Gar Sharahbil B ẒM 1 B
By kind permission of GOAM
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Late Sabaic | ||||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||||
| Writing technique | Relief | ||||
| Chronology |
| ||||
| Textual typology | Construction text - fragmentary | ||||
| Royal inscription | Yes |
GENERAL NOTES
| The text is on the upper face of the stone of Gar Sharahbil A. The inscription is dated to 462 CE. |
TEXT
1 [... ...]
2 [... ...]-hmw [... ...] mwṯr-hw [... ... ġ]—
3 yr tbyt-hw ʾ[... ...] w-rbʿtm w-ʾlhgm m—
4 wglm w-nʿyw [... ...] w-ʾlbʾm ḏhbm b-mʿhr—
5 tm byn ʾṯwrn ḏ-ʿṣ[byn ... ...] ʾṣ(lm)m w-ʾwʿlm
6 [w-](ʾ)lbʾm w-ʾnmrm w-ʾṯwrm ḏhbm w-ʿḏbw ʿm-hw ʿr[mn]((ʿr[mn]))[ ḏ-]b-Mrb w-brʾw Rḥbm [... ...]
7 [... ...] ʿglmn w-ʿwdn b-ḫrfm ʾḥd b-nṣr w-rdʾ w-mqm mrʾ-hmw Rḥmnn bʿl s¹myn w-ʾrḍn [... ...]
8 [... ...](m)w S¹bʾ w-Ḥmyrm w-Ḥḍrmwt w-Ymnt w-kwn ḏn mqḥn b-wrḫ ḏ-ʾln ḏ-b-ḫrfn ḏ-l-ṯny w-s¹[bʿy w-ḫms¹ mʾtm]
| 2 | at the beginning the editors read [Ṭ]wdm w-T(hm)t but today this is no longer readable on the stone. |
| 6 | ʿrmn: besides being a noun indicating "the dam", ʿrmn was used as the name of the Great Maʾrib Dam (Darles et al. 2014: 9-10). |
| 7-8 | Müller integrates: [w-b-ʾḫyl w-rdʾ ʾs²ʿb-h]mw. |
| 8 | for Ymnt see Robin 2013: 131-133. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 [... ...] 2 [... ...] Ṭwdm and Thmt [... ...] his house from its foundation [... ...] 3 [... ...] with unburned plaster [... ...] four windows in alabaster 4 and he put [... ...] lions in bronze with decorative figurines 5 between sculptured bulls [... ...] statues of men, ibexes, 6 lions, panthers and bulls in bronze. He also repaired the dam of Mrb, he built Rḥbm [... ...] 7 the diversion mole and the structure, in one year, with the assistance, the help, the power of their Lord Rḥmnn, the Master of the Heaven and of the earth, [and with the might and the help of their tribes of] 8 Sabaʾ, Ḥimyar, Ḥaḍramawt and Yamanat. These works were completed in the month of ʾln, in the year five hundred seventy-two. |
| 3 | "without ornaments of plants" (Müller). |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Deposit | Ẓafār, Museum |
| Support type | Inscription on architectural structure |
| Material | Stone |
| Measures | h. 80, w. 120, th. 60 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Ẓafār |
| Ancient site | Ẓfr |
| Geographical area | Ẓafār |
| Country | Yemen |
| Archaeological context | Urban context: Royal palace |
| Link to site record |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Garbini 1969: 559-566, pls I-IV | Garbini, Giovanni 1969. Una nuova iscrizione di Šaraḥbiʾil Yaʿfur. Annali dell'Istituto Orientale di Napoli, 29/4: 559-566. |
| Gajda 1997: 46-49 | Gajda, Iwona 1997. Ḥimyar gagné par le monothéisme (IVe-VIe siècle de l'ère chrétienne). Ambitions et ruine d'un royaume de l'Arabie méridionale antique. (Université d'Aix-en-Provence). |
| Müller, Walter W. 2010: 77 | Müller, Walter W. 2010. Sabäische Inschriften nach Ären datiert. Bibliographie, Texte und Glossar. (Veröffentlichungen der Orientalischen Kommission, 53). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. |
| 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. |