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as-Sawdāʾ 5 CIH 428
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 | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Construction text | ||
| Royal inscription | Yes |
GENERAL NOTES
| Halévy's copy. |
TEXT
1 [... ...]ym bn Yqhm[lk s¹ḥ]dṯ byt ʿṯtr ḏ-Grbm ywm ḏ[bḥ]
2 Rḥs³ w-ʿrb mṯ[ʿyt ḏ-Q]bḍ b-rʿẓ ʿṯtr S²rqn w-Wd
3 [w-ʾr]nydʿ w-ḏ-Grbm w-ʿṯtr Ns²q b-ʾḫ[wt] ʾlmqh w-Ydʿʾl w-S¹bʾ
| 3 | Halévy's copy lacks the S¹ of S¹bʾ. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 [... ...]ym son of Yqhmlk built the temple of ʿṯtr ḏ-Grbm when he sacrificed 2 to Rḥs³ and he offered perfumes to ḏ-Qbḍ, by the will of ʿṯtr S²rqn and Wd 3 and ʾrnydʿ and ḏ-Grbm and ʿṯtr Ns²q, by the brotherhood of ʾlmqh and Ydʿʾl and Sabaʾ. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Support type | Stone piece |
| Material | Stone |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | as-Sawdāʾ |
| Ancient site | Ns²n |
| Geographical area | Jawf - Wādī al-Buhayra |
| Country | Yemen |
| Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of ʿṯtr ḏ-Grbm |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
The formulaic expression introduced by b-ʾḫwt is found in some Nashshānite inscriptions of the Madhabaean period, testifying the alliance (literally "brotherhood") between the tribes of Nashshān and Sabaʾ.
The exact chronology of this inscription - lacking the photograph - is discussed in Avanzini 1995: 40-42 and 61-62. The question remains about the exact dating of the text, on the basis of the mention of the Sabaean king Ydʿʾl. According to us, three arguments seem to support the thesis that the text dates back to the period before or after the alliance between Krbʾl and Lbʾn: firstly, the attestation of Yqhmlk (see here l. 1) in the final invocation before Lbʾn in the recently published text YM 23250; secondly, there seems to be no place for Yqhmlk and his son in the well established sequence of kings after Lbʾn; lastly, the mention of the god Rḥs³, which is found only in the archaic inscription YM 28489.
The exact chronology of this inscription - lacking the photograph - is discussed in Avanzini 1995: 40-42 and 61-62. The question remains about the exact dating of the text, on the basis of the mention of the Sabaean king Ydʿʾl. According to us, three arguments seem to support the thesis that the text dates back to the period before or after the alliance between Krbʾl and Lbʾn: firstly, the attestation of Yqhmlk (see here l. 1) in the final invocation before Lbʾn in the recently published text YM 23250; secondly, there seems to be no place for Yqhmlk and his son in the well established sequence of kings after Lbʾn; lastly, the mention of the god Rḥs³, which is found only in the archaic inscription YM 28489.
While the god ḏ-Qbḍ is attested in the Madhabaean phase of Nashshān, there is still no occurrence of ʿṯtr ḏ-Qbḍ. Accordingly, the generally accepted restoration "ʿṯtr ḏ-Qbḍ" in l. 2 has been changed.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Avanzini 1995: 86-88 | Avanzini, Alessandra 1995. As-Sawdāʾ. Inventaire des inscriptions sudarabiques. 4. Paris: de Boccard / Rome: Herder. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres; Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente] |
| Rossi 2022: 94-95 | Rossi, Irene 2022. The city-states of the Jawf at the dawn of Ancient South Arabian history (8th-6th centuries BCE). II. Corpus of the inscriptions. (Arabia Antica, 17/2). Roma: «L'Erma» di Bretschneider. |