Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic | ||
Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
Writing technique | Incision | ||
Chronology |
| ||
Textual typology | Dedicatory text | ||
Royal inscription | Yes |
Iryānī transcribed the text in a paragraph arrangement that did not respect the original disposition of the lines. Ryckmans was able to improve and correct the previous edition of the text on the basis of the autoptic reading of the same photograph published by Sharafaddīn, provided by Doe. |
3 | Iryānī read ʿlmm w-S¹mydʿ, while Ryckmans [w-Ḫl]l (?) w-S¹mydʿ. Robin, instead, restored the name of the god Wgl, that appears together with S¹mydʿ in the Ḥimyaritic texts. The recent edition of the text Quṣayr 1, however, suggests that the correct reading is Wll. |
5 | [... ...]tb is probably the name of goddess. The interpretation of Qrnn Ḥwrt as a double name of a sanctuary is hypothetical. |
English | |
1 Ys¹rm Yhnʿm and his son S²mr Yhrʿs², kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, dedicated to ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, [... ...] statues in bronze that he promised Him because He fulfilled them in all the requests and the favourable oracle declarations and the good news that they sought from Him with promises when they marched off from the palace Rydn and the town of Ẓfr to the town of Mryb for the kingdom of Sabaʾ [... ...] the palace S¹lḥn, 2 and may ʾlmqh Ṯhwn Lord of ʾwm grant and bestow the security and the protection of the persons of His servants Ys¹rm Yhnʿm and his son S²mr Yhrʿs², kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, and (may He) continue to fulfill them in all the requests and the favourable oracle declarations and the good news they will request and seek from Him; may He save and protect the lords of the palaces S¹lḥn and Rydn 3 and may He grant them first-fruits of the cereal crops of spring and autumns to both their possessions - the possession of ʿṯtr and ʾlmqh and Wll and S¹mydʿ - and soundness of faculties and material resources; 4 may He humiliate, crush, overthrow and repel from them all their wars and their enemies and any war and enemy and affair that may arise against them and any unfavourable accident that may be brought against them from sea and land. 5 By ʿṯtr and Hbs¹ and ʾlmqh and Wllm and S¹mydʿ [... ...] and by ḏt Ḥmym and by ḏt Bʿdnm and by the solar god of the king, Tnf Lady of Ġḍrn [... ...]tb Lady of Qrnn Ḥwrt and by ʾlmqh, Lord of ʾwm. |
Deposit | Ṣanʿāʾ, al-Kuhālī collection (Private collection) |
Support type | Artefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription |
Material | Stone |
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 |
Sharafaddīn 1961: 36 (lower photo) | Sharafaddīn, Aḥmad H. 1961. Yemen. Arabia Felix. Taʿizz. |
Sharafaddīn 1967: 82-83 | Sharafaddīn, Aḥmad H. 1967. Taʾrīḫ al-Yaman al-ṯaqāfī. Cairo. |
al-Iryānī 1973: 88-92 | al-Iryānī, Muṭahhar 1973. Fī taʾriḫ al-Yaman. Cairo. |
Ryckmans, Jacques 1974: 242, 256-257 | Ryckmans, Jacques 1974. Himyaritica 3. Le Muséon, 87: 237-263. |
al-Iryānī 1990: 123-127 | al-Iryānī, Muṭahhar 1990. Fī-taʾrīḫ al-Yaman. Nuquš musnadiya wa-taʿliqāt. Ṣanʿāʾ: Markaz al-dirāsāt wa-l-buḥūṯ al-Yamanī. |
Robin 1987 c: 121 | Robin, Christian J. 1987. L'inscription Ir 40 de Bayt Ḍabʿân et la tribu Ḏmry. Appendice: Les inscriptions Gl 1192, Gl 1197 et Gr 27. Pages 113-157 in Christian J. Robin and Muḥammad ʿA. Bāfaqīh (eds). Ṣayhadica. Recherches sur les inscriptions de l'Arabie préislamique offertes par ses collègues au professeur A.F. L. Beeston. (Arabie préislamique, 1). Paris: Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner. |