Ja 551 CIH 374; ZI 33
Phillips, Wendell 1955: 212 (photo)
Image free from copyright
Image free from copyright
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Early Sabaic | ||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Writing technique | Incision | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Dedicatory text | ||
| Royal inscription | Yes |
GENERAL NOTES
| According to the linguistic analysis by P. Stein (2005 c), the inscriptions on the wall of the temple of Awām are dated between the end of the 4th and the end of the 2nd century BC (apart from Ja 552, which is dated to the 4th century BC). Their textual peculiarities show the shift from the Early to the Middle Sabaic linguistic periods. For the chronology, see the discussion in Wissmann 1982: 353 ff., Stein 2005 c: 187-189, Avanzini 2010: 188. Ja 551 is the only royal inscription within the corpus of the texts on the wall of the temple of Awām. |
TEXT
1 ʾls²rḥ bn S¹mhʿly Ḏrḥ mlk S¹bʾ hqny ʾlmqh kl tmlʾ gnʾn ln ʾwdn ḏ-s¹ṭrn ʿdy s²qrm w-kl mġbb w-mḥfdt b-ʿly ḏn mhyʿn ḥg-ḏt wqh ʾlmqh ʾls²rḥ b-ms¹ʾlm b-ḏt hwfy-hw ʾlmqh w-yhwfyn ḏt tnbʾ-hw b-ʿṯtr w-b Hwbs¹ w-b ʾlmqh w-b-ḏt Ḥmym w-b-ḏt Bʿdnm w-b ʾb-hw S¹mhʿly Ḏrḥ mlk S¹bʾ w-b ʾḫ-hw Krbʾl
| 1 | Rhodokanakis: wqh ʾlmqhw; w-ḏt Ḥmym. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 ʾls²rḥ, son of S¹mhʿly Ḏrḥ, king of Sabaʾ, dedicated to ʾlmqh the whole completion of the wall from the line of this inscription to top and all the curtains and the towers along that extent, according to what ʾlmqh ordered to ʾls²rḥ in an oracle, because ʾlmqh saved him and will save what He promised to him, by ʿṯtr and by Hwbs¹ and by ʾlmqh and by ḏt Ḥmym and by ḏt Bʿdnm and by his father S¹mhʿly Ḏrḥ, king of Sabaʾ, and by his brother Krbʾl. |
| 1 | For the translation of "b-ʿly ḏn mhyʿn" as "along that extent", see Beeston 1981 b: 23. |
| Beeston 1981 b: 23 | Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1981. Two epigraphic South Arabian roots: HYʿ and KRB. Pages 21-34 in Roswitha G. Stiegner (ed.). al-Hudhud. Festschrift Maria Höfner zum 80. Geburtstag. Graz: Karl-Franzens-Universität. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Support type | Inscription on architectural structure » Wall |
| Material | Stone |
| Measures | h. 13.7, w. 27 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Maḥram Bilqīs |
| Ancient site | ʾwm |
| Geographical area | Maʾrib |
| Country | Yemen |
| Found | In situ |
| Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of ʾlmqh bʿl ʾwm |
| Notes | The inscriptions Ja 550-557 are engraved on the outside enclosure wall of the temple, at the sides of the western door (see the location in Jamme 1962 a: ii, pl. C/1). Ja 551 is engraved on the right of Ja 550. |
| Link to site record |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Rhodokanakis 1917: 12-15 | Rhodokanakis, Nikolaus 1917. Studien zur Lexikographie und Grammatik des Altsüdarabischen. II Heft. (Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, 185/3). Vienna: Alfred Hölder. |
| Phillips, Wendell 1955: 212 (photo) | Phillips, Wendell 1955. Qataban and Sheba. Exploring ancient kingdoms on the Biblical spice routes of Arabia. New York: Harcourt Brace. |
| Jamme 1962 a: i, 15-16 | 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. |
| ʿInān 1976: 272-273 | ʿInān, Zaid b. ʿA 1976. Taʾriḫ ḥaḍāra al-Yaman al-qadīm. Cairo. |