YM 10886
Robin 2002: fig. 8
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Minaic » Central Minaic | ||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Writing technique | Incision | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Dedicatory text | ||
| Royal inscription | Yes |
GENERAL NOTES
| Robin suggests to date the text to around the 5th century BC. In this case, the reign of Kmnhw would have coexisted with the reign of Maʿīn. Stein, on the contrary, considers the text earlier, of the 7th century BC (Stein 2007: 24, n. 32). |
TEXT
1 ʾls¹mʿ Ḏrḥn
2 mlk Kmnhw w-s²—
3 ʿb-s¹ Kmnhw nt—
4 ḫy w-ntḏr k-ḏ-Md—
5 hww b-hn l-ḏbḥ m—
6 ḏbḥ ṯwwr s²ty m—
7 ḏbḥ ṯwrt b-ʿbr-s¹
8 w-b-hn s¹fnw ġyln
9 b-s²ty s²ʾmt blty
10 ḏ-Mdhww f-ḥtmyn
11 bn ʾrḫ mṯl-s¹
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 ʾls¹mʿ Ḏrḥn, 2 king of Kmnhw, and his tribe 3 Kmnhw confessed 4 and did penance to ḏ-Mdhww, 5 because they did a sacrifice 6 of bulls instead of (?) a sacrifice 7 of cows in His favour 8 and because they diverted the water-course 9 in the northern area (or, towards the North?) without 10 ḏ-Mdhww; so may they protect themselves 11 against doing the same thing (again). |
| 8-11 | "et parce qu'ils ont détourné l'inondation au lieu de (?) racheter les parts (?) de dhū-Madhahwū, puis se sont prémunis contre le verdict (?) de sa statue" (Robin 2002). |
| 8-9 | "et parce qu'ils ont dirigél'inondation sur la rive (?) nord" (Robin 2013: 122). |
| Robin 2002 | Robin, Christian J. 2002. Vers une meilleure connaissance de Kaminahū (Jawf du Yémen). Pages 191-213 in John F. Healey and Venetia Porter (eds). Studies on Arabia in honour of Professor G. Rex Smith. (Journal of Semitic Studies. Supplement, 14). Oxford: Oxford University Press. |
| Robin 2013 | Robin, Christian J. 2013. À propos de Ymnt et Ymn: « nord » et « sud », « droite » et « gauche », dans les inscriptions de l'Arabie antique. Pages 119-140 in Françoise Briquel-Chatonnet, Catherine Fauveaud and Iwona Gajda (eds). Entre Carthage et l’Arabie heureuse. Mélanges offerts à François Bron. (Orient & Méditerranée, 12). Paris: de Boccard. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Deposit | Ṣanʿāʾ, The National Museum, YM 10886 |
| Support type | Artefact » Slab |
| Material | Stone |
| Measures | h. 43, w. 22, th. 9 |
| 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 penitential text is dedicated by the king and the community to the god ḏ-Mdhww.The transgression recorded seems to have consisted in a wrongly performed sacrifice and in a public ritual action connected with the flow of a canal, performed without the approval of the god. A clash between political and religious authorities, because of the exploitation of the water resources, probably lies behind this last offence.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Robin 2002: 197-201, fig. 8 | Robin, Christian J. 2002. Vers une meilleure connaissance de Kaminahū (Jawf du Yémen). Pages 191-213 in John F. Healey and Venetia Porter (eds). Studies on Arabia in honour of Professor G. Rex Smith. (Journal of Semitic Studies. Supplement, 14). Oxford: Oxford University Press. |
| Stein 2007 | Stein, Peter 2007. Materialien zur sabäischen Dialektologie: Das Problem des amiritischen ("haramischen") Dialektes. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 157: 13-47. |