Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Southern Middle Sabaic | ||
Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
Writing technique | Relief | ||
Measure of letters | 5 | ||
Chronology |
| ||
Textual typology | Construction text |
Reading based on the new photos taken by Kh. Noman. | |
3, 7 | hgrn Ytrb (l. 3) and Ytrb (l. 7) (al-Iryānī). |
5 | qhyl w-ws²ʿ (al-Iryānī). |
7 | For the reading tbrl instead of the previously accepted tbrg, see Mazzini 2011: 130-131 and references cited. |
English | |
1 [... ...]s²ʿr Yrʿẓ qyl of S²ddm and ʾbrtʿ Yhḥmd and Ḏʾbm from the family of Ṯʾrn 2 ḏ-S¹lyt and S¹mhs¹mʿ built, repaired, constructed and completed their tower Ryʿm, the tower of the family Gmnm, 3 [... ...] city of Ytrm b[... ...] and its façades from foundation to top, by the power and the help of ʿṯtr S²rqn and their god 4 ʿṯtr ḏ-Ẓhr Ys¹r and their tutelary deity ʿṯtr ḏ-ʾlmm, and by the power and the help of their lord Ys¹rm Yhṣdq king of 5 Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān and his sons S²mr and Lʿzm, and by the authority, the power and the favour of their tribe S²ddm Yhqbḍ; 6 and ʾbrtʿ Yhḥmd descendant of Ṯʾrn ḏ-S¹lyt and S¹mhs¹mʿ repaired this tower, 7 after the house of the family Gmnm bought it for herself from the house of the family S¹mhs¹mʿ, that in the city of Ytrm. |
Support type | Inscription on architectural structure |
Material | Stone |
Measures | h. 0.44, w. 128 |
Link to object record |
Modern site | al-Aqmār |
Ancient site | Ytrm |
Geographical area | Dhamār |
Country | Yemen |
Found | Reemployed. In modern times |
Archaeological context | Urban context: Tower Ryʿm |
Notes | The inscribed block is inserted above the entrance door of the mosque of al-Aqmār, a village that is also the origin of the inscription, since it is mentioned in the text with its ancient name, Ytrm. |
Link to site record |
Avanzini 1985: 85-93, pls 15/1-2 and 16 | Avanzini, Alessandra 1985. Problemi storici della regione di al-Ḥadāʾ nel periodo preislamico e nuove iscrizioni. Pages 53-115 in Pelio Fronzaroli (ed.). Studi Yemeniti. (Quaderni di semitistica, 14). Florence: Istituto di linguistica e di lingue orientali, Università di Firenze. |
al-Iryānī 1992: 52-71, photo | al-Iryānī, Muṭahhar 1992. Naqšāni min al-Aqmār. Dirāsāt Yamanīya, 47: 52-71. |
Mazzini 2011: 130-131 | Mazzini, Giovanni 2011. Osservazioni epigrafiche, filologiche e comparative su alcuni testi legali sabei al British Museum. Egitto e Vicino Oriente, 34: 129-147. |