al-Jawf 04.23 A
Arbach and Schiettecatte 2006: pl. 9/24
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Minaic » Central Minaic | ||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Writing technique | Incision | ||
| Measure of letters | 3 | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Legal text - fragmentary |
TEXT
1 [... ...]mth hgrn w-ḥrmhtn w-qrqrtn
2 [... ... W]tr(ʾl) w-k-ʾy hn yʿlyn[ ]w-ḏkw bn
3 [... ... ]ngw ṣltn w-ʿd-m-(ʾ)y ym(m) b-ys³qn
4 [... ... ]l-ytlw(n) w-lṣq w-ʿtllm k(l ḏ)-yʿwd
5 [... ...]mn bn (s¹l)ʿth w-qrʾt s¹ʾl w-(ʿwd)
6 [... ...]
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 [... ...] of the town and of the canals (?) and of the drainages (?) [... ...] 2 [... ...] Wtrʾl and if they raise and delimit from [... ...] 3 [... ...] proclamation of the decree and till the very day they will fill [... ...] 4 [... ...] may they continue to hunt down and notify (?) the one who will repeat [... ...] 5 [... ...] from the coin (?) and the command of the oracle and repeat [... ...] 6 [... ...] |
| The translation of the first and the fourth line is hypothetic, due to the impossibility of determining the exact context. | |
| 1 | the meaning of the word qrqr remains obscure. Usually translated "chapel" or "adyton" when found in construction inscriptions of temples' contexts, here it seems to be rather connected with hydraulic structures. On the base of a parallel with Ethiopic, we could suggest the hypothetic meaning "drainages". |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Deposit | Ṣanʿāʾ, The National Museum |
| Support type | Stone inscription |
| Material | Stone |
| Measures | h. 21, w. 75.5, th. 20 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Unknown |
| Ancient site | Unknown |
| Geographical area | Unknown |
| Country | Unknown |
| Notes | According to the editors, the epigraph probably comes from Baraqish or Maʿīn. |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
The text is fragmentary, but it seems to be a decree concerning the regulation of the irrigation system (raising of the water level, probably), with the indication of the punishment for the persistent offenders.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Arbach and Schiettecatte 2006: 38-39, pl. 9/24 | Arbach, Mounir and Schiettecatte, Jérémie 2006. Catalogue des pièces archéologiques et épigraphiques du Jawf au Musée National de Ṣanʿâʾ. Ṣanʿâʾ National Museum. Ṣanʿāʾ: Centre français d'archéologie et de sciences sociales de Ṣanʿâʾ. [Text in French and Arabic] |