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Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions

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al-ʿIrāfa 1


Gajda 2004 b: fig. 50

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Sabaic » Late Sabaic
ScriptAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Text directionRight-to-left
Text appearanceRaised
Execution techniqueIncision
Measure of letters4
Chronology
PeriodE
Textual typologyCommemorative text - fragmentary

GENERAL NOTES

According to the Gajda, Nʿmn (l.4) could be identified with a Lakhmid prince, either Nuʿmān son of Imruʾ al-Qays (beginning of fifth c.) or Nuʿmān son of Aswad (end of fifth c.).

TEXT

marker


   1  [... ...](s¹) Brdm w-(n)mr Tnḫ w-bḍʿw bn-hmw mʾtm [... ...]
   2  [... ... ](ḏ)t-rbʿn s¹fl Brkm w-ʿdyw Brkm w-ws³ʿ-hmw l-[... ...]
   3  [... ...](rt) ʿdy Ṯhyn ʾmwh S²rfn w-Mḏḥgm Nyrn w-mwr-hw [... ...]
   4  [... ...]ʿt t-ʿm Nʿmnn w-Mḍr b-Mʾs¹lm Mʾs¹l Gmḥm [... ...]
   5  [... ... Nʿ](m)nn w-ḥllw Qrmy bn-Ymmtn ʿdy Hgrm w-ʿrmtm w-[... ...]
   6  [... ... ]ʾbnm w-Mtʿlm w-Rmtn bny S¹ly s²y-hmw (w)-(m)[ ... ...]
   7  [... ...](t)-hmw w-ʾfrs¹-h(m)w [w-](ḏ)ky-hmw b-Gwm w-ml(k) [... ...]

Apparatus
The new photo in Robin's article ameliorates the reading of the text.

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  [... ...] Brdm and he destroyed the Tnḫ and they killed in battle one hundred (enemies) [... ...]
   2  [... ...] the lower part of Brkm and they arrived at Brkm and submitted to them [... ...]
   3  [... ...] up to Yhyn, the water (or: until he reaches the water) of S²rfn and the cultivated land of Nyrn and he besieged [... ...]
   4  [... ...] those who were with (?) Nʿmnn, Mḍr in Mʾs¹lm, Mʾs¹l Gmḥm [... ...]
   5  [... ...] they stayed in Qrmy of the (region of) Ymmtn, in Hgrm and in ʿrmtm [... ...]
   6  [... ...] ʾbnm, Mtʿlm, Rmtn, banū S¹ly [... ...]
   7  [... ...] and their horsemen and he sent them to Gwm and the king [... ...]
1"Les chefs de Tanūkh" (Robin).
Robin 2008 b: 200Robin, Christian J. 2008. Les Arabes de Ḥimyar, des «Romains» et des Perses (IIIe-VIe siècles de l'ère chrétienne). Semitica et Classica, 1: 167-202.

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support typeStone piece
MaterialStone
Dimensionsh. 35, w. 70
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Provenance
Modern siteal-ʿIrāfa
Ancient siteUnknown
Geographical areaẒafār
CountryYemen
FoundReemployed. In modern times
Link to site record
Origin
Modern siteẒafār
Ancient siteẒfr
Geographical areaẒafār
CountryYemen
Link to site record

CULTURAL NOTES

The inscription apparently relates some military actions in central Arabia. The mentioned tribes (Tnḫ, Mḍr) and toponyms (Brkm, Ymntn, Hgrm, Gwm etc.) are located in the regions of Najd, Yamānat and ʿAramat. The important place of Maʾsil al-Jumḥ, where the Ḥimyarites left the inscriptions Ry 509 (middle of fifth c.) and Ry 510 (beginning of sixth c.) is also referred to.
From the related events, Robin assumes that the inscription probably dates back to soon after 445 AD, namely after the conquest of Central Arabia by Ḥimyar. The text could thus have been written under (or by) the king Ḥaśśān Yuhaʾmin.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gajda 2004 b: 87-98, fig. 50Gajda, Iwona 2004. Ḥimyar en Arabie centrale - un nouveau document. Arabia. Revue de Sabéologie, 2: 87-98.
Robin 2008 b: 200-201, fig. 3Robin, Christian J. 2008. Les Arabes de Ḥimyar, des «Romains» et des Perses (IIIe-VIe siècles de l'ère chrétienne). Semitica et Classica, 1: 167-202.
Gajda 2009: 339, pl. 7aGajda, Iwona 2009. Le royaume de Ḥimyar à l'epoque monothéiste. L’histoire de l’Arabie du Sud ancienne de la fin du IV° siècle de l’ère chrétienne jusqu’à l’avénement de l’islam. (Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres, Tome 40). Paris: Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres.