Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic | ||
Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
Writing technique | Incision | ||
Measure of letters | 3.4-4 | ||
Chronology |
| ||
Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
4, 8, 20, 28, 29 | Some variants in Nāmī's reading have to be considered errors: b-tmlʾ (l. 4), Tnʿm (l.8), lbb-hmw (l. 20), S²ʿḥ[... ...] (l. 28-29), mrṯdw (l. 29). |
English | |
1 Hwfʿṯt Yzʾ[n and the family Kbs¹ym, ʾqwl of the tribe] 2 Tnʿmm and Tnʿmt dedicated to ʾlmqhw Ṯhwn, Lord of 3 ʾwm, the statue, in praise because ʾlmqhw fulfilled His servant 4 Hwfʿṯt, of the family Kbs¹ym, with the favour and the good news he asked Him for, 5 so that He irrigated and enriched their land with the cereals harvest of the winter, in 6 the month in which they sought favours from Him, and ʾlmqhw fulfilled them 7 in that favour and good news, and He irrigated their two valleys ḏ-Yʿd 8 and ʾtb, and the one from the land of Tnʿmm in that month; 9 may ʾlmqhw continue to promise and to announce good news to His servant Hwfʿṯt 10 and the family Kbs¹ym that He will irrigate and satiate and fill with rain their 11 basin ḏ-Yfd and all their land in all the rainy seasons of spring 12 and autumn with continous rain; may ʾlmqhw continue to fulfill and gratify 13 His servant Hwfʿṯt and the family Kbs¹ym in all the 14 favours they requested and will request from Him, and may ʾlmqh 15 grant His servant Hwfʿṯt of the family Kbs¹ym the goodwill and the 16 satisfaction of their lords S¹ʿds²ms¹m ʾs¹rʿ and his son 17 Mrṯdm Yhḥmd, kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, sons of 18 ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb, king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, and may 19 ʾlmqhw grant them prosperity and safety and good 20 luck which will satisfy their hearts, and may ʾlmqhw 21 grant them good crops and harvests from all 22 their land and their valleys, and for their safety and the safety 23 of their land and their tribe Tnʿmm, and so that 24 ʾlmqhw may deliver His servant Hwfʿṯt and the family 25 Kbs¹ym and their tribe from any evil and mischief and 26 from all the maleficence and the malice of any enemy. By ʿṯtr and Hwbs¹ 27 and ʾlmqhw and by ḏt Ḥmym and ḏt Bʿdnm 28 and by the solar deity of the king Tnf, and by ʾlmqhw Lord of S²wḥṭ 29 and by their solar deity, Lady of the qyf-monument of Rs²m, and they committed their 30 dedication to ʿṯtr S²rqn and ʾlmqhw, Lord of ʾwm. |
Support type | Artefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription |
Material | Stone |
Measures | h. 149, w. 53.5, th. 39 |
Link to object record |
Modern site | Maḥram Bilqīs |
Ancient site | ʾwm |
Geographical area | Maʾrib |
Country | Yemen |
Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of ʾlmqh Ṯhwn bʿl ʾwm |
Link to site record |
Nāmī 1954 (NAG): 24-29 (photo between p. 24 and 25) | Nāmī, Khalīl Y. 1954. Nuqūš ʿarabiyya ǧanūbiyya (2nd collection). Majallat kulliyat al-ʾĀdāb bi-jāmiʿt Fuʾād al-ʾawwal (Cairo university), 16: 21-43. 2024/02/19; https://search.mandumah.com/Record/169998. |
Jamme 1962 a: 125-126 | 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 1974: pl. III/c | Ryckmans, Jacques 1974. Himyaritica 3. Le Muséon, 87: 237-263. |