DASI: Digital Archive for the Study of pre-islamic arabian Inscriptions: Epigraph details

Jamme 1962 a: pl. 15
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INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

Language

Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic

Alphabet

Ancient South Arabian

Script typology

Monumental writing

Writing technique

Incision

Measure of letters

2.5

Chronology

Period

Textual typology

Dedicatory text

TEXT

Apparatus

3	Yqhm bears a non royal name, for this reason we prefer to tag it as "member of the royal family".
9	ṣḥḥn "unharmed", according to Beeston 1976 b's translation; proper name of the palace for Jamme 1962 a.
16-17	Jamme: l-t[.]bn or l-t[..]bn, "a synonym of ṭrd (Ja 660/11) 'to pursue' would fit the context" (Jamme 1962 a: 147). Bron: l-t[ḥ]bn, "forme à t prefixé de la racine NḤB, avec assimilation du N, déjà attestée dans Ja 578/11" (Bron 1997: 95).

TRANSLATIONS

CSAI

English

   1  ʾws¹ʾl Yḍʿ of Ġymn, ʾqwl of the tribe Ġymn, dedicated to ʾlmqh,
   2  Lord of ʾwm, the statue in bronze in praise because ʾlmqh protected and saved
   3  their lord Yhqm, son of Ḏmrʿly Ḏrḥ, king of Sabaʾ
   4  and ḏu-Raydān, from the offensive and the insurrection which raised Lḥyʿṯt, of the family
   5  S¹mhs¹mʿ, and their tribe S²ddm and Rbʾwm, of the family S²ms¹, and their supporters
   6  against their lord Yhqm, when they entered and fortified themselves within the palaces of the king
   7  S¹lḥn, in the town of Mryb, and ʾws¹ʾl praised the power of ʾlmqh, Lord of ʾwm,
   8  because Lḥyʿṯt and their tribe S²ddm and Rbʾwm, of the family
   9  S²ms¹, capitulated and evacuated from the palace S¹lḥn and went out of the palaces of the king unharmed in safety and
  10  because they were defeated and dishonoured - that man Lḥyʿṯt and the tribe S²ddm and Rbʾwm,
  11  of the family S²ms¹, and their supporters - in the offensive they waged; ʾlmqh,
  12  Lord of ʾwm, may continue to preserve and save and protect their lord Yhqm
  13  and their palaces S¹lḥn from evil and mischief and any insurrection and unfavourable offensive,
  14  and ʾws¹ʾl continued to praise the power of ʾlmqh, Lord of ʾwm, because
  15  He granted them that the tribe Ġymn did battle with the tribe S²ddm when
  16  their lord Yhqm ordered them that some of the tribe of Ġymn carry out an expedition from the town of Ṣnʿw to fight (?)
  17  those who had carried again out an expedition from the land of S²ddm, in order to come to a confrontation with and finish off Lḥyʿṯt ,
  18  of the family S¹mhs¹mʿ; the soldiers from the tribe Ġymn who had approached came to confrontation
  19  with those soldiers in Kwmnn and killed them and triumphed over them and
  20  seized from them all the horses and their riding camels and their baggage camels and their baggage-train,
  21  and in that very occasion in Kwmnn the tribe of Ġymn fought again against
  22  three hundred soldiers, who were dispersed from the town of Mryb among those who had
  23  fortified themselves with Lḥyʿṯt in the palace S¹lḥn, and killed all those soldiers;
  24  all the casualties inflicted by the tribe Ġymn in both the actions among
  25  the tribe S²ddm were six hundred spoils and four horses. May ʾlmqh,
  26  Lord of ʾwm, continue to grant to His servant ʾws¹ʾl of Ġymn and
  27  their tribe Ġymn the satisfaction of their lord Yhqm and soundness of faculties and material resources.
  28  By ʿṯtr and Hwbs¹ and ʾlmqh and by ḏt Ḥmym and by ḏt
  29  Bʿdnm and by the solar deity of the king Tnf and by their patron Ḥgrm Qḥmm
  30  and they committed their dedication to ʾlmqh, Lord of ʾwm.

1-25	Partial translations also in Beeston 1976 b: 56-57 (ll. 1-25) and Nebes 1995 a: 169-171 .
16-17	Beeston: "in [support of] other troops who operated from the Shaddadites’ own territory”. However, being the territory of Shaddād precisely the origin of the rebellion, Bron proposes to restore l-t[ḥ]bn with an opposite sense: “pour s’opposer aux autres troupes qui étaient parties du territoire de Shaddād”.

Beeston 1976 b: 56-57	Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1976. Warfare in ancient South Arabian (2nd.-3rd. centuries A.D.). Qahtan. Studies in Old Arabian Epigraphy. 3. London: Luzac and Co.
Nebes 1995 a: 169-171	Nebes, Norbert 1995. Die Konstruktionen mit /fa-/ im Altsüdarabischen. Syntaktische und epigraphische Untersuchungen. (Veröffentlichungen der Orientalischen Kommission, 40). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
Bron 1997: 94-95	Bron, François 1997. Notes d'épigraphie sudarabiques. II. Semitica, 47: 89-96.

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support type	Artefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription
Material	Stone
Measures	h. 91.7, w. 58.4, th. 54.1
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin and provenance

Modern site	Maḥram Bilqīs
Ancient site	ʾwm
Geographical area	Maʾrib
Country	Yemen
Archaeological context	Religious context: Temple of ʾlmqh Ṯhwn bʿl ʾwm
Link to site record

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jamme 1962 a: 145-147, pl. 15	Jamme, Albert W.F. 1962. Sabaean Inscriptions from Maḥram Bilqîs (Mârib). (Publications of the American Foundation for the Study of Man, 3). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.
Sharafaddīn 1967: 80-81	Sharafaddīn, Aḥmad H. 1967. Taʾrīḫ al-Yaman al-ṯaqāfī. Cairo.
Beeston 1976 b: 56	Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1976. Warfare in ancient South Arabian (2nd.-3rd. centuries A.D.). Qahtan. Studies in Old Arabian Epigraphy. 3. London: Luzac and Co.
ʿInān 1976: 388-391	ʿInān, Zaid b. ʿA 1976. Taʾriḫ ḥaḍāra al-Yaman al-qadīm. Cairo.
Bron 1997: 94-95	Bron, François 1997. Notes d'épigraphie sudarabiques. II. Semitica, 47: 89-96.