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

Ll. 1-14
Arbach 2001 a: 20, fig. 2

Ll. 1-14
Arbach 2001 a: 20, fig. 2
Ll. 9-23
Arbach 2001 a: 21, fig. 3
Ll. 19-33
Arbach 2001 a: 22, fig. 4
Ll. 23-43
Arbach 2001 a: 23, fig. 5
Ll. 29-42
Arbach 2001 a: 24, fig. 6

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

Language

Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic

Alphabet

Ancient South Arabian

Script typology

Monumental writing

Writing technique

Incision

Chronology

Period

Textual typology

Dedicatory text

TEXT

Apparatus

1-3	Arbach notes that the part of the text which was not visible on the photograph taken in 1996 by Bāfaqīh, because covered by cement, corresponded to 9-10 lines. Here the distribution of the text on the lines until the end of the present l.3 simply follows the subdivision into paragraphs proposed by Iryānī. From l. 4 (corresponding to to l. 1 in Arbach's edition), begins the part of the text transcribed by Arbach. Between brackets, he maintained Iryānī's reading.
1	ʿInān: bn mlt-hmw.
2	ʿInān: b-ʿbr mrʾ-hw.
7-8	ʿInān: w-ḥs¹m w-hḥt kl ḫmys¹.
10-11	Iryānī'ss reading Qs³mm was corrected by Ryckmans (1974: 248) in Qs²mm. However, Bron (2002-2007: 123) notes that Qs³mm is a well-known Qatabani tribe, while Qs²mm is a fraction of the tribe Ḏmry, too far from Awsān to fit this context.
24	Iryānī: s¹bʾ mlkn ʿdy.
27	Iryānī: ywmtm, qllm
31	Iryānī: ġyr ṯmnyt; Arbach: ġyr ṯmnt, but ġyr is absent from the text. Bron (2002-2007: 124) notes that ġyr was actually an Arabic gloss to bltn by Iryānī, erroneously transcribed within the text.
36	Iryānī: b-ḏ-ʾtw.
43-44	Iryānī: ʾwtr w-ʾbrṯ b-hw yhwṣtn-hw w-l-ḫryn-hmw bn nḍʿ. Correction w-b-ʾbrṯ by Bron 2002-2007: 124 on the basis of the photograph.
47	The line was covered by cement and is not visible on the photograph. The edition follows Iryānī's copy. In his Arabic transcription: hqnyt-hmw.

TRANSLATIONS

CSAI

English

   1  Frʿm ʾḥṣn of the familly ʾqynm, ʾqwl of the tribe Bklm, the fourth of S²bmm , mqtwy S²ʿrm ʾwtr, king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, son of ʿlhn Nhfn, king of Sabaʾ, dedicated to ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, two statues in silver from his booty – that they got from the city of S²bwt
   2  when he performed service for his lord S²ʿrm ʾwtr, king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, son of ʿlhn Nhfn, king of Sabaʾ, when he waged war against ʾlʿz Ylṭ, king of the Ḥaḍramawt, and against the army and the tribes of the Ḥaḍramawt in the war that they initiated against S²ʿrm ʾwtr, king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān
   3  – in praise because lmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, granted His favour to his lord S²ʿrm ʾwtr in getting him back safe and sound, in glory, with spoils and horses and prisoners and booty with satisfaction, from the land of the Ḥaḍramawt and from all the expeditions and the wars that they undertook and waged against
   4  the troops, the tribes and the elders, who had initiated a war against their lord S²ʿrm ʾwtr among
   5  the troops and the tribes of the south and of the north, and he praised the might and the power of ʾlmqh Ṯhwn because he made
   6  his lord S²ʿrm ʾwtr come back safe and sound from all those expeditions and wars, and in praise because ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, granted His favour
   7  to his lord S²ʿrm ʾwtr in the breaking, killing, defeating, humiliating, annihilating and routing
   8  all the troups and the army and the tribes of the Ḥaḍramawt around ḏt Ġylm, in the land of Qatabān, and he brought
   9  their king ʾlʿz Ylṭ, king of the Ḥaḍramawt, to the town of Mryb and repulsed, reduced to submission,
  10  and humiliated all the sons of ʿm: Qatabān, Rdmn, Ḫwln, Mḍḥy, the tribes of Awsān, Qs³mm and
  11  Ḥdlm, and in praise because ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, granted His favour to His subjects
  12  Frʿm ʾḥṣn and the soldiers which he led in the accomplishment of penetrating into the palace S²qr
  13  of the king of the Ḥaḍramawt and in the city of S²bwt, as his lord S²ʿrm ʾwtr had ordered him and decreed
  14  to occupy that palace S²qr and to save their mistress Mlkḥlk, queen of the Ḥaḍramawt, [sister of S²ʿrm ʾwtr son of]
  15  ʿlhn Nhfn, king of Sabaʾ, and they penetrated into the palace S²qr with thirty soldiers and on its door
  16  they stationed four soldiers, and in the very day when they penetrated into that palace S²qr, they killed,
  17  inside and outside: a son of ʾlʿz Ylṭ, retinue and officers of the king of the Ḥaḍramawt,
  18  retinue, some ʾqwl, outstanding persons and citizens of the town of S²bwt, with a copious massacre;
  19  and they killed in combat among them eighty five soldiers, besides those that fell nearby the palace S²qr, that had been able to go out from it,
  20  wounded, and besides those that they continued to kill on its gates, when they made a sally against the Ḥaḍrami
  21  and they routed them, from the outside of that palace S²qr, besides those that they killed in the attacks,
  22  that took place in the lanes of S²bwt, during all the days when they barricaded themselves in that palace S²qr and were not killed in combat,
  23  and the massacre of the soldiers that they fatally wounded was copious. But then they entered into the city of S²bwt
  24  four thousand soldiers, that were on garrison duty, when the king of the Ḥaḍramawt went on expedition towards ḏt Ġylm,
  25  and Frʿm and the soldiers under his command were then barricaded in that palace S²qr for fifteen days and had
  26  no water to drink for thirteen days, and they were having very little water to drink,
  27  until their lord S²ʿrm ʾwtr and his army arrived, after defeating the army of the Ḥaḍramawt
  28  on the gates of ḏt Ġylm, and saved them, and he entered and took possess of and sacked and burnt the city of S²bwt
  29  and found his sister Mlkḥlk safe inside the palace S²qr, and as for his vassals: Frʿm
  30  – the man to whom (the king) had commanded and decreed to go on the expedition and fight those (enemy) soldiers – and the soldiers that were with him, he found them
  31  safe, apart from eight soldiers, that had been killed by the Ḥaḍramis. Some women of the Ḥaḍramawt
  32  and servants, that they had found in the palace S²qr, inside it, died by thirst;
  33  and he praised the power and the might of ʾlmqh Ṯhwn so that He granted with favour and bestowed (a favourable oracle) on His servant Frʿm
  34  and to the soldiers he leaded, to obtain a copious massacre with full satisfaction , inside that palace
  35  S²qr and during the attack they launched against the Ḥaḍramis in the city of S²bwt and in all the campaigns in which
  36  he performed service for his lord S²ʿrm ʾwtr; and in praise because he came back safe and sound and
  37  with spoils, prisoners, booty, with full satisfaction;and in praise because ʾlmqh continued to grant to His servant
  38  Frʿm to go on an expedition and arrive again in the land of the Ḥaḍramawt in two campaigns; and again they plundered
  39  bronze (objects) and booty form the towns of S²bwt and Qnʾ and reached and burn several ships in the
  40  city-port, port of the king of the Ḥaḍramawt; and their detachment came back safe, with spoils,
  41  prisoners and booty in great quantity; and may ʾlmqh Ṯhwn grant them the goodwill and the satisfaction of their lord S²ʿrm
  42  ʾwtr and may ʾlmqh continue to grant him soundness of faculties and material resources and spoils, prisoners
  43  and booty in all the campaigns in which they will perform service for his lord S²ʿrm ʾwtr and in the campaigns to which
  44  he will appoint him; and may ʾlmqh deliver him from the malice and the maleficence of any enemy, far and
  45  near; and ʾlmqh continue to destroy, humiliate, submit and annihilate all the wars and the enemies
  46  of his lord S²ʿrm ʾwtr; by ʾlmqh Ṯhwn and by his lord S²ʿrm ʾwtr;
  47  and they committed his dedication to the protection of ʾlmqh against anyone who damages, falsificates and removes (it) from its base.

	Translation also by Beeston (English) and Nebes (German).
32	According to Beeston, wḍʾy is a dual verb, his translation is: “apart eight soldiers that had been killed by the Ḥaḍramis or by some women of the Ḥaḍramawt and by servants, that they had found in the palace S²qr; and inside it, two died by thirst” (Beeston 1976 a: 48).
33	hʿlln is a hapax legomenon. The SD proposes to correct it with hʿnnn, while Nebes with hʿln “publicly announce" (Nebes 2005: 341).

Beeston 1976 b: 47-48	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 2005: 339-341	Nebes, Norbert 2005. Sabäische Texte. Pages 331-367 in Francis Breyer and Michael Lichtenstein (eds). Staatsverträge, Herrscherinschriften und andere Dokumente zur politischen Geschichte. Texte aus der Umwelt des Alten Testaments. Neue Folge. 2. Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus.

OBJECT INFORMATION

Deposit	Ṣanʿāʾ, al-Kuhālī collection (Private collection)
Support type	Artefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription
Material	Stone
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin and provenance

Modern site	Maḥram Bilqīs
Ancient site	ʾwm
Geographical area	Maʾrib
Country	Yemen
Found	Reemployed. In modern times
Archaeological context	Religious context: Temple of ʾlmqh Ṯhwn bʿl ʾwm
Notes	When Bāfaqīh photographed the inscription in 1996, it was reemployed in a cistern in Marib.
Link to site record

BIBLIOGRAPHY

al-Iryānī 1973: 74-86	al-Iryānī, Muṭahhar 1973. Fī taʾriḫ al-Yaman. Cairo.
Ryckmans, Jacques 1974: 247-256	Ryckmans, Jacques 1974. Himyaritica 3. Le Muséon, 87: 237-263.
ʿInān 1976: 180-193	ʿInān, Zaid b. ʿA 1976. Taʾriḫ ḥaḍāra al-Yaman al-qadīm. Cairo.
al-Iryānī 1990: 109-122	al-Iryānī, Muṭahhar 1990. Fī-taʾrīḫ al-Yaman. Nuquš musnadiya wa-taʿliqāt. Ṣanʿāʾ: Markaz al-dirāsāt wa-l-buḥūṯ al-Yamanī.
Arbach 2001 a: 13-24, figs 1-6	Arbach, Mounir 2001. Une photographie inédite de l'inscription Ir 13. Raydān, 7: 13-24.
Bron 2002-2007: 123-124	Bron, François 2002-2007. Notes d'épigraphie sudarabique III. Semitica, 52-53: 111-124.