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al-Jawf 04.28
Arbach and Schiettecatte 2006: pl. 10/29
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 | ||
| Measure of letters | 2 | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Legal text | ||
| Royal inscription | Yes |
TEXT
1 ʾbkrb Yṯʿ bn Wqhʾl mlk Mʿn
2 nḥl w-whb ʿbd-s¹ ʾgyr w-bhny ʾ[ḫ]-
3 s¹ Ṣbyḥ bhny ʿbd ḏ-Bbn ʿbd ml[kn]
4 ʾṣbʿ b-qbrn Mḥrm ḏt gbʾt k-mlkn [b]—
5 n (Ḏḫ)rʾl ʿtnyn w-l yqnyn w-qtbr [b-M]—
6 (ḥ)rm w-hrwḥt-s¹ ʾhl B(b)n ʾs¹d ngw [.]—
7 [..] (s¹)ṭrn s¹m w-ḏ ʾṯrh-s¹m w-l yqnyn ḏ(t)
8 (ʾ)ṣbʿn w-kl ḏ-ṣdqt b-s¹ ʾhl Bbn [... ...]
9 [... ... n](g)w ḏn s¹ṭrn s¹m w-ḏ ʾṯrh-(s¹)[m ... ...]
10 [... ...](s¹)m w-s¹nʾ w-ʾtmr b-s¹m ʾ(f)[... ...]
11 [... ...]ḍm w-kn ḏt ʾṣbʿn w-qbr[... ...]
12 [... ...](n) w-nḥltn ḏ-Nʿr ḏ-kbr(h) [... ...]
13 [... ...]n kbr-s¹ w-mrṯd [... ...]
| 12 | it is not sure if ḏ-Nʿr is the name of a month. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 ʾbkrb Yṯʿ son of Wqhʾl, king of Maʿīn 2 granted and gave to his servant ʾgyr and to the sons 3 of his brother Ṣbyḥ, offspring of ʿbd ḏ-Bbn, servant of the king, 4 a fraction in the tomb Mḥrm, which was handed over to the king (or, property?) by means of 5 Ḏḫrʾl, the attendant (?). And may they possess and be buried in Mḥrm 6 and in its extension the family of Bbn, for whom decreed [... ...] 7 document, they and their descendants, and may they possess this 8 fraction and all that belongs to it, the family of Bbn [... ...] 9 [... ...] decreed this document, they and their descendants [... ...] 10 [... ...] and there was peace (?) and agreement among them [... ...] 11 [... ...] and this fraction and the tomb were [... ...] 12 [... ...] and this grant was in ḏ-Nʿr during the kabirate of [... ...] 13 [... ...] his kabirate and the commitment of [... ...] |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Deposit | Ṣanʿāʾ, The National Museum |
| Support type | Stone piece |
| Material | Stone |
| Dimensions | h. 38.5, w. 39.2, th. 10 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Unknown (wādī al-Jawf) |
| Ancient site | Unknown |
| Geographical area | wādī al-Jawf |
| Country | Yemen |
| Notes | According to Arbach and Schiettecatte 2006 the text probably comes from Baraqish or Maʿīn. |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
This inscription is a very interesting royal decree of grant. It concerns the attribution of part of a tomb to the family of a king's servant. It seems that this tomb, probably a big edifice because only a fraction is given to this family, was a royal property or, at least, the legal transaction had to be ratified by the king.
The procedure of granting a part of the tomb was administered by an officer (ʿtnyn, probably "the attendant").
The procedure of granting a part of the tomb was administered by an officer (ʿtnyn, probably "the attendant").
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Arbach and Schiettecatte 2006: 41-42, pl. 10/29 | Arbach, Mounir and Schiettecatte, Jérémie 2006. Catalogue des pièces archéologiques et épigraphiques du Jawf au Musée National de Ṣanʿâʾ. Ṣanʿâʾ National Museum. Ṣanʿāʾ: Centre français d'archéologie et de sciences sociales de Ṣanʿâʾ. [Text in French and Arabic] |
| Bron 2008 a: 298-300 | Bron, François 2008. Une nouvelle inscription d'un roi de Maʿīn. Aula Orientalis, 26: 298-300. |
| Rossi 2009: 183-200, pl. I | Rossi, Irene 2009. Un'iscrizione legale minea relativa alla concessione di una tomba. Egitto e Vicino Oriente, 32: 183-200. |