Yashhal 20 A T.00.A/12 A
Robin 2000: 185, fig. 1
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Early Sabaic | ||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Script cursus | Boustrophedon | ||
| Measure of letters | 4.5 | ||
| Chronology |
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GENERAL NOTES
| Yashhal 20 A and B are inscribed on the two faces of the same slab. According to Robin, the text A is graphically earlier than the text B. |
TEXT
1 [... ... ](S¹)mʿy ḏ-M(ḏn)[ḥn ... ...]
2 [... ...]wn w-hns²ʾ [... ...]
3 [... ... ](B)nty ʾ(l)[ ... ...]
4 [... ...] Mḏ[nḥn ... ...]
| 1 | The integration was proposed by Robin and it is accepted by Arbach. |
| 2 | Robin notes that hns²ʾ is attested here for the first time. |
| 3 | According to the editor, bnty may be interpreted as a dual. However, as the other occurrences of the theonym are always plural, he does not exclude that this is an Early Sabaic writing of the construct plural. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Support type | Artefact » Slab |
| Material | Alabaster |
| Measures | h. 17, w. 14, th. 4 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Hajar Kuḥlān |
| Ancient site | Tmnʿ |
| Geographical area | Wādī Bayḥān |
| Country | Yemen |
| Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of ʾṯrt |
| Notes | The fragment was found on surface during the excavation of the temple. |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
This Early Sabaic text was found in Timnaʿ. The editor suggests different possible explanations: that the inscription goes back to a period of Sabaean domination over the town, that there existed a place for the Sabaeans to leave inscriptions, or that the slab was brought to Timnaʿ but originated elsewhere.
In the most ancient documentation in Qatabanic several linguistic contacts with Sabaic are attested. The inscription could be a Qatabanic inscription. As we have already mentioned the line 1 is integrated.
In Qatabanic the divinities Bnty ʾl are attested, in Sabaic only Bnt ʾl is attested. This could be another reason to consider the inscription Qatabanic.
In Qatabanic the divinities Bnty ʾl are attested, in Sabaic only Bnt ʾl is attested. This could be another reason to consider the inscription Qatabanic.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Robin 2000: 162-164, 185, fig. 1 | Robin, Christian J. 2000. Les "filles du Dieu" de Sabaʾ à la Mecque: réflexions sur l'agencement des panthéons dans l'Arabie ancienne. Semitica, 50: 113-192. |
| Arbach 2016: 267-268, fig. | Arbach, Mounir 2016. Annexe : les inscriptions du temple d'Athirat (II. Il tempio di Athirat : rapporto finale degli scavi 1999-2000). Pages 259-287 in Alessandro de Maigret and Christian J. Robin (eds). Gli scavi Italo-Francesi di Tamnaʿ (Repubblica dello Yemen). Rapporto finale. (Orient & Méditerranée, 20). Paris: De Boccard. |