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Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions

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Robin-Maʿīn 4


INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Minaic » Central Minaic
ScriptAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Text directionRight-to-left
Text appearanceRecessed
Execution techniqueIncision
Chronology
PeriodA-B
Textual typologyLists of foreign wives

GENERAL NOTES

Robin-Maʿīn 4 and 5 are engraved on two adjacent sides of the same pillar.
Ll. 5-7 of Robin-Maʿīn 4 go back to period A, in contrast with the rest of the inscription which is dated to period B.

TEXT

marker


      [... ...]
   1  ʾmr Mrdm bn[ ʿ]—
   2  mʾns¹ ḏ-Ẓyrn ḏ-ʾhl
   3  Mwqh s¹krb w-ḫs³r
   4  S¹lmb bn Ġzt|
   5  Lḥyʿṯt bn B—
   6  [ʿṯ](tr) ḏ-[..](r) (ḫ)—
   7  [s³r ... ...]

Apparatus
1There is a possibility that [... ...]ʾmr in Robin-Maʿīn 4/1 should be reconstructed as
Mhʾmr (the tribe that preceded the Amīr in ruling over Najrān; Rossi 2023: 176). The latter is normally attested with the spelling Mhʾmrm in Sabaic, which could, however, be linked to the more frequent use of the final -m on tribal names in this language (Arbach and Rossi 2024: 36, fn. 29).
5-6The most probable restoration of the patronymic is Bʿṯtr. Robin 2021 reads only the first and the last letter of the name (Rossi 2023: 182, fn. 87).
Robin does not propose a reading for what follows. The reading of a R is quite clear as the last letter of the lineage name, directly followed by what seems to be a Ḫ, probably the first letter of the formulaic verb ḫs³r: the indication of the clan name introduced by ḏ-ʾhl seems to be missing in this inscription (Rossi 2022: 355).
6Robin 2021 does not propose a reading of the lineage name. The last letters is certainly a R; the first letter could be a ʾ (Rossi 2023: 182, fn. 87) or a N, while the one in the middle might be m or l: a plausible reconstruction is Nmr, a well-attested Minaean family which was part of the important clan Gbʾn (Rossi 2022: 335).

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support typeArchitectural structure » Pillar
MaterialStone
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin and provenance
Modern siteMaʿīn
Ancient siteQrnw
Geographical areaJawf - Wādī Madhab
CountryYemen
FoundIn situ
NotesStone pillar near an intra-muros building.
Link to site record

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Robin 2021: 225-226, fig. 7Robin, Christian J. 2021. Nouveaux fragments des listes de « femmes étrangères » naturalisées dans le royaume sudarabique de Maʿīn. Pages 219-226 in Christian Darles, Lamya Khalidi and Mounir Arbach (eds). Contacts between South Arabia and the Horn of Africa, from the Bronze Age to Islam. Toulouse: Presses Universitaires du Midi.
Rossi 2022: 354-355, fig. 67Rossi, 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.
Rossi 2023: 176, 182, fn. 87Rossi, Irene 2023. Nouvelles listes de femmes étrangères des Minéens et première mention d’Édom en Arabie du Sud. Pages 151-182 in Iwona Gajda and Françoise Briquel-Chatonnet (eds). Arabie – Arabies. Volume offert à Christian Julien Robin par ses collègues, ses élèves et ses amis. Avec la collaboration de Denise Aigle. Paris: Geuthner.