CSAI

Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions

DASI

as-Sawdāʾ 13 Gl 1061; RES 3459; M 343


By kind permission of Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Minaic » Central Minaic
AlphabetAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Writing techniqueIncision
Chronology
PeriodB
Textual typologyLegal and administrative-economic text - fragmentary (conjectural)

GENERAL NOTES

The inscription is most probably an administrative text, defining the extension of a property; however, we cannot exclude that it is a construction text (cf. the mention of a tower in l. 1).
Von Wissmann (1976 a: 382) dated back this text to around 360 BC, because of its palaeographic style and of the identification of ʾbkrb with the king ʾbkrb Yṯʿ, co-regent of Wqhʾl Ṣdq. Further kings of Maʿīn called ʾbkrb are known at present.

TEXT


      [... ...]
   1  [.] w-mḥfd qdmh-s¹ bn s³nn ḍrʿ|
   2  [n]wy ḏ-Ḥmy((Ḥmy)) w-bn s³nn Yṯl gnʾ ʾb—
   3  krb((ʾbkrb)) w-bn s³nn lʿl gnʾm ʾbkrb((ʾbkrb))
   4  w-bn s³nn fs¹ʾ brʾ *nw*y ḏ-S²ybn((S²ybn))|
   5  w-l yqny (H)nʾ nw(y)[... ... ]

Apparatus
2It is uncertain whether Ḥmy is a name of lineage or a toponym. It is actually attested as lineage name in Maʿīn 93 C.
Contrary to Avanzini, the separation signs are present between bn and s³nn.
4Contrary to Avanzini, the separation signs are present between fs¹ʾ and brʾ.
On the stone: nwy. Rhodokanakis (1917: 72) proposes to restore: w-[b]ny; RES interprets: w-ny; Avanzini corrects: nwy (cf. l. 2 and 5).

TRANSLATIONS

CSAI (following Avanzini 1995)
English

      [... ...]
   1  [... ...] and the tower of its anterior part, from the West
   2  the retaining ditch of ḏ-Ḥmy, and from the side of Yṯl the wall of ʾbkrb,
   3  and from the upstream side the very wall of ʾbkrb,
   4  and from the east limit (?) the construction of the retaining ditch of ḏ-S²ybn;
   5  and let Hnʾ own the ditch [... ...]
Avanzini 1995: 96Avanzini, Alessandra 1995. As-Sawdāʾ. Inventaire des inscriptions sudarabiques. 4. Paris: de Boccard / Rome: Herder. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres; Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente]

OBJECT INFORMATION

DepositWien, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Sem 12
Support typeStone inscription
MaterialStone
Measuresh. 24, w. 44
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Provenance
Modern siteas-Sawdāʾ
Ancient siteNs²n
Geographical areaJawf - Wādī al-Buhayra
CountryYemen
Link to site record

CULTURAL NOTES

History
Even though ʾbkrb is also a well attested name of private individual, the association of this name with the town walls makes the hypothesis that ʾbkrb was a king of Maʿīn highly plausible. The mention of the "walls of ʾbkrb" might thus refer to some kind of construction work on the city walls of Nashshān by a Minaean king (cf. the general note).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Müller, David H. 1899: pl. 6Müller, David H. (ed.) 1899. Südarabische Altertümer im Kunsthistorischen Hofmuseum. Vienna: Alfred Hölder. [Im Auftrage und mit Unterstützung des Oberstlämmerer-Amtes seiner K. und K. Apost. Majestät]
Rhodokanakis 1917: 72Rhodokanakis, Nikolaus 1917. Studien zur Lexikographie und Grammatik des Altsüdarabischen. II Heft. (Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, 185/3). Vienna: Alfred Hölder.
Wissmann 1976 a: 382Wissmann, Hermann von 1976. Die Geschichte des Sabäerreichs und der Feldzug des Aelius Gallus. Pages 308–544 in Hildegard Temporini (ed.). Politische Geschichte. (Provinzen und Randvölker: Mesopotamien, Armenien, Iran, Südarabien, Rom und der Ferne Osten). Hildegard Temporini and Wolfgang Haase (eds), Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römischen Welt. Geschichte und Kultur Roms im Spiegel der neueren Forschung. II. 9/1. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter / New York: Walter de Gruyter.
Avanzini 1995: 95-97, pl. 14/aAvanzini, Alessandra 1995. As-Sawdāʾ. Inventaire des inscriptions sudarabiques. 4. Paris: de Boccard / Rome: Herder. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres; Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente]