CC BY 4.0
The above license applies to the data in this record, but not to any images displayed. The images are the property
of third parties and are either used with permission or reproduced from publications (see the credits below each image).
CIH 84
Jändl 2009: 234, pl. XV
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic | ||
| Script | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Text direction | Right-to-left | ||
| Text appearance | Raised | ||
| Execution technique | Casting | ||
| Measure of letters | 1.6 | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
GENERAL NOTES
| For a general hypothesis of a date for the bronze tablets from ʿAmrān, cf. Avanzini 2008 b. |
TEXT
1 S¹rʿm Mʿnyn hqny ʾlmq—
2 h ḏ-Hrn ḏn ms³ndn ḏ-s²f—
3 t-hw b-kn hʾḫḏ S¹bʾyn
4 w-ʾs¹d((ʾs¹d)) hʾḫḏw l-lqṭ-h—
5 w b-Byt bn Ṣwfn w-s¹t—
6 mlʾ b-ʿm-hw b-m-hwt ʿṣr—
7 n w-hwfy-hw b-ms¹ʾl-hw w-
8 hṯb l-ḫyl ʾlmqh tʾmnm
9 w-l yzʾn ʾlmqhw ṣdq ʿbd-h—
10 w S¹rʿm b-ʾmlʾ ys¹tmlʾn b-ʿm-hw
| 5 | Byt bn Ṣwfn could be a toponym (Beeston 1976: 407). The last line on the edge of the bronze plaque. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 S¹rʿm, the Minaean, dedicated to ʾlmq- 2 h ḏ-Hrn this tablet, which he promised 3 Him, when an attempt was made by the Sabaean 4 and by those (others) who made the attempt to capture him 5 at Bayt banū Ṣwfn and he 6 petitioned for His favour in that very danger, 7 and He granted him in His oracle and 8 he gave assurance of his faith in the might of ʾlmqh, 9 and may ʾlmqhw continue to perform a favourable declaration to His servant 10 S¹rʿm in the oracle which he asks Him. |
| 3-4 | after much uncertainty, and finding myself unable to propose an alternative, I have accepted the translation of the text proposed by Beeston 1976 a: 407-408. The causative form of ʾḫḏ (l. 3) and lqṭ (l. 4) are hapax. |
| Beeston 1976 a | Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1976. Notes on Old South Arabian lexicography X. Le Muséon, 89: 407-423. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Deposit | London, The British Museum, BM 48480=1862,0829.1 |
| Support type | Artefact » Plaque » With framework |
| Material | Bronze |
| Dimensions | h. 23.2, w. 15.3, th. 0.3 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | ʿAmrān |
| Ancient site | ʿmrn |
| Geographical area | ʿAmrān |
| Country | Yemen |
| Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple ʾlmqh ḏ-Hrn |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
If the Beeston's translation of ll. 3-4 is right, we have a Minaean in ʿAmrān in the second or third century AD who requested the protection of the principal Sabaean god Almaqah against attack from a Sabaean. I find it rather bizarre but I am unable to propose an alternative to the Beeston's translation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Beeston 1937 a: 21-22 | Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1937. Sabaean inscriptions. Oxford. |
| Jändl 2009: 90, pl. XV | Jändl, Barbara 2009. Altsüdarabische Inschriften auf Metall. (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, 4). Tübingen: Wasmuth / Berlin: Wasmuth. |
| Beeston 1976 a | Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1976. Notes on Old South Arabian lexicography X. Le Muséon, 89: 407-423. |
| Avanzini 2008 b | Avanzini, Alessandra 2008. Criteri editoriali per la pubblicazione dello CSAI. Egitto e Vicino Oriente, 31: 145-157. |