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).
JRy Plaquette Beeston
Ryckmans, Jacques 1991: 1376 (photo) 1377 (facsimile)
Ryckmans, Jacques 1991: 1376 (photo) 1377 (facsimile)
By kind permission of British Museum
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Southern Middle Sabaic | ||
| Script | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Text direction | Right-to-left | ||
| Text appearance | Recessed | ||
| Execution technique | Incision | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
GENERAL NOTES
| The date in the period C is hypothetical, but it is certain that it was produced at the same time as BM 132932. The letters were chiselled in the form known as "double trace". |
TEXT
1 [... ...]
2 [w-Mb]hl w-S²ḏbm | [..]
3 [....] hqny ḏn m(s³)n(d)[n]
4 [ḏ]-(ḏ)hbn l-ʾm ʾltm-(b)ʿlt [...]
5 [...] ḏ-yrg-h ḏt (m)s¹[...]
6 [... ...] ḏ-fnw ʾhl-hm[... ...]
7 [.] b-ḏt hʾmnt-hw [..]
8 t(n)ḍʿ-hw w-b-ḏt t—
9 s²ymn ʾm ʾltm
10 mt yrg-h wfy (kl)
11 [.]t w-S²hl w-Mbhl w-S²—
12 [ḏbm] w-bkl-hmw bn [...]
13 [... ...]
14 [... ...]
| 1 | J. Ryckmans reads: [...](lm)[..]n[... ...]. |
| 3 | J. Ryckmans reads: [.]y(t) hqny ḏn m(s³)nd. |
| 4 | J. Ryckmans reads: [.]ṯhbn l-ʾm ʾltm-(b)ʿl. |
| 5 | J. Ryckmans reads: [b]ḏt yrg-h ḏt (y)s¹[.](n)-. |
| 6 | J. Ryckmans reads: (n b-h) ḏ-b-fnw ʾ(h)l-(hm)[.]. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 [... ...] 2 [and Mb]hl and S²ḏbm [..] 3 [....] dedicated this tablet 4 of bronze to the Mother of Goddesses, the Lady of [...] 5 [...] because he asks to Her this [...] 6 [... ...] in front of their community (?) [... ...] 7 [.] because She protected him [..] 8 he implored Her because 9 the Mother of Goddess gives assurance 10 when he asks to Her the well-being of all (?) 11 [.] and S²hl and Mbhl and S²- 12 [ḏbm] and their settlers from[...] 13 [... ...] 14 [... ...] |
| 5 | the verb yrg, which J. Ryckmans compares wity the Arabic rajā "to ask", is not attested anyewhere else in the ASA corpus. |
| 6 | the translation of the line is very difficult; we accepted Ryckmans' interpretation, but perhaps a concrete meaning would be more accurate, e.g. "in front of their cistern". |
| 8 | in contrast to lines 5 and 10, where the suffix pronoun for the goddess is, as expected, the feminine form -h, here we have -hw. It would also be possible to inerpretate the verb as a form of prefix-conjugation with the goddess as the subject and the pronoun referring of the author: "which She will grant to him". |
| 10 | I find it interesting that the mt conjunction, which has been documented in HAD and on the high plateau, is used. |
| 10-11 | kl-[.]t could be a proper name. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Deposit | London, The British Museum, BM 2007,6023.1 |
| Support type | Artefact » Plaque |
| Material | Bronze |
| Dimensions | h. 12.5, w. 8.5, th. 0.2 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Unknown |
| Ancient site | Unknown |
| Geographical area | Unknown |
| Country | Unknown |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
BM 132932 and this inscription are dedicated to "the mother of the goddesses". The divinities called with a kinship's name (cf. "the daughters of ʾl") are an interesting ASA cultural trait.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Ryckmans, Jacques 1991: 1370-1384, photo and facsimile | Ryckmans, Jacques 1991. Une plaquette de cuivre avec dédicace sabéenne à la "mère de déesses". Pages 1370-1384 in Alan S. Kaye (ed.). Semitic studies in honor of Wolf Leslau on the occasion of his eighty-fifth birthday, November 14th, 1991. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. |
| Jändl 2009: 108-109 | Jändl, Barbara 2009. Altsüdarabische Inschriften auf Metall. (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, 4). Tübingen: Wasmuth / Berlin: Wasmuth. |