Shaqab 1
Gnoli 1993: pl. 6
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INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Minaic » Central Minaic | ||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Writing technique | Incision | ||
| Measure of letters | 6.8-7 | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
TEXT
[... ...]
1 [... ...ʿ](ṯt)[... ...]
2 [... ...]/20/ w-[... ...]
3 [... ...ḏ](b)ḥhm ʿṯtr-(ḏ)
4 {ḏ}-Qbḍ ʾrbʿt w-ʾr(b)—
5 {b}ʿhy kbwdt b-ʾḥ—
6 (t) ymnt /44/ (w)-
7 fqḍ kl Mʿn ḥr w-[ʾ]—
8 [g]r w-ġbr w-ʿrb ḫm—
9 s¹t mṯʿyt Wd b-s¹m w-
10 (r)ḍw-s¹m fnwt w-ʿs¹—
11 (y) ywm b-ġyl Wd w-
12 (ʿ)s¹y byt-s¹ b-Qrn{|}w
13 (w)-ʿs¹y b-Yṯl w-ḏhb-
14 (s¹)-ṯny ywmny w-b-h—
15 (g)rn Mḥfdn w-Nʿm—
16 (n) w-Rdʿ w-Yʿd w-ḏ(b)—
17 ḥ Yhrq[ ... ...]
| 2 | 20 is the visibile part of the number; as it begins in the lacuna, it can be incomplete. |
| 7-8 | w-[g]-r (Robin and Gnoli); w-[ʾg]-r (al-Saïd). Al-Saïd's reading ʾgr (but with a different division of the word between the lines), is probably the most correct integration (cf. Maʿīn 6, l. 3 and in general the Semitic root ʾgr "to employ"). |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
[... ...] 1 [... ...] 2 [... ...] 3 [... ...] sacrifices to ʿṯtr ḏ- 4 Qbḍ forty-four 5 tributes in one 6 day, 44, and they were 7 those appointed (for the tributes ?) of all Maʿīn, free men and employees and 8 farmers, and offered five 9 offerings to Wd for them (?) and 10 (the god) openly approved them and 11 they paid for a feast to the torrent of Wd and 12 they paid for his temple in Qrnw and 13 they paid two feasts in Yṯl and in his irrigated area 14 and in the town of 15 Mḥfdn and Nʿmn 16 and Rdʿ and Yʿd. And they sacrificed 17 to Yhrq [... ...] |
| 7-9 | for a synthetic discussion of the meaning of the lines, see Gnoli 1993: 63-65 and Bron 1998 a: 35-36. The most problematic point is the word fqḍ, occurring few times in South Arabian, always as a noun hypothetically meaning "appointed". Here it rather seems to be a verb "to administer, to be the administrator, to be the appointed"; so we think that the phrase could mean that the subject(s) of the dedication were in charge by the whole tribe of Maʿīn of executing the sacrifices. Note the translation "and contributed all (the tribe) of Maʿīn, nobles and clients, farmers and nomads, to the five ceremonies in honour of Wd" by Gnoli 1993 and Robin 1991-1993 c: al-Saʿīd 1994 noted that ʿrb is not the noun "nomads, Arabs" but rather a verb starting a new segment of text (cf. the formulaic phrase ʿrb mṯʿy "make an offering"). |
| Gnoli 1993 | Gnoli, Gherardo 1993. Shaqab al-Manaṣṣa. Con diciotto tavole fuori testo. Inventaire des inscriptions sudarabiques. 2. Paris: de Boccard / Rome: Herder. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres; Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente] |
| al-Saʿīd 1994 | al-Saʿīd, Saʿīd F. 1994. Die Verben rtkl und s1ʿrb und ihre Bedeutung in den minäischen Inschriften. Pages 260-267 in Norbert Nebes. Arabia Felix. Beiträge zur Sprache und Kultur des vorislamischen Arabien. Festschrift Walter W. Müller zum 60. Geburtstag. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. |
| Robin 1991-1993 c | Robin, Christian J. 1991-1993 [1992]. La pénétration des Arabes nomades au Yémen. Pages 71-88 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. |
| Bron 1998 a | Bron, François 1998. Maʿīn. Fasc. A: Les documents. Fasc. B: Les planches. Inventaire des inscriptions sudarabiques. 3. Paris: de Boccard / Rome: Herder. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres; Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente] |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Support type | Inscription on architectural structure » Pillar |
| Material | Stone |
| Measures | w. 33.5 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Shaqab al-Manaṣṣa |
| Ancient site | Yhrq (?) |
| Geographical area | Southern Jawf |
| Country | Yemen |
| Found | In situ |
| Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of ʿṯtr ḏ-Yhrq |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
Ġyl Wd appears four times in the Minaic corpus, twice with the name Hrn. It was probably a sacred torrent of Wd.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Robin 1991-1993 c: 72, photo | Robin, Christian J. 1991-1993 [1992]. La pénétration des Arabes nomades au Yémen. Pages 71-88 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. |
| Gnoli 1993: 69-72, pl. 6 | Gnoli, Gherardo 1993. Shaqab al-Manaṣṣa. Con diciotto tavole fuori testo. Inventaire des inscriptions sudarabiques. 2. Paris: de Boccard / Rome: Herder. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres; Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente] |
| al-Saʿīd 1994: 263 | al-Saʿīd, Saʿīd F. 1994. Die Verben rtkl und s1ʿrb und ihre Bedeutung in den minäischen Inschriften. Pages 260-267 in Norbert Nebes. Arabia Felix. Beiträge zur Sprache und Kultur des vorislamischen Arabien. Festschrift Walter W. Müller zum 60. Geburtstag. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. |