| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic | ||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Writing technique | Incision | ||
| Measure of letters | 2.2 | ||
| Chronology |
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| Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
| 37, 39, 42 | yqhnn, yqhn, ytʾlhn: unfinished verbs with continuous sense. |
| 39 | Variant reading by J. Ryckmans 1966, 476-477. |
| English | |
1 Rbs²ms¹m Yzd and his brother Krbʿṯt ʾs¹ʿd, of the family S¹ʾrn, 2 Mḥylm, S³mkm, ʾqwl of the tribe of Bklm, fraction of Rydt, 3 mqtwyy of ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl Byn, the two kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, 4 sons of Frʿm Ynhb, king of Sabaʾ, dedicated to ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, this statue 5 in bronze in praise because He favored and helped their lord ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb, 6 king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, to beat, destroy, defeat and rout Krbʾl ḏu-Raydān 7 and all the army, the tribes and the troops of Ḥimyar, the children of ʿm, when they made the battle 8 in the plain of Ḥrmtm, and Krbʾl ḏu-Raydān and his tribes and his troops brought destruction from the mountain 9 ʾs¹ʾy and Qrnnhn to ʿrws²tn, Ẓlmn and Hkrm. And in praise because He favored 10 and saved their two lords from all the offensives, the sorties, the incursions in which they were engaged, 11 bringing war, humiliating, killing and obtaining as booty, in numerous campaigns and offensives, 12 fortresses, palaces, victims, captives, booty, prize of war, which pleased 13 their two lords from those expeditions in which they fought and waged war, their two lords ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb 14 and his brother Yʾzl Byn, the two kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, sons of Frʿm Ynhb, king of Sabaʾ, 15 in the land of Ḥimyar. And in praise because ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of 16 ʾwm, favoured and helped their two lords ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl Byn, the two kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, 17 sons of Frʿm Ynhb, king of Sabaʾ, to destroy, humiliate, rout and defeat 18 Krbʾl ḏu-Raydān, his ʾqwl, his troops, his tribes, his cavalrymen, the children of ʿm, 19 when they were regrouped, enaged in pitched battle and guided in the wadi of ʾẓwr, and Krbʾl ḏu-Raydān 20 and his army came back in disorder to the two towns of Yklʾ and ʾbwn; and from there 21 those survivers of their army retired, everyone in his direction, in disorder, to their lands. And after that 22 Krbʾl ḏu-Raydān sent guarantee of good conduct and placed his governors under the orders of their two lords ʾls²rḥ 23 Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl Byn, the two kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, sons of Frʿm Ynhb, 24 king of Sabaʾ. And after that their two lords ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb and his brother 25 Yʾzl Byn, the two kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, waged war until the land of Ḥimyar, and they arrived until the region 26 of the town of Hkrm and found there Krbʾl ḏu-Raydān and his army and 27 their two lords ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl Byn, the two kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, besieged them 28 in that town of Hkrm, until Krbʾl ḏu-Raydān, his ʾqwl and 29 his tribes surrended and submitted on the authority of their two lords ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl Byn, the two kings 30 of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān. And in praise because ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, granted to his servants 31 Rbs²ms¹m Yzd and Krbʿṯt ʾs¹ʿd to come back, both of them and their tribe of Bklm, 32 fraction of Rydt, in safety and with spoils, captives, prisoners of war, booty and riches, 33 which pleased his two servants; and in praise because ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, saved his servant 34 Krbʿṯt ʾs¹ʿd of the family S¹ʾrn from all the physical injury that he suffered in the plain of Ḥrmtm; and 35 may ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, continue to grant to his servants Rbs²ms¹m and Krbʿṯt 36 of the family S¹ʾrn the favour and the goodwill of their two lords ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl Byn, 37 the two kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, sons of Frʿm Ynhb, king of Sabaʾ, in whatever 38 their two lords ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl Byn, the two kings of Sabaʾ 39 and ḏu-Raydān, should command to both of them for diplomatic mission, garrison duty, and assignments in all the military campaigns that their two lords, 40 should command to them for fighting and performing service. And may ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, deliver them from the maleficence, 41 the malice, the calamity, the oppression, the calumny of any enemy, far or near, known or 42 unknown, and from the malediction that their enemy might give them against the 43 favour of their two lords. Byʿṯtr and ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, and by their Patrons ʿṯtr 44 and ʾlw Zʿln, Lords of the citaled in Yfʿ, and by their two lords ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl Byn, the two kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, sons of Frʿm Ynhb, king of Sabaʾ. |
| 7 | Ch. Robin translates: "toutes le forces, les contingents tribaux et l'armée royale de Ḥimyar". |
| 8 | s¹ḥt: "defeat" is translated by Ch. Robin as "furent chassés". |
| 11 | hgm: from *HYG "battle", Beeston 1972 a, 540-541, considers -m not radical and compares it with ar. hayjā "riot, war". Jamme translates "unexpected assault"; Beeston 1976 a, 40: "in a large number of campaigns and offensives". |
| 22 | ʿqbt: Beeston 1976 b, 41 translates as "loyalty" ("and pledged his loyalty to the joint kings"); instead, probably, it indicates the governors. |
| Beeston 1972 a: 540-541 | Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1972. Notes on old South Arabian lexicography VII. Le Muséon, 85: 535-544. |
| Beeston 1976 b: 41 | Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1976. Warfare in ancient South Arabian (2nd.-3rd. centuries A.D.). Qahtan. Studies in Old Arabian Epigraphy. 3. London: Luzac and Co. |
| Robin 1991-1993 a: 21 | Robin, Christian J. (ed.) 1991-1993 [1992]. L'Arabie antique de Karibʾîl à Mahomet. Nouvelles données sur l'histoire des Arabes grâces aux inscriptions. (Revue du Monde Musulman et de la Mediterranée, 61). Aix-en-Provence: Édisud. |
| Deposit | Mārib |
| Support type | Artefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription |
| Material | Stone |
| Link to object record |
| Modern site | Maḥram Bilqīs |
| Ancient site | ʾwm |
| Geographical area | Maʾrib |
| Country | Yemen |
| Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of ʾlmqh bʿl ʾwm |
| Notes | The stone was re-employed in the western pavement. |
| Link to site record |
| Jamme 1962 a: 83-86 | 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. |
| Ryckmans, Jacques 1966: 476-477 | Ryckmans, Jacques 1966. Himyaritica 2. Le Muséon, 79: 475-500. |
| Beeston 1972 e: 351 | Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1972. 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. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 35/2: 349-353. |
| Beeston 1976 b: 40-41 | Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1976. Warfare in ancient South Arabian (2nd.-3rd. centuries A.D.). Qahtan. Studies in Old Arabian Epigraphy. 3. London: Luzac and Co. |
| Beeston 1981 a: 20-21 | Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1981. Miscellaneous Epigraphic Notes. Raydān, 4: 9-28. |
| Nebes 1987: 84 | Nebes, Norbert 1987. Zur Konstruktion von Subjekt und Objekt abhängiger Infinitive in Sabäischen. Pages 75-98 in Christian J. Robin and Muḥammad ʿA. Bāfaqīh (eds). Ṣayhadica. Recherches sur les inscriptions de l'Arabie préislamique offertes par ses collègues au professeur A.F. L. Beeston. (Arabie préislamique, 1). Paris: Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner. |
| Robin 1991-1993 a: 21 | Robin, Christian J. (ed.) 1991-1993 [1992]. L'Arabie antique de Karibʾîl à Mahomet. Nouvelles données sur l'histoire des Arabes grâces aux inscriptions. (Revue du Monde Musulman et de la Mediterranée, 61). Aix-en-Provence: Édisud. |
| Nebes 1995 a: 40-42 | Nebes, Norbert 1995. Die Konstruktionen mit /fa-/ im Altsüdarabischen. Syntaktische und epigraphische Untersuchungen. (Veröffentlichungen der Orientalischen Kommission, 40). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. |