Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic | ||
Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
Writing technique | Incision | ||
Measure of letters | 3.2 | ||
Chronology |
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Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
English | |
1 ʾbkrb ʾḥrs¹, of the family [ʿblm] 2 and Yḥmḏl, dedicated to ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, 3 Lord of ʾwm, the statue in bronze as He ordered 4 him in His oracle for the safety of his person and for that He delivered 5 him from the disease of which he suffered since he returned from 6 the post ḏ-Lḥgm, when his lord despatched him 7 to lead and organize the Ḥimyarites in irregular troops (?), 8 which were between the two armies and he suffered 9 from that disease once a year until He implored a good omen 10 from ʾlmqh and He ordered him this dedication 11 and that he should seek help from Him once a year, on his responsabiliby, 12 since the moment when this dedication would take place and for the future; and ʾlmqh 13 promised and protected and gave favourable oracles and good news 14 to His servant ʾbkrb regarding the survival and the life from that 15 disease since the moment when this dedication would take place and for the future 16 since the month of ḏ-Dnm of the year of ʾbkrb son of 17 Mʿdkrb of the family Fḍḥm; may ʾlmqh grant him 18 the goodwill of his lord S²ʿrm ʾwtr, king of Sabaʾ 19 and ḏu-Raydān, son of ʿlhn Nhfn, king of 20 Sabaʾ, and may ʾlmqh deliver him from the malice 21 and the maleficence of any enemy. By ʾlmqh Lord of ʾwm. |
6-8 | Beeston 1972 a's translation of the lines: "the care, along with the Ḥimyarites, of the ʾbdt who were in both armies". For ʾbdt he proposed "irregulars" on the basis of Ar. ābid "wilderness, untamed". However, in the SD, the translation for qwm b-ʿm is: "to organize (troops)", suggesting a translation "to direct the Ḥimyarites in irregular troops (?)". |
Corrections to Jamme's translations in Höfner 1964 and Ryckmans 1966. |
Höfner 1964 b: 425 | Höfner, Maria 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. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 114: 423-426. |
Ryckmans, Jacques 1966: 484-485 | Ryckmans, Jacques 1966. Himyaritica 2. Le Muséon, 79: 475-500. |
Beeston 1972 a: 537-538 | Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1972. Notes on old South Arabian lexicography VII. Le Muséon, 85: 535-544. |
Support type | Artefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription |
Material | Stone |
Measures | h. 39.7, th. 24 |
Link to object record |
Modern site | Maḥram Bilqīs |
Ancient site | ʾwm |
Geographical area | Maʾrib |
Country | Yemen |
Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of ʾlmqh Ṯhwn bʿl ʾwm |
Link to site record |
Jamme 1962 a: 135-136 | 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. |