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Ry 506 Murayghān 1
Ryckmans, Gonzague 1953: pl. II
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Late Sabaic | ||
| Script | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Text direction | Right-to-left | ||
| Text appearance | Recessed | ||
| Execution technique | Incision | ||
| Measure of letters | 10 | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Commemorative text | ||
| Royal inscription | Yes |
TEXT
1 b-ḫyl Rḥmnn w-ms¹ḥ-hw mlkn ʾbrh z-b-Ymn((ʾbrh Zbymn)) mlk S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn w-Ḥḍrmwt
2 w-Ymnt w-{r}ʾʿrb-hmw Ṭwdm w-Thmt s¹ṭrw ḏn s¹ṭrn k-ġzyw
3 Mʿdm ġzwtn rbʿtn b-wrḫn ḏ-Ṯbtn k-qs¹dw kl bny-ʿmrm
4 w-ḏky mlkn ʾbgbr b-ʿm Kdt w-ʿl w-Bs²rm bn-Ḥṣnm b-ʿm
5 S¹ʿdm w-Mr(dm) w-(ḥ)ḍrw qdmy gys²n ʿly Bny-ʿmrm Kdt w-ʿl b-wd (ḏ)-Mr(ḫ)( w)-Mrdm w-S¹ʿdm b-wd
6 b-mnhl Trbn w-hrgw w-ʾs³rw w-ġnmw ḏ-ʿs¹m w-mḫḍ mlkn b-Ḥlbn w-dnw
7 (k)-ẓl Mʿdm w-rhnw w-bʿd-n-hw ws³ʿ-hmw ʿmrm bn Mḏrn
8 w-rhn-hmw bn-hw w-s¹tḫlf-hw ʿly Mʿdm w-qflw bn Ḥl—
9 [b]n [b-]ḫyl Rḥmnn wrḫ-hw ḏ-ʾln ḏ-l-ṯny w-s¹ṯy w-s¹ṯ mʾtm
| The reading has been improved by Sayyed after new photos. | |
| 1 | On the stone: zybmn to correct in z-b-Ymn, but in Murayghān 3, 1: Zybmn. |
| 2 | for Ymnt see Robin 2013: 131-133. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 By the power of Rḥmnn and his Messiah, the king Abraha who is in Yemen, king of Sabaʾ, ḏu-Raydān, Ḥaḍramawt, 2 Ymnt and his nomads of Ṭwdm and Thmt wrote this inscription when he had raided Mʿdm 3 in the fourth raid, in the month ḏ-Ṯbtn, and when all the Bny-ʿmrm had revolted. 4 Now the king sent ʾbgbr with Kinda and ʿl, and Bs²rm son of Ḥṣnm with 5 S¹ʿdm and Mrdm, and these two commanders of the army were present (= fought), (namely) Kinda and ʿl against Bny-ʿmrm, in the wadi ḏ-Mrḫ and Mrdm and S¹ʿdm in the wadi 6 at the well of Trbn, and they slew and made captive (the enemy) and took booty in great numbers. And the king did battle at Ḥlbn, and Mʿdm submitted 7 to (his) protection and gave hostages. And then ʿmrm bn Mḏrn negotiated (with Abraha) 8 and gave him his son as hostage, and (the king?) appointed him as viceroy on Mʿdm. So (Abraha) returned from Ḥl- 9 bn by the power of Rḥmnn, in the month of ḏ-ʾln, of (the year) 662. |
| 2-3 | G. and J. Ryckmans (the latter: 1953 a: 340) as well as Gajda 1997 think the subject of the verb ġzyw is Maʿadd (Gajda chaged opinion in 2004 b: 88). |
| 5 | "and they (i.e. the two commanders) presented themselves in front of the main army" (Sayyed, qdmy as preposition). |
| 6-7 | "and (the king) pursued Maʿadd like their shadow and forced them to give hostages" (Sayyed). |
| 8 | "and (ʿmrm bn Mḏrn) agreed to give hostages from al-Mundhir, for al Mundhir had invested him (ʿAmr) with the governorship over Maʿadd" (Sayyed following Beeston). |
| Ryckmans, Jacques 1953 a | Ryckmans, Jacques 1953. Inscriptions historiques sabéennes de l'Arabie centrale. Le Muséon, 66: 319-342. |
| Sayed 1988 | Sayed, Abdel M. 1988. Emendations to the Bir Muraygham inscription Ry 506 and a new inscription from there. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 18: 131-143. |
| Gajda 1997 | Gajda, Iwona 1997. Ḥimyar gagné par le monothéisme (IVe-VIe siècle de l'ère chrétienne). Ambitions et ruine d'un royaume de l'Arabie méridionale antique. (Université d'Aix-en-Provence). |
| Gajda 2004 b | Gajda, Iwona 2004. Ḥimyar en Arabie centrale - un nouveau document. Arabia. Revue de Sabéologie, 2: 87-98. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Support type | Rock |
| Dimensions | h. 80-100-50, w. 490 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Murayghān |
| Ancient site | Unknown |
| Geographical area | Tathlith |
| Country | Saudi Arabia |
| Found | In situ |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
The text describes king Abraha's war campaigns in Central Arabia.
While his officials defeated the rebels Bny ʿmrm in the eastern Najd, the king himself moves as far as Ḥulubān (north of Biʾr Murayġān, near Maʾsil al-Jumḥ) to subdue the tribe of Maʿadd. After these surrender, their chief ʿAmr son of Mundhir (Lakhmid prince of al-Ḥira) gives Abraha his son, who is in turn appointed by the Ḥimyarite king as new chief of Maʿadd. We cannot say if Abraha's expedition recorded in this text can be identified with the "Expedition of the Elephant" against Mecca, ascribed to the very Abraha in the Arabic sources.
While his officials defeated the rebels Bny ʿmrm in the eastern Najd, the king himself moves as far as Ḥulubān (north of Biʾr Murayġān, near Maʾsil al-Jumḥ) to subdue the tribe of Maʿadd. After these surrender, their chief ʿAmr son of Mundhir (Lakhmid prince of al-Ḥira) gives Abraha his son, who is in turn appointed by the Ḥimyarite king as new chief of Maʿadd. We cannot say if Abraha's expedition recorded in this text can be identified with the "Expedition of the Elephant" against Mecca, ascribed to the very Abraha in the Arabic sources.
L. 4 ʾbgbr is likely "ʾAbū Jabr/al-Jabr b. ʿAmr" in the Islamic sources (Kister 1965: 436; Robin 2005 c: 7).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Ryckmans, Gonzague 1953: 275-284, pl. II | Ryckmans, Gonzague 1953. Inscriptions sud-arabes. Dixième série. Le Muséon, 66: 267-317. |
| Kister 1965: 434-436 | Kister, M. J. 1965. The Campaign of Ḥulubān: A New Light on the Expedition of Abraha. Le Muséon, 78: 425-436. |
| Sayed 1988: 131-135, photos | Sayed, Abdel M. 1988. Emendations to the Bir Muraygham inscription Ry 506 and a new inscription from there. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 18: 131-143. |
| Sayed 1990: 74-75, 83 | Sayed, Abdel M. 1990. hal yušīr naqš Abraha al-Ḥabašī ʿind biʾr al-Murayġān ʾilā ʿām al-fīl. Majallat Jāmiʿat al-malik ʿAbd al-ʿazīzli-l-ʾādāb, 3: 71-97. |
| Gajda 1997: 145-148 | Gajda, Iwona 1997. Ḥimyar gagné par le monothéisme (IVe-VIe siècle de l'ère chrétienne). Ambitions et ruine d'un royaume de l'Arabie méridionale antique. (Université d'Aix-en-Provence). |
| Robin 2005 c: 7 | Robin, Christian J. 2005. Himyar, des inscriptions aux traditions. Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam, 30: 1-51. |
| Müller, Walter W. 2010: 118-119 | Müller, Walter W. 2010. Sabäische Inschriften nach Ären datiert. Bibliographie, Texte und Glossar. (Veröffentlichungen der Orientalischen Kommission, 53). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. |
| Robin 2013 | Robin, Christian J. 2013. À propos de Ymnt et Ymn: « nord » et « sud », « droite » et « gauche », dans les inscriptions de l'Arabie antique. Pages 119-140 in Françoise Briquel-Chatonnet, Catherine Fauveaud and Iwona Gajda (eds). Entre Carthage et l’Arabie heureuse. Mélanges offerts à François Bron. (Orient & Méditerranée, 12). Paris: de Boccard. |