CSAI
Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions

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as-Sawdāʾ 98


Arbach 2022: 72, fig. 19
By kind permission of M. Arbach

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Minaic » Central Minaic
ScriptAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Text directionRight-to-left
Text appearanceRecessed
Execution techniqueIncision
Chronology
PeriodA
Textual typologyDedicatory text
Royal inscriptionYes

TEXT

marker


   1  [.]l[.] bn ʿ(m)[wtr] ʾḫ ʿmyṯʿ
   2  w-ʿms²fq s¹ḥdṯ ms¹*l*m ʾl Qrẓn
   3  ywm bny Ygr w-kbr Ḫs²(ʿ)

Apparatus
1Arbach (2021: 228–229) suggested ʿmwtr, the name of a king of Nashshān (8th c. BCE), as the most plausible restoration for the patronymic of the text author. Alternatively, the name can be restored as ʿmʿly, ʿmwtr's father (Rossi 2022: 110).
2That the ġ of ms¹ġm is the result of the engraver’s correction to obtain the l is evident from the two vertical bars, too close to be part of an original ġ (Rossi 2022: 110).
3Ḫs²ʿ is attested only as a person name (YM 26688). According to Arbach, it is a name of a building. It cannot be excluded that is refers to a geographic or social entity (Rossi 2022: 110).

OBJECT INFORMATION

DepositṢanʿāʾ, The National Museum, YM 16798
Support typeArtefact » Altar
ShapeSquared
MaterialStone
Dimensionsh. 17, w. 28.5, th. 64
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin
Modern siteas-Sawdāʾ
Ancient siteNs²n
Geographical areaJawf - Wādī al-Buhayra
CountryYemen
Archaeological contextReligious context: The original provenance might be a temple or shrine of ʾl Qrẓn, as the god is mentioned in l. 2 (Rossi 2022: 110).
Link to site record

CULTURAL NOTES

This inscription includes the first attestation of the divinity ʾl Qrẓn (Rossi 2022: 110).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arbach 2021 a: 228-229, fig. 4Arbach, Mounir 2021. Nouvelles inscriptions des sites antiques du Jawf (Yémen). Semitica et Classica, 14: 223-231. 2023/11/06; https://doi.org/10.1484/J.SEC.5.129528.
Arbach 2022: 72, fig. 19Arbach, Mounir 2022. The city-states of the Jawf at the dawn of Ancient South Arabian history (8th-6th centuries BCE). I. From cities to kingdoms. (Arabia Antica, 17/1). Roma: «L'Erma» di Bretschneider. 2025/12/29; https://doi.org/10.48255/9788891322920.
Rossi 2022: 109-110Rossi, Irene 2022. The city-states of the Jawf at the dawn of Ancient South Arabian history (8th-6th centuries BCE). II. Corpus of the inscriptions. (Arabia Antica, 17/2). Roma: «L'Erma» di Bretschneider.