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

Frantsouzoff 2006: 70, figs 1, 2A, 2C

Frantsouzoff 2006: 70, figs 1, 2A, 2C
By kind permission of British Museum

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

Language

Ancient South Arabian » Minaic » Central Minaic

Alphabet

Ancient South Arabian

Script typology

Monumental writing

Writing technique

Incision

Chronology

Period

Textual typology

Dedicatory text

TEXT

TRANSLATIONS

CSAI

English
1 ʿmydʿ son of Yṯʿkrb dedicated with an oath to 2 ʾṯrt ʿlb, as an obligation from which She released (him).

1	I would translate ḥlf ḥlf as "to dedicate with an oath" in preference to "to swear the oath of the goddess".
2	krb s¹brr has been found in many MIN inscriptions, with scholars usually maintaining that the subject of the verb is the author of the inscription: "an offer of which he acquitted himself". In our context it is clear that the subject is the goddess. The god/goddess frees the worshipper from the obligation to present a dedication, i.e. He/She accepts the offered dedication.

OBJECT INFORMATION

Deposit	London, The British Museum, BM 136211=1975,0120.1
Support type	Artefact » Sculpture in the round » Animal figure
Material	Stone
Measures	h. 14, w. 16, th. 16
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin

Modern site	Unknown
Ancient site	Unknown
Geographical area	Unknown
Country	Unknown
Link to site record

CULTURAL NOTES

Religion

It is to note the presence of the goddess ʾṯrt in the Minaean area.
ʿlb is an epithet of the goddess; Frantsouzoff notes: "The expression ʾṯrt ʿlb 'Athīrat of ʿilb-tree' which is interpreted as the first allusion to the worship of sacred trees in ancient Souh Arabia, represents a close parallel to the cult of the Canaanite goddess Asherah in the Bible".

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Frantsouzoff 2006: 69-77, figs 1-2	Frantsouzoff, Serguei A. 2006. A Minaic inscription on the pedestal of an ibex figurine from the British Museum. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 36: 69-77.