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Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions

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RES 2687


INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

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

GENERAL NOTES

Rhodokanakis worked on a squeeze made by the Austrian 'Südarabische Expedition'. The photo was firstly published by Doe.

TEXT

marker


   1  S²kmm S¹lḥn bn Rḍwn q(t)dm (h)-(m)rʾ-(s¹ )(Ys²)[h](rʾl) (Yhr)[ʿ](s²) bn ʾbys³ʿ (mk)rb Ḥḍr(m)t mt ʾmr-s¹ mrʾ-s¹ww
   2  Hys³[ʿ]ʾl ʿlhn bn Bnʾl w-Dws¹m Ms¹(bm) (bn) Ẓrb h-b(n)ʾ ʿqbthn Qlt w-ʿqb Ḥgr ʿlhtyhn bn bḥrhn qdmm ʿlhy gr—
   3  bt w-(nh)mt w-gs¹mhy gnʾ Qlt w-ʿqb(h)n (m)t ḥḏrw b-Ḥmyrm w-tbʿ Hys³ʿʾl w-Dws¹m w-ʿm-s¹mn bn ʾbhty Ḥḍrmt w-mts¹k b-
   4  Myfʿ(t) w-(Ḍyfth)n qrnhm w-bny w-yʿr ʿqb Ḍyfthn w-bny gnʾhn w-mḥfdyhn Yḏʾn w-Yḏtʾn w-ḫlfhn Ykn b-mʿrb ws³dm w-ḍwym |
   5  [... ...] w-ʾbry bn-mw rbbm ʾd s²qrm bn-mw lbn S²ms¹ b-hy Ys²(r)ḥ(ʾ)l ḏ-ʿḏḏm s³nyhn s²l(s³)t ʾwrḫm b-ʿs²ry w-mʾt ʾs¹dm gs¹mh(m)

Apparatus
1mbrʾ byt mrʾ-s¹ Yʿrs² (Rhodokanakis 1917, corrected in 1927);
[l]-mrʾ-s¹ (RES); the reading h-mrʾ-s¹, however, is not completely sure.
Ys²[k](rʾl) (Rhodokanakis, RES); Ys²hrʾl was firstly suggested by Robin; Jamme maintained Rhodokanakis' reading.
2Ms¹bḍ (Rhodokanakis, Avanzini), Mbḍḍ (RES).
4w-ẓwr (Rhodokanakis 1917, corrected in 1927); ws³dm (Avanzini).
5Approximately 11 letters are missing in the lacuna at the beginning of the line.
s²qrn, s²ls²n (RES).
The engraver wrote firstly ḏ-hy, then corrected it as b-hy.
ʿḏḏm is a name of an eponym in CT 10; Ys²rḥʾl might be his son and successor.

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  S²kmm S¹lḥn son of Rḍwn directed (the construction works) for his lord Ys²hrʾl Yhrʿs² son of ʾbys³ʿ mukarrib of Ḥaḍramawt, when his two lords
   2  Hys³ʿʾl ʿlhn son of Bnʾl and Dws¹m Ms¹bm son of Ẓrb ordered him to build the fortress of Qlt and the defences of Ḥgr, the highlands (of the region fo Ḥgr, extending) from the sea in front, up to (?) the rough-hewn stones
   3  and the polished stones and the constructions of the city wall of Qlt and of the defences; when they were in fear in Ḥmyrm and then departed Hys³ʿʾl and Dws¹m and - together with them - (some of) the chiefs of Ḥaḍramawt, and arrived
   4  at Myfʿt and Ḍyfthn as garrison, and built and made inaccessible the defences of Ḍyfthn and built the city wall and the two towers Yḏʾn and Yḏtʾn and the gate Ykn with dressed stone, and a barrier and a shelter,
   5  [... ...] and passages (?), from foundation to top, by grace of S²ms¹, during the second year of Ys²rḥʾl of ʿḏḏm, in three months, and by (the help of) hundred twenty men for the construction.

German

   1  S²kmm S¹lḥn Sohn des Rḍwn, hat als Leiter übernommen für seinen Herrn Ys²krʾl Yhrʿs² Sohnes des ʾbys³ʿ, des Mukarrib von Ḥaḍramōt, als ihm Befehl gaben seine zwei Herrn
   2  Hys³ʿʾl ʿlhn, Sohn des Bnʾl und Dws¹m Ms¹bḍ, Sohn des Ẓrb zum Bau der Feste Qlt und der Festen, welche die zwei Höhen vom Meere absperren: vorne (an der Auszenseite war ihr Bau) aus Bruch-
   3  Steinen und behauenen Quadern; und (bei) der massiven Aufführung der Mauer (der Feste) Qlt und der (anderen) Festen, als man gegen die Ḥimyaren sich verteidigte. Und er leistete Folge (rückte aus) dem Hys³ʿʾl und Dws¹m und ihre väterliche Verwandtschaft unter den Familien Ḥaḍramauts, und er behauptete
   4  Maifaʿat und die Enge im Kampfe, und baute und (füllte die unebenen Stellen) der Festen der Enge und baute die Mauer und die zwei Türme Yḏʾn und Yḏtʾn und das Tor Ykn aus Quadern und eine Wegsperre und einen Unterschlupf (Sammelplatz für die Verteidiger)
   5  ... und die Torwege vom Grunde bis hinauf aus Ziegeln, an der Sonne getrocknet; in dem (Jahren des) Ys²rḥʾl, Sippe ʿḏḏm, im zweiten Jahre, binnen drei Monaten und mit 210 Mann; in massiver Ausführung.
1"hat als Leiter übernommen den Bau der Burg seines Herrn Yrʿs²" (Rhodokanakis 1917, following his earlier reading).
4"und baute und stützte mit Pfeilern" (Rhodokanakis 1917, where he read ẓwr instead of yʿr).
5"in zweiten Jahre, binnen drei Monaten und mit 120 Mann" (Rhodokanakis 1917, he then corrected the translation of ḏy in the appendix of the same study).
Rhodokanakis 1917: 48-49, 171Rhodokanakis, Nikolaus 1917. Studien zur Lexikographie und Grammatik des Altsüdarabischen. II Heft. (Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, 185/3). Vienna: Alfred Hölder.

English

   1  S²kkm S¹lḥn son of Rḍwn directed (the construction works) for his lord Yashhurʾil Yhrʿs² son of ʾbys³ʿ mukarrib of Ḥaḍramawt, when his two lords
   2  Hys³ʿʾl ʿlhn son of Bnʾl and Dws¹m Ms¹bḍ son of Ẓrb ordered him to build the fortress of Qlt, and the defences of Ḥgr, the two territories from the sea (which is) in front of, up to the rough-hewn stones
   3  and the polished stones and the constructions of the city wall of Qlt and of the defences; when they were on their guard in Ḥmyrm, and S²kkm followed Hys³ʿʾl and Dws¹m and together with them (some of) the chiefs of Ḥaḍramawt, and they stopped in
   4  Myfʿt and Ḍyfthn as garrison, and (there) they built and made inaccessible the defences of Ḍyfthn; and (in Qlt), he (S²kkm) built the city wall and the two towers Yḏʾn and Yḏtʾn and the gate Ykn with dressed stone, as defensive structure and shelter,
   5  [... ...] and (?), from foundation to top, by grace of S²ms¹, during the second year of Ys²rḥʾl of ʿḏḏm, in three months, and by (the help of) hundred twenty men for the construction.
5The correct interpretation of hy as a noun indicating the (eponymate) year has been done by Multhoff (p.c. to the CSAI project, also mentioned in Stein).
Avanzini 2008 a: 632Avanzini, Alessandra 2008. Notes for a history of Sumhuram and a new inscription of Yashhurʾil. Pages 609-641 in Alessandra Avanzini (ed.). A port in Arabia between Rome and the Indian Ocean (3rd C. BC-5th C. AD). Khor Rori Report 2. (Arabia Antica, 5). Rome: «L'Erma» di Bretschneider.
Stein 2011: 179Stein, Peter 2011. Review of Avanzini, Alessandra (ed.) 2008. A port in Arabia between Rome and the Indian Ocean (3rd C. BC-5th C. AD). Khor Rori Report 2. (Arabia Antica, 5). Rome: «L'Erma» di Bretschneider. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 161: 177-181.

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support typeArchitectural structure » Gate
MaterialStone
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin and provenance
Modern siteal-Bināʾ
Ancient siteQlt
Geographical areaSouthern Ḥaḍramawt
CountryYemen
FoundIn situ
Archaeological contextUrban context: City gate
Link to site record

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Rhodokanakis 1917: 48-54Rhodokanakis, Nikolaus 1917. Studien zur Lexikographie und Grammatik des Altsüdarabischen. II Heft. (Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, 185/3). Vienna: Alfred Hölder.
Rhodokanakis 1927 a: 69-70, fn. 6Rhodokanakis, Nikolaus 1927. Altsabäische Texte I. (Sitzungsberichte der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, 206). Wien und Leipzig: Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky A.-G..
Wissmann and Höfner 1952: 311-317Wissmann, Hermann von and Höfner, Maria 1952. Beiträge zur historischen Geographie des vorislamischen Südarabien. (Abhandlungen der Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaftlichen Klasse, 4). Mainz: Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur / Wiesbaden: Steiner.
Doe 1971: fig. 80Doe, D. Brian 1971. Southern Arabia. London: Thames and Hudson.
Robin 1994 b: 101-111Robin, Christian J. 1994. Yashhurʾil Yuharʿish, fils d'Abiyasaʿ, mukarrib du Ḥaḍramawt. Raydān, 6: 101-111.
Jamme 1995: 83-84 (photo)Jamme, Albert W.F. 1995. Miscellanées d'ancient arabe XVIII. Washington. 2025/04/17; https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.38250297. [Privately printed]
Prioletta 2006: 259, fig. 2Prioletta, Alessia 2006. Note di epigrafia Hadramawtica 1. L'alternanza di ṯ e s³. Egitto e Vicino Oriente, 29: 249-267.
Avanzini 2008 a: 632, fig. 13Avanzini, Alessandra 2008. Notes for a history of Sumhuram and a new inscription of Yashhurʾil. Pages 609-641 in Alessandra Avanzini (ed.). A port in Arabia between Rome and the Indian Ocean (3rd C. BC-5th C. AD). Khor Rori Report 2. (Arabia Antica, 5). Rome: «L'Erma» di Bretschneider.