Kamna 26
Gajda and Maraqten 2010: 236, fig. 1
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Minaic » Central Minaic | ||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Writing technique | Incision | ||
| Measure of letters | 4.4 | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
GENERAL NOTES
| The text is a dedication, but its content concerns legal matters. |
TEXT
1 ʾhl ʿṯtr s³lʾ ʿṯt—
2 r ḏ-Rḥbh ywm ṣdq |
3 b-mḫḍ ʿṯtr w-Mdhww
4 [... ...]
5 [... ...]
6 [... ...]
7 [..] w-frʿh ʿṯtr ṣd—
8 q bn Kmnhw b-tṯwqh—
9 t ʿhdn hn mn lhm f—
10 dy tṯq-s¹ ʿd yʿly b—
11 n ʿm-s¹ bʿl mmlkn w-
12 ḫlʾ tṯq-s¹ b-ftḥ Nb—
13 ṭʿly Ḏrḥn bn Ys²hr—
14 mlk w-ʾhl ṯny ʿs²rn
15 b-rʿẓ Nbʿ{ʾ}l w-ʿṯtr
16 ḏ-R*ḥ*bh w-Mdh(w)[w b]-(y)[w—
17 m] (Nb)ṭʿly w-Hmʿ[...]
| 4-7 | The text was probably obliterated: the surface of the stela there is lower. |
| 16 | The engraver wrote ḏ-Rhbh. |
| 16-17 | The editors read in l.16: Mdh(w)[w.](y)[.] and in l.17:[.]Nbṭʿly. However, there seems to be enough space to restore a dating formula. If the text there ended, the following is probably a proper name. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 The Community of ʿṯtr has dedicated to ʿṯtr 2 ḏ-Rḥbh, when they claimed proprietorial rights (?) 3 over the domain of ʿṯtr and Mdhww 4 [... ...] 5 [... ...] 6 [... ...] 7 [..] and the first-fruits of ʿṯtr duly bestowed 8 on behalf of Kmnhw as guarantees 9 of the pact <according to which (?)> if whosoever does not redeem 10 his guarantee until 11 the master of the domain frees him (from his debt), 12 his guarantee will be withdrawn from him according to the decree of 13 Nbṭʿly Ḏrḥn son of Ys²hrmlk 14 and the Community of Twelve, 15 with the authority of Nbʿl and ʿṯtr 16 ḏ-Rḥbh and Mdhww, [at the time of] 17 Nbṭʿly and [... ...] |
| 8 | According to the editors, tṯwqht has to be interpreted as a stem tfʿlt from the root WṮQ, with metathesis of W and Ṯ and a phonetic (non-etymological) h before the termination t. |
| 16 | The editors do not restore the dating formula at the end of the line. |
| Gajda and Maraqten 2010: 236-238 | Gajda, Iwona and Maraqten, Mohammed 2010. A South Arabian dedicatory inscription from the kingdom of Kaminahū. Semitica et Classica, 3: 235-239. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Support type | Artefact » Stela » Stela with framework |
| Top | Concave |
| Material | Stone |
| Measures | h. 102, w. 53 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Kamna |
| Ancient site | Kmnhw |
| Geographical area | Jawf - Wādī Madhab |
| Country | Yemen |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
This is a dedicatory text containing legal information. It concerns the rules regarding the concession of the territories of the god ʿṯtr ḏ-Rḥbh, which seem to be administered by the congregation of ʿṯtr ("ʾhl ʿṯtr"). At the end of the text, a congregation of the Twelve ("ʾhl ṯny ʿs²rn") is attested in its function of decreeing together with the king.
According to the editors of the inscription, the king of Kamna Nbṭʿly Ḏrḥn son of Ys²hrmlk could be identified, on the palaeographical basis, with the king mentioned in YM 8871, Ṣanʿāʾ MM 3630 and also in RES 3945 as an ally of Krbʾl Wtr. The text should thus be dated to the beginning of the VIIth century BC.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Gajda and Maraqten 2010: 235-238, fig. 1 | Gajda, Iwona and Maraqten, Mohammed 2010. A South Arabian dedicatory inscription from the kingdom of Kaminahū. Semitica et Classica, 3: 235-239. |