CSAI

Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions


INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic
AlphabetAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Writing techniqueIncision
Chronology
PeriodD
Textual typologyDedicatory text

TEXT


   1  ʾbs²mr ʾwlṭ w-ʾḫy-hw Rfʾ |
   2  ʾs²ws³ bnw Ḥfnm w-Ḏnm w-
   3  Yṯʿkrb w-Ḫwlyn w-Ḏʾwlm—
   4  n w-Wʿlyn ʾfys²n ʾqwl s²ʿbn |
   5  ʾyfʿ mqtwyy S²mr Yhrʿs² mlk |
   6  S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn w-Ḥḍrmt w-Ymn—
   7  t hqnyw mrʾ-hmw ʾlmqhw-Ṯh—
   8  wn bʿl-ʾwm ṣlmm ḏ-ḏhbm ḏ-s²f—
   9  t-hw ḥmdm b-ḏt mtʿ ʿbdy-hw |
  10  ʾbs²mr w-Rfʾ l-qbly ḏ-blt |
  11  ʾbs²mr ʾwlṭ ʿdy hgrn S²b—
  12  wt l-qrb l-ḥḍr S¹yn w-l-qbl ḏ-m—
  13  tʿ ʿbd-hw Rfʾ ʾs²ws³ bn ʾ—
  14  ḥd ḫmṭnm ḏ-kwn b-hgrn Mr—
  15  b w-wkb ʿbd-hw Rfʾ ʾs²ws³ ʿ—
  16  qbm b-hgrn Mrb w-bytn S¹lḥ—
  17  n w-ḥmdw ḫl w-mqm mrʾ-hmw |
  18  ʾlmqh bʿl-ʾwm b-ḏt ḏ-ʾ—
  19  tw ʿbd-hw ʾbs²mr ʾwlṭ |
  20  w-mqtt-hw b-wfym bn hwt |
  21  bltn w-wkb ʾḫ-hw Rfʾ |
  22  ʾs²ws³ b-Mrb b-wfym w-mqtt-
  23  hw b-wfym bn hwt ḫmṭnn |
  24  w-l-wzʾ ḫmr-hmw mrʾ-hmw ʾ—
  25  lmqhw bʿl-ʾwm ḥẓy w-rḍw
  26  mrʾ-hmw S²mr Yhrʿs² ml—
  27  k S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn w-Ḥḍrmt w-
  28  Ymnt w-l-wzʾ ḫmr-hmw ʾlmq—
  29  hw-bʿl-ʾwm ʾbrq w-ʾṯmr |
  30  ṣdqm ʿdy ʾbyt-hmw w-mfn—
  31  t-hmw w-ms²ymt hmw w-bry |
  32  ʾʾḏnm w-mqymtm w-l-mtʿn |
  33  ʿbdy-hw ʾlmqhw-bʿl-ʾwm b—
  34  n bʾs¹tm w-nkytm w-nḍʿ |
  35  w-s²ṣy s²nʾm b-ʾlmqh-bʿl-
  36  ʾwm

Apparatus
In Iryānī's South Arabian transcription the words at the end of the lines 6, 7, 16, 25, 30 are broken differently than in the Arabic transcription.

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  ʾbs²mr ʾwlṭ and his brother Rfʾ
   2  ʾs²ws³, of the families Ḥfnm and Ḏnm and
   3  Yṯʿkrb and Ḫwlyn and Ḏʾwlmn
   4  and Wʿlyn, those of Fys²n, ʾqwl of the tribe
   5  ʾyfʿ, mqtwyy of S²mr Yhrʿs², king of
   6  Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān and Ḥaḍramawt and Ymnt,
   7  dedicated to their Lord ʾlmqhw Ṯhwn,
   8  Lord of ʾwm a statue in bronze that they had promised
   9  him in praise because He proteced His two servants
  10  ʾbs²mr and Rfʾbecause he sent
  11  ʾbs²mr ʾwlṭ to the town of S²bwt
  12  to attend the festival of S¹yn and because
  13  He protected His servant Rfʾ ʾs²ws³ from
  14  a pestilence that occurred in the town of Mrb -
  15  and His servant Rfʾ ʾs²ws³ was
  16  govenor in the town of Mrb and the palace S¹lḥn -,
  17  and they praised the might and the power of their Lord
  18  ʾlmqh, Lord of ʾwm, because
  19  His servant ʾbs²mr ʾwlṭ,
  20  and his mqtt, came back in safety from that
  21  mission and found his brother Rfʾ
  22  ʾs²ws³ safe in Mrb, and also his mqtt
  23  safe from that pestilence;
  24  may their Lord
  25  ʾlmqhw, Lord of ʾwm, continue to grant them the goodwill and the satisfaction
  26  of their lord S²mr Yhrʿs², king
  27  of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān and the Ḥaḍramawt and
  28  Ymnt; may ʾlmqhw,
  29  Lord of ʾwm, continue to grant them good rainy seasons and crops
  30  in their houses and their
  31  lands and their fields and soundness
  32  of faculties and material resources; may
  33  ʾlmqhw, Lord of ʾwm, protect His servants
  34  from any evil and mischief and the malice
  35  and the maleficence of any enemy. By ʾlmqh, Lord of
  36  ʾwm.
12For the religious significance of ḥḍr, see Ryckmans 1973 b: 332-334.
Ryckmans, Jacques 1973 bRyckmans, Jacques 1973. Le repas rituel dans la religion sud-arabe. Pages 327-334 in Martinus Adrianus Beek, A.A. Kampman, C. Nijland and Jacques Ryckmans. Symbolae biblicae et mesopotamicae : Francisco Mario Theodoro de Liagre Böhl dedicatae. Leiden: Brill.

OBJECT INFORMATION

DepositṢanʿāʾ, The National Museum
Support typeArtefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription
MaterialStone
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin
Modern siteMaḥram Bilqīs
Ancient siteʾwm
Geographical areaMaʾrib
CountryYemen
Archaeological contextReligious context: Temple of ʾlmqhw Ṯhwn bʿl ʾwm
Link to site record

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ryckmans, Jacques 1975 a: 217-219Ryckmans, Jacques 1975. Ḥimyaritica 5. Le Muséon, 88: 199-219.
al-Iryānī 1990: 220-225, 229-230al-Iryānī, Muṭahhar 1990. Fī-taʾrīḫ al-Yaman. Nuquš musnadiya wa-taʿliqāt. Ṣanʿāʾ: Markaz al-dirāsāt wa-l-buḥūṯ al-Yamanī.