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al-Jawf 04.37
Arbach and Schiettecatte 2006: pl.12/38
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 | 4 | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Legal text - fragmentary |
GENERAL NOTES
| The editors date the inscription to the 5th-4th century BC. The palaeography and the mention of a king of Nashshān lead one to date it back to the "Madhabaean" period. |
TEXT
1 ʿmkrb ḏ-Nḍrn ṣdq k—
2 l ḏ-dyn-s¹ w-l ḏ-ʾḫḫr-b
3 ʾḥl-s¹w kl qnym gwl—
4 m w-l tʿly wrḫm ḏ-s¹m—
5 (ʿ) (b)[... ...] (ʿ)—
6 r(t)[... ...]
7 [... ...]
8 [... ...]
9 [... ...]
10 [... ...]←
11 s²ʿbn Ns²n w-ʿs¹—
12 h(y) ġyln gzzw |
13 w-flṭ ʿmkrb ḏ-
14 Nḍrn bn kl qn—
15 y ʿwd w-ʿt—
16 (llm) k-s¹m ʿ—
17 [... ...] ḏ-Ḥḍr
18 [... ...]
19 [... ...](s³)r[.]ʾl
20 [. ]ḏ-Mḏym[..] ←
21 w-tʿlym k-ʿmkrb ḏ-Nḍ—
22 rn qny-s¹ b-ʾḥlm bn s¹—
23 ṭr ms³nd rṯd Lḥyʿṯt
24 mlk Ns²n b-byt s²ymm
25 w-rṯd kl s¹ṭr-s¹
26 ʿṯtr ḏ-Gr(bm) w-
27 m[... ...]
| 3 | ʾhl-s¹ (Arbach and Schiettecatte). |
| 3-4 | gʿlm (Arbach and Schiettecatte). |
| 5-6 | ʿ b[... ...]bʿ r [... ...] (Arbach and Schiettecatte). |
| 7 | (y)[... ...] or (ṯ)[... ...]. y b[... ...]bʿ (Arbach and Schiettecatte). The lower part of this face of the base is too damaged to count the number of the lost lines. The editors counts two; however, the previous face had six inscribed lines on the base of the altar. |
| 17 | ...ḏ-Ḥḍr w-ʿt (Arbach and Schiettecatte). The interpretation of Ḥḍr as a lineage name is hypothetic. |
| 18-19 | ... ...mr ...ʾl (Arbach and Schiettecatte). The editors seem to forget to transcribe the very damaged 18th line. |
| 20 | Mḏym is a lineage name in the Qatabanic inscription VL 9, celebrating the construction of a tomb for Minaean people. |
| 22 | b-ʾhlm (Arbach and Schiettecatte). |
| 27 | The editors read My[dʿ], which he considers a theonym (cf. al-Jawf 04.36, l.2). |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 ʿmkrb ḏ-Nḍrn ratified 2 everything that appertained to him and also for the future (?) among 3 his goods, all as a property with full ownership rights 4 ... 5 [... ...] 6 [... ...] 7 [... ...] 8 [... ...] 9 [... ...] 10 [... ...] 11 the tribe of Nashshān and the owners (?) 12 of the canal granted (?) 13 and assigned to ʿmkrb ḏ- 14 Nḍrn among the whole possession 15 that returned and was aknowledged to them (?) 16 [... ...] ḏ-Ḥḍr 17 [... ...] 18 [... ...] 19 [... ...] 20 [... ...] ḏ-Mḏym 21 ... to ʿmkrb ḏ-Nḍrn 22 his possession among the goods on the base 23 of the inscription of the document that Lḥyʿṯt 24 king of Nashshān committed (or, that Lḥyʿṯt committed to the king of Nashshān) in the temple of the patron 25 and committed all his inscription 26 to ʿṯtr ḏ-Grbm and 27 [... ...] |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Deposit | Ṣanʿāʾ, The National Museum |
| Support type | Artefact » Altar |
| Shape | With truncated pyramidal base |
| Material | Stone |
| Dimensions | h. 61, w. 41.5 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | as-Sawdāʾ |
| Ancient site | Ns²n |
| Geographical area | Jawf - Wādī al-Buhayra |
| Country | Yemen |
| Link to site record |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Arbach and Schiettecatte 2006: 51-54, pl. 12/38 | 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] |
| Arbach and Rossi 2011: fig. 16 | Arbach, Mounir and Rossi, Irene 2011. Réflexions sur l'histoire de la cité-État de Nashshân (fin du IXe - fin du VIIe s. av. J.-C.). Egitto e vicino Oriente, 34: 149-176. |