RES 4336 Q 183; CSAI II, 14
By kind permission of Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien
- By kind permission of Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien
- photograph by courtesy of Kunshistorisches Museum for Avanzini 2004
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Qatabanic » Marginal Qatabanic | ||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Writing technique | Incision | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
GENERAL NOTES
| Robin and Arbach date the inscription to about 50-20 BC on the basis of its palaeographic style and on the mention of the Raydanite prince Shammar. |
TEXT
1 ʾbrtʿ ḏ-Ḥd(l)n ʾls²r s¹qn[y → ʾ]l-s¹ w-mr[ʾ-s¹ Bs²m](m)[ bʿl Ḫrf w-Nʿl](m) → (ʿ)d mḥrm-s¹ Nʿlm wʿ(ly ḏ)—
2 hbn ḥg tkrb-s¹ b-qdmw yw(m)→(n) w-b-ḏt ʾrḫ mrʾ-(s¹ )(Bs²)mm w-m[tʿ-s¹ bn] ʾ(q)→rḥm qrḥ b-ws¹ṭ hgrn Ṯbyr ʾr—
3 (ḍ) Yḥr b-ywm kwn ḍr byn S²mr ḏ-→Rydn w-by[n] ʾbʾns¹ bn Mʿhr [w-](ḏ)-(Ḫwl)[n w-]ml→k S¹bʾ w-ʾmlk Ḥḍrmwt w-Bs²—
4 [m](m) mlʾt l-s¹ʾmnn w-mtʿ mʾd→b-s¹ ʾbrtʿ rṯd B(s²m)m ʾḏn-s¹ w-mqm-s¹ w-(ʾ)b-(s¹) → Whbʾl w-ʾḫh-s¹ww Bnʾl w-ʾ—
5 bʾns¹ w-ʾbkrb w-ʾlbḥr w-bn-→(s¹)m Lḥyʿṯt [w-]kl bkl-s¹m w-ḏ-qnyw w-ḏ-l-s¹m ʿ→ynm nʿm w-wʿly-s¹m bn ms¹fʾl—
6 (m) w-ms¹nkṯ[m b](n) brṯ-s¹ b-Bs²mm w-Blw w-(ʿṯt)→r S²rqn w-kl ʾlhw [Ḥl]zwm
| 1 | After Bs²mm, Avanzini (2004) suggests to restore: b-ms¹ʾl-s¹ l-. The accepted restoration follows Prioletta 2013. |
| 4 | RES wrongly reads ʾbrtʿ mʾdb-s¹. |
| 6 | RES wrongly ms¹nkrm; at the end integration by Robin 1992 and accepted in Müller 2005. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 ʾbrtʿ ḏ-Ḥḍln ʾls²r dedicated to his god and Lord Bs²mm Master of Ḫrf and Nʿlm in His sanctuary Nʿlm the two ibexes, 2 in bronze, in respect of what he petitioned Him for before this day, and because his Lord Bs²mm intervened and saved him from the wounds he received in the city of Ṯbyr in the land of 3 Yḥr, when there was the war between S²mr ḏu-Raydān and between ʾbʾns¹ descendant of Mʿhr and of Ḫwln and the king of Sabaʾ and the kings of Ḥaḍramawt; and for the future, may Bs²mm 4 continue to protect and save his vassal ʾbrtʿ; he committed to Bs²mm his faculties and his material resources, his father Whbʾl and his brothers Bnʾl and ʾ- 5 bʾns¹ and ʾbkrb and ʾlbḥr and their son Lḥyʿṯt and all their subjects and what they possess - a benevolent eye on them - and their two ibexes against whoever may damage 6 and remove (the object) from its place; by Bs²mm, Blw, ʿṯtr S²rqn and all the gods of Ḥlzwm. |
| 2 | "and because his lord Bs²mm foretold favourably in His oracle regarding the wounds wounded within the city of Ṯbyr" (Avanzini). |
| 3-4 | “denn Bashamum (ist der Garant) der erfüllten Befriedung“ (Höfner); "Bs²mm continued protecting and saved his vassals" (Avanzini); quant à Basha[m]um, elle a rendu un oracle pour assurer la sécurité et protéger son fidèle Abīrataʿ" (Robin and Arbach). |
| 5 | "and what they possess - a benevolent eye on them -" (Avanzini). |
| Höfner 1935 | Höfner, Maria 1935. Die qatabanischen und sabäischen Inschriften der südarabischen Expedition im Kunsthistorischen Museum in Wien (II). Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, 42: 31-66. |
| Avanzini 2004 a: 523-524 | Avanzini, Alessandra 2004. Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions I-III. Qatabanic, Marginal Qatabanic, Awsanite Inscriptions. (Arabia Antica, 2). Pisa: Edizioni Plus-Università di Pisa. |
| Prioletta 2013: 115-117 | Prioletta, Alessia 2013. The town of Ḥalzaw (Ḥlzwm) between Qatabān, Radmān and Ḥimyar: an essay on political, religious and linguistic history. Semitica et Classica, 6: 109-130. |
| Robin and Arbach 2013: 124-125 | Robin, Christian J. and Arbach, Mounir 2013. Premières mentions de dhū-Raydān (vers la fin du Ier s. av. è. chr.). Raydān, 8: 119-134. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Deposit | Wien, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Sem 1147 |
| Support type | Artefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription |
| Material | Stone |
| Measures | h. 14, w. 32, th. 24 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Hajar Lajiya / Hajar Warrāṣ |
| Ancient site | Ḥlzwm |
| Geographical area | Markha |
| Country | Yemen |
| Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of Bs²mm ʿd Nʿlm |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
"The author of CSAI II, 14 praised the god for saving him during a battle fought in the region of Yaḥīr during the war between Shammar dhu-Raydān and Abīʾanas, descendant of Maʿāhir and dhu-Khawlān, the latter of whom was allied with Sabaʾ and Ḥaḍramawt. Settled in an area between Ẓafār and al-Miʿsāl, the tribe of Yaḥīr was formerly under Qatabanian rule, but from this account it evidently formed part of dhu-Raydān/Ḥimyar. It can also be inferred that the dedicant must have fought on the side of Abiīʾanas, since the skirmish took place in a district quite distant from wādī Lajiya. Based on all of these arguments, it may be concluded that the tribe of Radmān gained control of Ḥalzaw and wādī Lajiya at the end of the 1st century BC, and maintained its hegemony in the region until at least the end of the 1st century AD, as is testified to by UAM 327." (Prioletta 2013)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Robin 1992 d: 160 | Robin, Christian J.. Review of 1987. Archäologische Berichte aus dem Yemen. Mainz am Rhein: Verlag Philipp von Zabern. Bulletin critique des Annales islamologiques, 8: 158-165. |
| Müller, Walter W. 2005 | Müller, Walter W. 2005. Review of Avanzini, Alessandra 2004. Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions I-III. Qatabanic, Marginal Qatabanic, Awsanite Inscriptions. (Arabia Antica, 2). Pisa: Edizioni Plus-Università di Pisa. Aethiopica. International Journal of Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies, 8: 244-248. |
| Prioletta 2013: 115-117 (figs. 6a-c) | Prioletta, Alessia 2013. The town of Ḥalzaw (Ḥlzwm) between Qatabān, Radmān and Ḥimyar: an essay on political, religious and linguistic history. Semitica et Classica, 6: 109-130. |
| Robin and Arbach 2013: 124-129 (figs. 3-5) | Robin, Christian J. and Arbach, Mounir 2013. Premières mentions de dhū-Raydān (vers la fin du Ier s. av. è. chr.). Raydān, 8: 119-134. |