription (can be protected) against those who would harm and degrade. Spread all over the world, Rḥmnn, your mercy. You are the Lord. |
| 2 | "During an expeditionary march which he made when they were (acting) with their lord" (Beeston. Since there, the verb ʾwd has been rendered as "accomplish" in Beeston et al. 1982); "Au cours d'une campagne dont ils avaient été chargés" (Rodinson, considering the Ar ʾawida "peser sur quelqu'un" and analysing the verb as an internal passive). Untenable the translations by G. Ryckmans: "ce qu'ont accompli en éxpeditions au loin aussi bien qu'au retour de son seigneur" (based on his different reading - see epigraphic note - and on ʾwdh as name and hm as preposition) and Smith (1954: 458): "in a campaign by wadi beds and a river valley" (same reading as the former). Robin 2008 a: 84: "commencée (?)". |
| 4 | w-hdrʾ mlkn b-ʾs²ʿrn: "and the king made a sudden assault on ʾs²ʿrn". Rodinson suggests an optional "et il [le qayl] rejoignit le roi en ʾs²ʿrn" considering a more general meaning of the verb: "descendre, aller vers", which is also found in the Ethiopian languages. |
| Ryckmans, Gonzague 1953 | Ryckmans, Gonzague 1953. Inscriptions sud-arabes. Dixième série. Le Muséon, 66: 267-317. |
| Rodinson 1966-1967 | Rodinson, Maxime 1966-1967. Éthiopien et sudarabique. Annuaire. École pratique des hautes études. Section 4: Sciences historiques et philologiques: 121-139. |
| Smith 1954 | Smith, Sidney 1954. Events in Arabia in the 6th century A.D. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 16: 425-468. |
| Beeston et al. 1982 (=SD) | Beeston, Alfred F.L., al-Ghūl, Maḥmūd ʿA., Müller, Walter W. and Ryckmans, Jacques 1982. Sabaic Dictionary (English-French-Arabic). Dictionnaire Sabéen (anglais-français-arabe). Louvain-la-Neuve: Éditions Peeters / Beirut: Libraire du Liban. |
| Robin 2008 a | Robin, Christian J. 2008. Joseph, dernier roi de Ḥimyar (de 522 à 525, ou une des années suivantes). Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam, 34: 1-125. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Support type | Rock inscription |
| Measures | h. 90, w. 273 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | ʿān-Halkān |
| Ancient site | Unknown |
| Geographical area | Jabal Kawkab |
| Country | Saudi Arabia |
| Found | In situ |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
See Ja 1028 (and Ry 507) on the events recorded in this text. Ry 508 was written one month earlier (June 533 AD) than the other two texts.
See Ry 509 on the term qls¹n.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Ryckmans, Gonzague 1953: 267-317, pl. IV | Ryckmans, Gonzague 1953. Inscriptions sud-arabes. Dixième série. Le Muséon, 66: 267-317. |
| Rodinson 1966-1967: 121-139 | Rodinson, Maxime 1966-1967. Éthiopien et sudarabique. Annuaire. École pratique des hautes études. Section 4: Sciences historiques et philologiques: 121-139. |
| Gajda 1997: 92-96 | Gajda, Iwona 1997. Ḥimyar gagné par le monothéisme (IVe-VIe siècle de l'ère chrétienne). Ambitions et ruine d'un royaume de l'Arabie méridionale antique. (Université d'Aix-en-Provence). |
| Robin 2008 a: 82-85, figs 1-2 | Robin, Christian J. 2008. Joseph, dernier roi de Ḥimyar (de 522 à 525, ou une des années suivantes). Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam, 34: 1-125. |
| Müller, Walter W. 2010: 98-99 | Müller, Walter W. 2010. Sabäische Inschriften nach Ären datiert. Bibliographie, Texte und Glossar. (Veröffentlichungen der Orientalischen Kommission, 53). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. |