Ja 343 A TC 1778 A; Q 490; CSAI I, 66
Cleveland 1965: pl.104/tc1778a
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INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Qatabanic » Central Qatabanic |
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian |
| Script typology | Monumental writing |
| Writing technique | Incision |
| Measure of letters | 5 |
GENERAL NOTES
| The text is inscribed on the same stone as Ja 343 B, to which it is almost identical. The palaeography of the two inscriptions, however, is slightly different. We probably have an example of the re-writing of a text after the architectural restructuring of the tomb. Chronologically both the texts are of period B. |
TEXT
1 ʾs²hrm bn-Lḥyn w-S²krm bn ʿmʿly w-S²ʿbm bn Nbṭʿl(y)
2 ḏtw [Ġrbm] ʿs¹yw (ẓ)rbw bnyw qbr-s¹m Nfs¹m w-ms³wd-s¹ w-nfs¹h-<s¹>y—
3 w glm b-ḥg ʾnby w-ʾl tʿly w-kwn l-ʾs²hrm bn ḏt qbrn |
4 w-ms³wd-s¹ w-nfs¹h-s¹yw s²lṯt ʾḫms¹m w-l S²krm w-S²ʿbm ṯnw ḫms¹myw
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 ʾs²hrm, son of Lḥyn, and S²krm, son of ʿmʿly, and S²ʿbm, son of Nbṭʿly, 2 of the family Ġrbm made, gained legal possession, and built their grave Nfs¹m and its hall and its inner rooms 3 in its entirety, according to the orders of ʾnby, and let there be no violation thereof; and ʾs²hrm possessed three fifths of this grave 4 and of its hall and of its inner rooms and S²krm and S²ʿbm possessed two fifths. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Support type | Stone inscription |
| Material | Stone |
| Measures | h. 24.5, w. 84 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Ḥayd Ibn ʿAqīl |
| Ancient site | Unknown |
| Geographical area | Wādī Bayḥān |
| Country | Yemen |
| Archaeological context | Funerary context: Tomb Nfs¹m |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
ʾnby is part of the official Qatabanian pantheon. Similarly to texts for house construction, also in grave construction texts the god appears in the fixed expression "according to the orders of ʾnby, and let there be no violation thereof".
These texts, also, commemorate the name of the tomb and enumerate its parts, which have the same names as the parts of a house. Even more than for the texts of the construction of a house, it was crucial for these to decree the ownership of the grave and establish who had the right to be buried there.
These texts, also, commemorate the name of the tomb and enumerate its parts, which have the same names as the parts of a house. Even more than for the texts of the construction of a house, it was crucial for these to decree the ownership of the grave and establish who had the right to be buried there.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Jamme 1952 a: 185-187 | Jamme, Albert W.F. 1952. Pièces épigraphiques de Ḥeid bin ʿAqil, la nécropole de Timnaʿ (Hagr Koḥlân). (Bibliothèque du Muséon, 30). Louvain: Publications universitaires. |
| Cleveland 1965: 164, pl. 104 | Cleveland, Ray L. 1965. An Ancient South Arabian Necropolis. Objects from the Second Campaign (1951) in Timnaʿ Cemetery. (Publications of the American Foundation for the Study of Man, 4). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. |