YM 23643
Arbach and Audouin 2007: 28, cat. 16
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic | ||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Writing technique | Incision | ||
| Measure of letters | 3 | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
GENERAL NOTES
| Period C or D (the editors date the text to the 2nd century AD). The final lines show the dedicatory purpose of the inscription, but this lacks the verb of dedication and has mainly a legal/penitential content. |
TEXT
1 k-bn-mw Mbs²mt
2 ḏt Ḫldt Ḥḏ—
3 mrn w-l-yḏrn b-ḏt
4 | hḫṭʾt Mbs²mt
5 bn mrʾ-hw (ʾ)r(ny)dʿ-(S²)—
6 ymn b-ḏt w(kb)[.]
7 fgʿtm (b)-ws¹ṭ (ṣ)rḥ—
8 (n)-ln mwt wldm [..]—
9 (f)nm w-wkb-hw [.](ʿ)[.]
10 ṣrḥn-w-(gb)ʾw w-(q)—
11 mʿw fgʿtn w-(s²)[..]
12 w-qm-hw m(r)ʾ-hmw
13 S²ymn w-l-wzʾ [S²]—
14 (ymn) (nʿ)mtm (l)-hwf(y)—
15 n grb ʾmt-hw M[bs²m]—
16 t w-(s²)[..] k(l)-(hqn)yt ṣl—
17 [mm] ḏhbm l-wfy-hmw
| 2 | reversed ḫ. |
| 4 | reversed ʾ. |
| 6 | maybe wkb(t) or wkb(w). |
| 7 | fʿgtm (Arbach and Audouin). |
| 8 | reversed n in ln. |
| 8-9 | l-tnm (Arbach and Audouin) or l-(t)fnm. |
| 9 | end: ʿ(d) (Arbach and Audouin). |
| 14-15 | nʿmtm hwfyn l-grb (Arbach and Audouin). |
| 16 | w-s²ft (Arbach and Audouin). |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 This is about Mbs²mt 2 of Ḫldt (of the family) Ḥḏ‒ 3 mrn; may (the god) be merciful, because 4 Mbs²mt committed a sin 5 with regards to her Lord ʾrnydʿ the 6 Patron, because she got (?) 7 an illness (?) in the middle of the upper-chamber 8 following the death of a child [... ...] 9 (?) 10 the upper-chamber and they came back and they 11 overthrew (?) the illness (?) and [... ...] 12 and he placed it (for) their Lord 13 the Patron and may He continue, the Patron, 14 (to grant) favours for the safety 15 of the person of His servant M[bs²m]‒ 16 t and [... ...] all the dedication of statue 17 in bronze for their safety. |
| The translation of the inscriptions is rather problematic and remains hypothetical, due to the uncertain meaning of some words and to the plurality of subjects involved in the text. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Deposit | Ṣanʿāʾ, The National Museum, YM 23643 |
| Support type | Artefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription |
| Material | Stone |
| Measures | h. 43, w. 17, th. 11 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | as-Sawdāʾ |
| Ancient site | Ns²n |
| Geographical area | Jawf - Wādī al-Buhayra |
| Country | Yemen |
| Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of ʾrnydʿ |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
This is a penitential inscription to ʾrnydʿ regarding a woman who committed a sin that caused misfortune in her house.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Arbach and Audouin 2007: 28-29, cat. 16 | Arbach, Mounir and Audouin, Rémy 2007. Collection of Epigraphic and Archaeological Artifacts from al-Jawf Sites. Ṣanʿâʾ National Museum. 2. Ṣanʿāʾ: UNESCO-SFD / Ṣanʿāʾ: National Museum. [Text in English and Arabic] |