Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic | ||
Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
Writing technique | Incision | ||
Measure of letters | 2.7 | ||
Chronology |
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Textual typology | Dedicatory text - fragmentary |
3-5 | In Ja 788, 3: ymm ʾb; 4: hnhn Y; 5: rm w. |
11, 13 | ʿrmn: besides being a noun indicating "the dam", ʿrmn was used as the name of the Great Maʾrib Dam (Darles et al. 2014: 9-10). |
English | |
1 [... ...] and his sons [... ...] 2 [... ...] ʾs¹ʾr, of the family S¹ḫymm, 3 lords of the house Rymn, ʾqwl of the two tribes of 4 Yrs¹m of ḏ-S¹mʿy, the third of ḏ-Hgrm, 5 and of Ḫwln Gddtn, dedicated to 6 their lord ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, 7 a statue in bronze when ordered to him their lord 8 Ṯʾrn Yhnʿm and his son Mlkkrb 9 Yʾmn, the two kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān and 10 Ḥaḍramawt and Ymnt, to conduct an expedition at the head of the army of ʿrbn, 11 when was destroyed the dam in Ḥbbḍ and Rḥbm, 12 and were destroyed all the part of the dam, that between Ḥbbḍ and 13 Rḥbm, and were destroyed seventy s²wḥṭm of the dam; 14 and they praised the power of their lord ʾlmqh 15 Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, because He granted them 16 to favour them in His oracle, when He controlled for them 17 the flash flood until they completed their work with stones; and 18 in praise of their lord ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord 19 of ʾwm, because He bestowed for them the favour they sought 20 Him from; and may He continue to grant to them 21 the favour and the goodwill of their two lords Ṯʾrn Yhnʿm 22 and his son Mlkkrb Yʾmn, the two kings 23 of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān and Ḥaḍramawt and Ymnt, and 24 they repaired this damage in three months, 25 that of Sabaʾ and ʾlʾlt and ʾbhy [... ...] |
16 | Jamme translates k-yʾfqn "that He would reverse" (Ar. wafiqa); Beeston: "direct the right course" (Ar. ʾufq "horizon, limit"); Bron notes that in the north-western Semitic the root ʾFQ is used for water courses. |
Beeston 1976 a: 538-539 | Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1976. Notes on Old South Arabian lexicography X. Le Muséon, 89: 407-423. |
Bron 1973: 136 | Bron, François 1973. Notes de lexicographie sud-arabique. Semitica, 23: 135-137. |
Deposit | Mārib |
Support type | Artefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription |
Material | Stone |
Measures | h. 76.6, w. 27, th. 23.5 |
Link to object record |
Modern site | Maḥram Bilqīs |
Ancient site | ʾwm |
Geographical area | Maʾrib |
Country | Yemen |
Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of ʾlmqh bʿl ʾwm |
Link to site record |
Jamme 1962 a: 176-178, 234-235, pl. 42 | Jamme, Albert W.F. 1962. Sabaean Inscriptions from Maḥram Bilqîs (Mârib). (Publications of the American Foundation for the Study of Man, 3). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. |
Ryckmans, Jacques 1964 b: 92 | Ryckmans, Jacques 1964. Review of Jamme, Albert W.F. 1962. Sabaean Inscriptions from Maḥram Bilqîs (Mârib). (Publications of the American Foundation for the Study of Man, 3). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. Bibliotheca Orientalis, 21: 90-94. |
Ryckmans, Jacques 1966: 496, pl. 1, c | Ryckmans, Jacques 1966. Himyaritica 2. Le Muséon, 79: 475-500. |
Darles, Robin and Schiettecatte 2014 | Darles, Christian, Robin, Christian J. and Schiettecatte, Jérémie 2014. Contribution à une meilleure compréhension de l'histoire de la digue de Maʾrib au Yémen. Pages 9-70 in François Baratte, Christian J. Robin and Elsa Rocca (eds). Regards croisés d'orient et d'occident. Les barrages dans l'antiquité tardive. Actes du colloque, 7-8 janvier 2011, Paris, Fondation Simone et Cino del Duca. Organisé dans le cadre du programme ANR EauMaghreb. (Orient & Méditerranée, 14). Paris: Éditions de Boccard. 2019/11/29; https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1b7x6sv. |