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LuBM 2
Frantsouzoff 2006: 70, figs 1, 2A, 2C
Frantsouzoff 2006: 70, figs 1, 2A, 2C
By kind permission of British Museum
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Minaic » Central Minaic | ||
| Script | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Text direction | Right-to-left | ||
| Text appearance | Recessed | ||
| Execution technique | Incision | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
TEXT
1 ʿmydʿ ← bn Yṯʿkr←b ḥlf ḥlf
2 ʾṯrt ʿ←lb b-krb | ← s¹brrt
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 ʿmydʿ son of Yṯʿkrb dedicated with an oath to 2 ʾṯrt ʿlb, as an obligation from which She released (him). |
| 1 | I would translate ḥlf ḥlf as "to dedicate with an oath" in preference to "to swear the oath of the goddess". |
| 2 | krb s¹brr has been found in many MIN inscriptions, with scholars usually maintaining that the subject of the verb is the author of the inscription: "an offer of which he acquitted himself". In our context it is clear that the subject is the goddess. The god/goddess frees the worshipper from the obligation to present a dedication, i.e. He/She accepts the offered dedication. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Deposit | London, The British Museum, BM 136211=1975,0120.1 |
| Support type | Artefact » Sculpture in the round » Animal figure |
| Material | Stone |
| Dimensions | h. 14, w. 16, th. 16 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Unknown |
| Ancient site | Unknown |
| Geographical area | Unknown |
| Country | Unknown |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
It is to note the presence of the goddess ʾṯrt in the Minaean area.
ʿlb is an epithet of the goddess; Frantsouzoff notes: "The expression ʾṯrt ʿlb 'Athīrat of ʿilb-tree' which is interpreted as the first allusion to the worship of sacred trees in ancient Souh Arabia, represents a close parallel to the cult of the Canaanite goddess Asherah in the Bible".
ʿlb is an epithet of the goddess; Frantsouzoff notes: "The expression ʾṯrt ʿlb 'Athīrat of ʿilb-tree' which is interpreted as the first allusion to the worship of sacred trees in ancient Souh Arabia, represents a close parallel to the cult of the Canaanite goddess Asherah in the Bible".
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Frantsouzoff 2006: 69-77, figs 1-2 | Frantsouzoff, Serguei A. 2006. A Minaic inscription on the pedestal of an ibex figurine from the British Museum. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 36: 69-77. |