Haram 2
Robin 1992 a: pl.7/a-b
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INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Minaic » Central Minaic | ||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Writing technique | Incision | ||
| Measure of letters | 4.3 | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
GENERAL NOTES
| On the basis of the palaeographical analysis (Pirenne style C4-D1), Robin considers this text one of the four Haramite inscriptions written in the period of Maʿīn's hegemony in the Jawf. The mention of a king that was surely not a Minaean one and the dedication to the Haramite god Mtbnṭyn would be symptoms of a lasting political independence of Haram. Actually, it is highly probable that Haram fell under the control of Maʿīn for a short time. |
TEXT
1 Whbʾl bn ʿmḏrʾ
2 ḏ-Dd ḏ-ʾhl Ṯbrn |
3 ʾb Hwfʿṯt kbr
4 rkḍ Hrm s³lʾ Mtb—
5 nṭyn ʾl Ṯbrn hwr—
6 n Mtʿt ywm qdm
7 mbnh byt Mtbnṭ—
8 yn Ṯbrn bn hn n—
9 ṭʿ ʿd s²qr w-yw—
10 m ḥfr w-s¹nbṭ w-ḍ—
11 fr bʾr-s¹ Mṭr w-n—
12 ḥl-s¹ Ys²hrmlk N—
13 bṭ ms¹fḥ ʿmm ḏ-
14 ʿs¹y bn gdr ḏ-ʾr—
15 nb lʿl ʿd qny-s¹
16 w-mnḥln lʿl w-b—
17 n fnwt ḏt Btln
18 ʿd ms¹bʾ Mʿn w-
19 ʿs¹y w-s¹bql tfd
20 /300/
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 Whbʾl son of ʿmḏrʾ 2 ḏ-Dd, of the clan Ṯbrn, 3 father of Hwfʿṯt, kbr 4 of the horseman troops (?) of Haram, dedicated to 5 Mtbnṭyn, god of Ṯbrn, the pillar 6 Mtʿt, when he directed 7 the construction of the temple of Mtbnṭyn 8 Ṯbrn, since he began (it) 9 until he completed (it), and when 10 he dug, excavated and cased 11 with stone his well Mṭr, and 12 Ys²hrmlk Nbṭ 13 granted him a public land to be flooded (?), which he 14 bought, from the enclosure (?) of ḏ-ʾr- 15 nb up to his property, 16 and the concession upwards, 17 from the canal of ḏt Btln 18 to the road of Maʿīn, and 19 he bought and cultivated 20 300 fields (?). |
| 4 | The translation of rkḍ follows Robin 1992 a, who suggests a comparison with the Arabic "to run" (referred to a horse). |
| 8 | The Minaic formula "bn ʾs²rs¹ ʿd s²qrn" ("from the foundations to the top") is here replaced by "bn hn nṭʿ ʿd s²qr". On the basis of the context, nṭʿ is translated "to begin". In ASA, the word nṭʿt points to a kind of building. |
| 13 | On the basis of the comparison with Arabic, Robin suggests that the ms¹fḥ is a land that receives water (from the mountains), so a land to be inundated. |
| 19 | For wfd, the SD gives the sense of "cultivate". The word tfd occurs in these texts with numerals, so Robin - comparing it with the Arabic awfad - suggests the meaning "number, sum". |
| Robin 1992 a | Robin, Christian J. 1992. Inabbaʾ, Haram, al-Kāfir, Kamna et al-Ḥarāshif. Fasc. A: Les documents. Fasc. B: Les planches. Inventaire des inscriptions sudarabiques. 1. Paris: de Boccard / Rome: Herder. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres; Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente] |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Support type | Inscription on architectural structure » Pillar |
| Material | Stone |
| Measures | h. 103, w. 34 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Kharibat Hamdān |
| Ancient site | Hrm |
| Geographical area | Jawf - Wādī Madhab |
| Country | Yemen |
| Found | Reemployed. In modern times |
| Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of Mtbnṭyn Ṯbrn |
| Notes | The pillar was reemployed in the door of a private house in Kharibat Hamdān. |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
The author of this text was an important man. He directed the building works of the temple of Mtbnṭyn and he was the kabīr of the rkḍ. This office is not clear: according to Robin's hypothesis, the word rkḍ could refer to horseman troops.
In this text the author also commemorates the construction of a well and the acquisition of some cultivated lands that his king Ys²hrmlk Nbṭ granted him.
In this text the author also commemorates the construction of a well and the acquisition of some cultivated lands that his king Ys²hrmlk Nbṭ granted him.
The god of Haram Mtbnṭyn appears here with the epithets "Ṯbrn" and "god of Ṯbrn". This is the name of the family of the dedicant.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Robin 1992 a: 61-65, pls 7/a-b, 8/a | Robin, Christian J. 1992. Inabbaʾ, Haram, al-Kāfir, Kamna et al-Ḥarāshif. Fasc. A: Les documents. Fasc. B: Les planches. Inventaire des inscriptions sudarabiques. 1. Paris: de Boccard / Rome: Herder. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres; Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente] |
| Rossi 2022: 282-285, 483, fig. 52 | Rossi, Irene 2022. The city-states of the Jawf at the dawn of Ancient South Arabian history (8th-6th centuries BCE). II. Corpus of the inscriptions. (Arabia Antica, 17/2). Roma: «L'Erma» di Bretschneider. |