CC BY 4.0
The above license applies to the data in this record, but not to any images displayed. The images are the property
of third parties and are either used with permission or reproduced from publications (see the credits below each image).
as-Sawdāʾ 92 al-Jawf 04.3
Arbach and Schiettecatte 2006: pl. 1/3
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 | 9 | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Construction text | ||
| Royal inscription | Yes |
TEXT
1 | S¹mhyfʿ Ys¹rn bn Lbʾn mlk Ns²n s¹ḥ(dṯ b)yt (W)[d ... ...](k)rb |
2 | Ydʿʾb ḏ-s¹brr w-bny b-brʾ((b-Brʾ)) mnfs¹ w-s¹bkl b-s¹ ʾns¹ b-ʾmr Wd |
| 1 | W(d ḏ-Nṣb b)r(ʾ|) (Robin and Arbach 2004); Wd (ḏ-Nṣ)b s¹krb| (Arbach and Schiettecatte 2006). The integration of the epithet of Wd is suggested on the basis of as-Sawdāʾ 4. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 S¹mhyfʿ Ys¹rn son of Lbʾn, king of Nshshān, restored the temple of Wd [... ...] as obligation of 2 Ydʿʾb, from which He released him, and he built in the construction (or: in Brʾ) a mnfs¹, in which he settled a man by the command of Wd. |
| 1-2 | "le temple de Wadd dhu-Naṣab qu'avait fondé Yadaʿʾab en exécution de ses obligations" (Robin and Arbach 2004). |
| Robin and Arbach 2004: 37 | see Arbach, Audouin and Robin 2004 |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Deposit | Ṣanʿāʾ, The National Museum |
| Support type | Artefact » Architectural element » Architectural decoration |
| Material | Stone |
| Dimensions | h. 85, w. 156, th. 28 |
| 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 Wd |
| Notes | According to the integrations by Robin and Arbach 2004, this text comes from the temple of Wd ḏ-Nṣb. |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
This text records the construction of a temple of Wd in Nashshān, carried out by S¹mhyfʿ as discharge of an obligation of his grandfather Ydʿʾb. In particular, it commemorates the building of a part of the temple (mnfs¹), which probably was a particularly sacred place. In the mnfs¹, S¹mhyfʿ "settles" (s¹bkl) a man.
This has possibly to be read as a hint of the authority that the king had over the priestly class, as he held the power of appointing priests in the temples.
This has possibly to be read as a hint of the authority that the king had over the priestly class, as he held the power of appointing priests in the temples.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Robin and Arbach 2004: 37, figs 39-41 | see Arbach, Audouin and Robin 2004 |
| Arbach and Schiettecatte 2006: 17-18, pl. 1/3 | 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. 12 | 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. |