B-L Nashq ? Demirjian 1
Robin and de Maigret 2009: fig.14
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Early Sabaic | ||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Writing technique | Cast | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
GENERAL NOTES
| The dating of the text is debated. The earliest dating has been set to the first half of the 6th century BC; the latest around 400 BC (see the cultural notes). Consequently, the inscription might fall into CSAI periods A or B. |
TEXT
1 Ṣbḥ↯hmw bn ʿms²fq bn Rs²wn
2 Ns²qy↯n hqny ʾlmqh bʿl My—
3 fʿm ms³↯ndn w-hwṯb-hw w-kl w—
4 ld-hw w-↯kl-qny-hw b-Ns²qm w-s¹—
5 yr-h ywm↯ ḍbʾ b-ʿm S¹bʾ w-Rkb—
6 n rglm w-↯bʿw mṣr Mʿnm b-ʾs¹—
7 fl ʾtmy ↯w-ywm ḍbʾ b-ʿm s²ʿb-
8 hw Rkbn b-↯ʿm mṣr S¹bʾ ʿd ʾr—
9 ḍ Ḥḍrmt w-yṯbrw s²l↯[ṯ ... ...]—
10 bn w-bʿw Myfʿt w-f↯[... ...]
11 Mfgrt((mfgrt)) w-bʿw Kḥd ḏ-↯[... ... ʿ]—
12 brt w-bʿw Kḥd ḏ-Tdn↯[... ...]
13 (w)-yw(m) rkl w-mṣr ʿd Dd(n)↯[ w-Ġz]—
14 t w-ʾhgr Yhd w-ywm s¹lm w-wf—
15 y ḏ-ys¹r bn Ġzt ʿd Kty b-ḍr
16 Ks²dm w-Ywn w-ywm hwṣt-hw w-
17 ltʾk-hw Ydʿʾl Byn bn Yṯʿ—
18 ʾmr mlk S¹bʾ ʿd ʾrḍ Ḏkrm (w)-L—
19 ḥyn w-ʾbʾs¹ w-Ḥnk ʾlhn((Ḥnk ʾlhn)) ʾrbʿ
20 ʿs²r-hw ʾrglm w-hwfy kl ḏ—
21 t tlʾk-hw w-hwṣt-hw Ydʿʾl|
22 w-hṯb l-hw Ydʿʾl tʾmnt w-
23 s²lṯ s²rʿtm w-hmḫḍ-hw ʾlf
24 [w]↯(r)qm /1000/ w-ks³w-hw w-ḥmr((*ḫmr*))-hw (l)-
25 [... r]↯(g)ln w-ywm ḍbʾ b-ʿm s²ʿ↯—
26 [bn ... ...]
| 5-6, 8 | rkbn: a name of tribe according to Bron and Lemaire (2009: 13); see also Avanzini 2016: 142 and the lexicographic discussion in Multhoff 2019: 18, fn. 86). On the contrary, it is a common noun according to Robin and de Maigret (2009: 85) and Stein (2017: 98, fn. 28). |
| 11 | Bron and Lemaire (2009: 15) propose to translate mfgrt as "ditch" or to consider it a toponym; Robin and de Maigret (2009: 88) prefer the hypothesis of a proper name, of place or group, and so do the following editors. The restoration ʿ]brt issuggested by Robin and de Maigret: "restituer ʿbrt, ʿUbarat, mentionnée dans RES 3945 / 12, dans un passage qui concerne également Kaḥad". |
| 19 | ḥnk ʾlhn is interpreted as a verb followed by its subject (the common noun "god") by Bron and Lemaire (2009: 17); as a name of tribe plus the plural relative pronoun, by Robin and de Maigret (2009: 90-91); as a composite name of tribe by Multhoff who builds on Robin's hypothesis: "The ḤNK ʾLHN might be connected with the ʾĀl ʾḤNKT or the related nisba‐forms ḥnky and ḥnkyt mentioned several times in (mostly Middle) Sabaic texts" (Multhoff 2019: 12). |
| 24 | In the text is written w-ḥmr-hw. According to Bron and Lemaire (2009: 18) this is a scribal error for ḫmr; Robin and de Maigret (2009: 84) leave the verb untranslated and so does Multhoff (2019: 19, fn. 95). |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 Ṣbḥhmw son of ʿms²fq, of the family Rs²wn, 2 the one from Ns²q, dedicated to ʾlmqh, Lord of 3 Myfʿm, the inscription and its support (?), all 4 his sons and all his properties in Ns²qm and in its 5 territory, when he fought with Sabaʾ and Rkbn 6 on an expedition (?) and overcame the army of Maʿīn in the lower 7 part of ʾtmy; and when he fought with his tribe 8 Rkbn with the army of Sabaʾ into the land of 9 Ḥaḍramawt and they destroyed three [... ...] 10 and he overcame Myfʿt and [they made] 11 a sally (?) and overcame Kḥd ḏ-[... ...] 12 ʿbrt and overcame Kḥd ḏ-Tdn[... ...]; 13 and when he traded and led a caravan to Ddn and Ġzt 14 and the towns of Judah; and when he was safe 15 and sound, he who was sent from Ġzt to Kty, during the war 16 between Chaldea and Ionia; and when Ydʿʾl Byn 17 son of Yṯʿʾmr king of Sabaʾ appointed him and sent 18 him as a messenger to the land of Ḏkrm and 19 Lḥyn and ʾbʾs¹ and Ḥnk in those fourteen 20 expeditions (?) and he accomplished all that 21 Ydʿʾl had charged him as a messenger and for which he had appointed him. 22 Ydʿʾl bestowed him gratitude and 23 three equipments and granted him a thousand 24 pieces of gold and clothed him and granted him 25 [... ...] and when he fought with the tribe 26 [... ...] |
| 3 | hwṯb-hw: alternative translation "and set it". |
| 5, 8 | rkbn: "soldats montés" (Robin). |
| 6 | For the word rglm, three hypothetical translations: "à pied" (Bron); "vaillamment" (Robin); Avanzini retains a different suggestion by Robin, that is to compare the inscription M 347, where rglny and rglnyhn mean "the two expeditions". |
| 11 | mfgrt could be a name of place, Bron also suggests the meaning "fossé". |
| 19-20 | ḥnk ʾlhn ʾrbʿ ʿs²r-hw ʾrglm: Bron translates "et il consacra au dieu quatorze fantassins", suggesting a parallel with the Heb. ḤNK "to consecrate". However, the verb in Heb. is used for the consecration of a temple to the god. Robin interprets the word a name of place and ʾlhn as a previously unattested form of the pronoun ʾln. |
| 23 | s²lṯ s²rʿtm: the hypothetical translations "faveurs" (Bron) and "distinctions" (Robin) have an abstract meaning that difficultly agrees with the numeral. Avanzini suggests the translation "equipments" that is found for s²rʿ in SAB in military contexts. |
| 23-24 | ʾlf wrqm: "mille unités (de mesure)" (Bron), "mille pièces" (Robin). Wrq is surely a precious metal. |
| English | |
1 Ṣubḥhumū, son of ʿAmmšafaq, (of the) clan Rašwān, the (man) from Našqum, dedicated to ʾAlmaqah, the lord of Mayfaʿum, (this) inscription, his (or: its) hwṯb‐object, all his children and all his possessions in Našqum and its (the city’s surrounding) oasis, when he departed together with Sabaʾ and (the tribe) Rakbān on a (military) expedition against a caravan; and they attacked the caravaneers of Maʿīnum in the lowlands of ʾTMY; and when he departed on a (military) expedition with his tribe Rakbān, together with the ‘army’ of Sabaʾ, to the land of Ḥaḍramawt; and (then,) they destroyed (there) three […] and attacked (the city of) Mayfaʿat and [… and] MFGRT, and attacked (the tribe of) Kaḥad of […] ʿBRT, and attacked (the tribe of) Kaḥad of TDN […]; and when he engaged in trade and departed on a (commercial) expedition to Dedan, Gaza, and the cities of Judah, and when (everything) he had sent from Gaza to Kition (Cyprus) remained sound and safe during the war (between) the Chaldeans and Ionia; and when Yadaʿʾil Bayyin, the son of Yiṯaʿʾamar, king of Sabaʾ, gave him (his) orders and sent him as messenger to the land of Ḏākirum, Liḥyān, ʾBʾS and ḤNK ʾLHN, (on) fourteen expeditions he (executed), and he achieved every (mission) that Yadaʿʾil had sent and ordered him; and Yadaʿʾil expressed (his) confidence in him, (awarded) him three decorations, presented him with (a honorific present of) a thousand coins (1,000), clothed him (with a honorific dress) and ḥmr95 him […]; and when he departed on a (military) expedition with the tribe […]. |
| Multhoff 2019: 18-19 | Multhoff, Anne 2019. Merchant and marauder—The adventures of a Sabaean clansman. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy: 1-24. 2019/11/18; https://doi.org/10.1111/aae.12127. |
| German | |
1 Subḥhumū, der Sohn des ʿAmmšafaq, aus (der Sippe) Rašwān, 2 aus (der Stadt) Našqum, hat Almaqah, dem Herrn des (Tempels) 3 Mayfaʿum, die(se) Inschrift geweiht und ihren Ständer(?) sowie all seine 4 Nachkommen und all seinen Besitz in Našqum und 5 ihrer Oase, als er mit Saba und den Reitertruppen 6 als Fuß-soldat in den Krieg zog und die Truppe von Maʿīnum angriff in den Ebenen 7 von ʾTMY; und als er mit seinem Stamm 8 beritten gemeinsam mit der Truppe von Saba in das Land 9 Ḥaḍramawt zog und sie (dabei) drei [...] zerstörten; 10 und (als) er Mayfaʿat angriff und [...] 11 MFGRT, und Kaḥd Ḏ-[...] 12 ʿUbarat angriff und Kaḥd Ḏ-TDN angriff [...]; 13 und als er handeltreibend nach Dedan (ddn) und Gaza (ġzt) 14 und den Städten von Juda (ʾhgr yhd) zog; und als heil und unversehrt blieb, 15 was er von Gaza nach Zypern (kty) geschickt hatte während des Krieges 16 zwischen Chaldäa (kšdm) und Griechenland (ywn); und als ihm 17 Yadaʿʾil Bayyin, der Sohn des Yiṯaʿʾamar, 18 der König von Saba, befahl und ihn aussandte ins Land von ḎKRM, 19 Liḥyān, ʾBʾS und Ḥanak ʾLHN (mit) vierzehn 20 Fußsoldaten(?) und er alles erfüllte, 21 womit ihn Yadaʿʾil ausgesandt und beauftragt hatte; und (als) Yadaʿʾil 22 ihm Vertrauen erwies sowie 23 drei Schmuckstücke (schenkte) und ihm (ferner) tausend 24 Geldstücke übergab, ihn (kostbar) einkleidete und ihn ... 25 [..]; und als er in den Krieg zog mit dem Stamm 26 [...] |
| Stein 2017: 98-99 | Stein, Peter 2017. Sabäer in Juda, Juden in Saba. Sprach‐ und Kulturkontakt zwischen Südarabien und Palästina in der Antike. Pages 91-120 in Ulrich Hübner and Herbert Niehr. Sprachen in Palästina im 2. und 1. Jahrtausend v. Chr.. Kolloquium des Deutschen Vereins zur Erforschung Palästinas, 02.–04. 11. 2012, Mainz. (Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palästina‐ Vereins, 43). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Support type | Artefact » Plaque » With framework |
| Material | Bronze |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | al-Bayḍāʾ |
| Ancient site | Ns²qm |
| Geographical area | Jawf - Wādī al-Buhayra |
| Country | Yemen |
| Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of ʾlmqh bʿl Myfʿm |
| Link to site record |
| Modern site | Bayt Kulāb |
| Ancient site | Wʿr |
| Geographical area | Rayda |
| Country | Yemen |
| Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of ʾlmqh bʿl Myfʿm |
| Notes | The editors of the inscriptions (Bron and Lemaire 2009; Robin and de Maigret 2009) suppose that the text comes from the city of Nashqum on the basis of the nisba of its author. However, the presence of the nisba suggests that the dedication was made in a different place with respect to the author's provenance; the temple of ʾlmqh bʿl Myfʿm in Bayt Kulāb (cf. MAFY-Bayt Kulāb 1 and 2) is at present the best candidate (Multhoff 2019: 18, fn. 84). |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
This is one of the most important texts on South Arabian trade, which attests the Sabaic involvement in commercial expeditions to the north of the Arabian peninsula. The text, dated under the reign of the Sabaean king Ydʿʾl Byn son of Yṯʿʾmr, records Sabaean clashes with Maʿīn and Ḥaḍramawt. For the dating, see below.
According to Bron and Lemaire (2009), this text dates back to the beginning of the 6th century BC: the trading expedition of the author of the text north of the Arabian Peninsula probably took place in 603 or 593 BC; however, they do not exclude that it has to be placed later, around the mid-6th century (557 or 555 BC). Robin and Anthonioz (Robin and de Maigret 2009: 93, 95-96) prefer this more recent dating. Stein has proposed a later date, to the beginning of the 4th century BC (2017: 100). Sørensen and Geus (2019: 199-200) provide, from a Classicists' perspective, arguments in favour of this late chronology, establishing a relationship between the events narrated in the Sabaic inscription and the war that occurred between the Persians and Euagoras. This dating is also defended by Multhoff (2019: 12-14), on the basis of lexical comparisons with the Minaic text RES 3022.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Bron and Lemaire 2009: 12-29, pls I-IV | Bron, François and Lemaire, André 2009. Nouvelle inscription sabéenne et le commerce en Transeuphratène. Transeuphratène, 38: 12-29. |
| Robin and de Maigret 2009: 82-96, fig. 14 | Robin, Christian J. and de Maigret, Alessandro 2009. Le royaume sudarabique de Maʿīn: nouvelles données grâce aux fouilles italiennes de Barāqish (l'antique Yathill). With appendix by S. Anthonioz: "Note complémentaire sur la guerre entre la Chaldée et l'Ionie". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres: 57-96. |
| Avanzini 2016: 139-146 | Avanzini, Alessandra. By Land and by Sea. A history of South Arabia before Islam recounted from inscriptions. (Arabia Antica, 10). Roma: «L'Erma» di Bretschneider. |
| Stein 2017 | Stein, Peter 2017. Sabäer in Juda, Juden in Saba. Sprach‐ und Kulturkontakt zwischen Südarabien und Palästina in der Antike. Pages 91-120 in Ulrich Hübner and Herbert Niehr. Sprachen in Palästina im 2. und 1. Jahrtausend v. Chr.. Kolloquium des Deutschen Vereins zur Erforschung Palästinas, 02.–04. 11. 2012, Mainz. (Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palästina‐ Vereins, 43). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. |
| Sørensen and Geus 2019 | Sørensen, Søren L. and Geus, Klaus 2019. A Sabaean eyewitness to the war of Euagoras against the Persians. Synchronising Greek and Ancient South Arabian sources. Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 209: 196–204. |
| Multhoff 2019 | Multhoff, Anne 2019. Merchant and marauder—The adventures of a Sabaean clansman. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy: 1-24. 2019/11/18; https://doi.org/10.1111/aae.12127. |