CSAI

Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions


Gnoli 1996: 1150, fig. 1
By kind permission of Missione Archeologica Italiana nella Repubblica dello Yemen (©MAIRY)

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Minaic » Central Minaic
AlphabetAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Writing techniqueIncision
Chronology
PeriodB
Textual typologyDedicatory text

TEXT


   1  (kl) (ʾhl) ʿ[.. nt]—
   2  ḫy w-ntḏr k-Nk(r)[ḥ]
   3  s²ym(h)-s¹m b-ḏt ḫṭ[ʾ]
   4  qdmhn (b)n-s¹m ḏt [s²]—
   5  ʿr w-b-hn ys²[.]n(ʾ) [b]—
   6  (y)nht-s¹m w-ḥtn(ṯ) [w-]
   7  (ʿ)yn ʾns¹ ʾḥly ʾ(ḫ)[ḏ]
   8  w-kwn ḏn nḫynn [b-]
   9  (ʾ)mrh w-mrḍw(h)[y]
  10  [N]krḥ b-ms¹ʾl (b)-
  11  [g](wbn)

Apparatus
2, 3, 7Reversed letters ḫ.
1Gnoli reads (kll).
5ys²tn(ʾ) (Gnoli).

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  All the clan ... confessed
   2  and did penance to Nkrḥ,
   3  their patron, regarding the fact that they were guilty,
   4  the first ones of them, of what they were
   5  conscious of; and because they were enemies between
   6  themselves and they were perjury and
   7  they saw men seizing someone else's properties.
   8  And this confession took place by
   9  the command and with the approvals of
  10  Nkrḥ, in an oracular response in
  11  the gwb.
This translation follows Gnoli's one, apart from l.3: "giacchè avevano espiato" (Gnoli 1996).
Gnoli 1996Gnoli, Gherardo 1996. Una nuova iscrizione minea di Barāqish sulla confessione dei peccati. Pages 1145-1159 in Enrico Acquaro (ed.). Alle soglie della classicità. Il Mediterraneo tra tradizione e innovazione. Studi in onore di Sabatino Moscati. Pisa: Istituti editoriali e poligrafici internazionali.

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support typeStone inscription
MaterialStone
Measuresh. 37, w. 22, th. 8.5
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin and provenance
Modern siteBarāqish
Ancient siteYṯl
Geographical areaSouthern Jawf
CountryYemen
Archaeological contextReligious context: Temple of Nkrḥ
NotesThe object was found during the excavations in the temple.
Link to site record

CULTURAL NOTES

This inscription is a collective penitential text to the god Nkrḥ. The sins committed are generically expressed, but they probably dealt with some kind of perjury and enmity among the individuals of the group.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gnoli 1996: 1145-1159, fig. 1Gnoli, Gherardo 1996. Una nuova iscrizione minea di Barāqish sulla confessione dei peccati. Pages 1145-1159 in Enrico Acquaro (ed.). Alle soglie della classicità. Il Mediterraneo tra tradizione e innovazione. Studi in onore di Sabatino Moscati. Pisa: Istituti editoriali e poligrafici internazionali.