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Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions

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CT 4


INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Ḥaḍramitic
ScriptAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Text directionRight-to-left
Text appearanceRecessed
Execution techniqueIncision
Chronology
PeriodB2
Textual typologyDedicatory text

TEXT

marker


   1  ʿs¹mm bn Ḥbs¹m k(b)[r R]—
   2  (m)[y w]-ʿqnm ʾmnw h(gr)—
   3  (hn) Mḏbm s¹qnyw S¹yn ḏ-
   4  Mḏbm ms³ndhn w-qṣʾ-s¹
   5  (b)-s³nym ywm-(ḏ)-S¹mw w-s¹ḥds³ w-
   6  gs¹m b-ʾmnt-s¹mn bʾrhn S²ʿ—
   7  bt w-s¹ʿqb-s³ rḥhtm w-md—
   8  rr w-mqld w-ʾʿtbm w-b |
   9  (qṣ)m w-mʿrb w-qdm-b-s³ ʾd
  10  (qwm)t (bʾ)r(h)n ḏ-hgrhn Mḏ—
  11  (bm) w-b s²rk-Rm(y) w-(b) (bnh)—
  12  [y] (F)[.](ḥm) (b)[.](r)[... ...]

Apparatus
5The preposition b is written on a previous ʿ.
ḏ-S¹mw as a month name (Ryckmans, Smith) or as a divine name (Beeston, Murtazin, Frantsouzoff).
8-9mqṣm (all the editors).
10*b*-hgrhn (Murtazin).
11w-ḏ bnh (Ryckmans).
12Fmḥm (Frantsouzoff).

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  ʿs¹mm son of Ḥbs¹m, kbr of Rmy
   2  and ʿqnm, ʾmn of the town
   3  Mḏbm, dedicated to S¹yn
   4  ḏ-Mḏbm the inscription and offered it
   5  with a second (sacrifice), in the day of ḏ-S¹mw, and they restored and
   6  built during their office the well
   7  S²ʿbt, and they enlarged it with large stones,
   8  a canal, a basin and steps, and with
   9  gypsum and dressed stones, and they were in charge of this (work) until
  10  the completion (or: up to the top) of the well, that of the town Mḏbm,
  11  and with the support of Rmy and by the sons
  12  of F[.]ḥm [... ...]
7-8"and they built next to it auxiliary installations and a gutter and a tank and the steps; and they directed (the construction) of it until the completion of the well" (Frantsouzoff, translated from Russian, Ed.).
Frantsouzoff 1998 b: 144-145Frantsouzoff, Serguei A. 1998. O vodopol'zovanii v drevnem Vnutrennem Hadramaute. Epigrafika Vostoka, 25: 130-151.

French

   1  ʿAsamum, fils de Ḥabîsum, kabî[r de Ramay
   2  et ...] ʿAqnum, aristocrates de la vil-
   3  le de Maḏâbum, ont dédié à Sîn Ḏû-
   4  Maḏâbum cette inscription, et s’en sont acquittés
   5  au deuxième jour de Ḏû-Samâw. Et ils ont renouvelé et
   6  bâti en construction massive avec leur part (?) le puits Shuʿ-
   7  bat, et ils l’ont refait en largeur, et le con-
   8  duit, et le bassin, et les degrés. Et (ils l’ont bâti) en gros oeuvre
   9  et en pierre équarries. Et ils ont ordonné ce (travail) jusqu’au
  10  sommet du puits de la ville de Maḏâ-
  11  bum, et avec la participation de (la tribu) de Ramay, et ....
6"In their capacity as ʾmn" (Smith).
5-9"And they have erected and built solidly with the help of the trustees of them both the well Šaʿbat, and they have built it compactly with large stones and tough clay and ropes and bolts and with gypsum and hewn stones" (Jamme).
7-10Höfner: "Oeffnung, Brunnenkranz" (rḥhtm); "das sind die lotrechten Pfosten bei den Ziehbrunnen, auf Holz oder Steinen, auf denen die eigentliche Ziehvorrichtung ruht" (qwmt); Schöpfgefäss (mdrr); "die schiefen Ebenen, auf denen die Zugtiere auf- und abgehen" (ʾʿtbm); "Wasserbecken" (mqld).
9-11"[The ʾmn-officials] gave the directions for it up to the head, (that is) this well belonging to the city Mḏb, and by means of a partnership between the tribe Rmy and (some other tribe) ..." (Smith).
Ryckmans, Gonzague 1944: 160Ryckmans, Gonzague 1944. Epigraphy. The inscriptions from the Moon Temple. Pages 155-184 in Gertrude Caton Thompson. The Tombs and Moon Temple of Hureidha (Hadhramaut). (Reports of the Research Committee and of the Society of Antiquaries of London, 13). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Smith 1945: 452, 454Smith, Sidney 1945. An Inscription from the Temple of Sin at Ḥuraydha in the Ḥadhramawt. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 11/3: 451-464.
Höfner 1949: 128-129Höfner, Maria 1949. G. Caton Thompson. The Tombs and Moon Temple of Hureydha (Hadhramaut) Caton Thompson, Gertrude 1944. The Tombs and Moon Temple of Hureidha (Hadhramaut). (Reports of the Research Committee and of the Society of Antiquaries of London, 13). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Bibliotheca Orientalis, 6: 124-129.
Jamme 1972: 71Jamme, Albert W.F. 1972. Miscellanées d'ancient arabe III. Washington. 2025/04/17; https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.38250312. [Privately printed]

OBJECT INFORMATION

DepositḤurayḍa, Unknown (Private collection)
Support typeStone piece
MaterialStone
Dimensionsh. 63, w. 30
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin and provenance
Modern siteḤurayḍa
Ancient siteMḏbm
Geographical areaWestern Ḥaḍramawt
CountryYemen
Archaeological contextReligious context: Temple of S¹yn ḏ-Mḏbm
NotesPavement in entrance passage, Area IIIa. The text is a dedication, but with a construction text embedded in it.
Link to site record

CULTURAL NOTES

The dedicant is a kbr; together with another man, they are the ʾmnw of the town.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ryckmans, Gonzague 1944: 158-160, pl. LXIII/3Ryckmans, Gonzague 1944. Epigraphy. The inscriptions from the Moon Temple. Pages 155-184 in Gertrude Caton Thompson. The Tombs and Moon Temple of Hureidha (Hadhramaut). (Reports of the Research Committee and of the Society of Antiquaries of London, 13). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Smith 1945: 451-464Smith, Sidney 1945. An Inscription from the Temple of Sin at Ḥuraydha in the Ḥadhramawt. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 11/3: 451-464.
Beeston 1956: 9Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1956. Epigraphic South Arabian calendars and dating. London: Luzac.
Frantsouzoff 1998 b: 144-147Frantsouzoff, Serguei A. 1998. O vodopol'zovanii v drevnem Vnutrennem Hadramaute. Epigrafika Vostoka, 25: 130-151.
Murtazin 1995: 268Murtazin, M.F. 1995. O social'noy strukture drevnego khadramautskogo goroda Mazab. (On the social structure of ancient Ḥaḍramawt city of Madhab). Pages 265-272 in Petr A. Grjaznevič and Alexander V. Sedov (eds). Khadramaut. Arkheologiceskie, etnograficeskie i istoriko-kul'turnye issledovaniya. Trudy Sovetsko-Yemenskoy kompleksnoy ekspedicii. (Ḥaḍramawt. Archaeological, Ethnological and Historical Studies. Preliminary Reports of the Soviet-Yemeni Joint Complex Expedition). Moscow: Vostochnaya literatura RAN.