CSAI
Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions

Indexes
Tools
Record’s details
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).

Maʿīn 1 RES 2774; M 29


Bron 1998 a: pls 4-7

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Minaic » Central Minaic
ScriptAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Text directionRight-to-left
Text appearanceRecessed
Execution techniqueIncision
Chronology
PeriodB
Textual typologyDedicatory text

GENERAL NOTES

Like other inscriptions on the city walls, this one cannot be defined merely as a dedicatory text: the list of the buildings is introduced by a formulaic expression which, together with the dedicatory verbs (s³lʾ/s¹qny), displays the construction verbs (bny/s¹ḥdṯ).

TEXT

marker


   1  ʿlmn bn ±ʿmkrb ḏ-Ḥ±ḏʾ↯r ʾb Yʾws¹ʾl w-Yḏkr±ʾl w-S¹ʿdʾl w-Whbʾl w-Ys¹mʿʾl ʾh±l Gbʾn mwddt ʾbydʿ Yṯ↯ʿ mlk Mʿn s³lʾ w-bny w-s¹qny ʿṯ±tr ḏ-Qbḍm w-Wdm w-Nkrḥm kl tʿly w-tẓwr s¹dṯ ṣḥf±m w-s¹dṯt mḥfdt b-gnʾ hgr—
   2  n Qrnw b-±qlḥ rbʿn± Rm↯s³w bn mḥfd bny ḥf±y nfs¹ ʿd s²lwṯ hgrn ḏ-bny w-ʿll±y ḏ-Ẓll ʿḍm w-tqrm w-(ḫb)zt↯ mʿḏrh-s¹m bn mbny qdmn ʿd s²q±rn b-kbwdt dyn-s¹ ʿṯtr ḏ-Qbḍ w-b frʿhy frʿ k-ʾlʾl±tn w-b-ḏ mʾd bn ydh-s¹ yw—
   3  m wh(b mṯʿ)±y Wd w-ḏb±ḥ ʿ↯ṯtr ḏ-Qbḍ w-Wd (ʾ)ḏb(ḥ)±m b-ʾḥḍrm /15/ w-ywm s¹ṯb ʾbyd±ʿ Yṯʿ mlk Mʿn w-ms³wd Mʿ↯n bn ms³wd mnʿn k-ʿlmn tʾmn w-±s¹s²rʿ b-ḏt ʾrḫ k-ʾlh-s¹ w-s²ymh-s¹ w-mlkh-s¹ w-s²ʿbh-s¹ b-ḍ±r w-s¹lm w-s¹mḫḍ-s¹ ʾrḍ bny
   4  b-bhʾn bn tʿmt mlkn s¹bʿ w-ʾrb±ʿhy ʾmh /47/ w-ʿrḍ-±s¹ s¹bʿ ʿs²r ʾmh /17/ w-b s²bw b-b±ḍʿ Mʿn ↯b-s²hr ḏrʾ s¹bʿ w-ʾrbʿhy ʾẓbrm /47/ b-ʾwṯnh-±s¹ w-ʾs³nn±h-s¹ bn (f)s¹ʾ mḫḍ ḏ-Ḥnḏ↯r((ḏ-Ḥnḏ↯r)) w-bn s³nn lʿl ms¹rt ḏ-Hw—
   5  r((ḏ-Hwr)) w-ms¹qyt mḫḍ ḏ-Gnd((ḏ-Gnd)) w-bn s³nn ḍr±ʿ mwfr Ṭnf((Ṭnf)) w-bn s³nn Y±ṯl ms¹rty ʾhl ʿmm w-ms¹rt ḏ-ʿs²r((ḏ-ʿs²r)) b-ḥ±ḏyt ṣḥf ʾ↯s¹mʿh-s¹ b-ʿṯtr S²rqn w-b ʿṯtr ḏ-Qbḍ w-Wd w-Nkrḥm ±w-b ʿṯtr± ḏ-Yhrq w-b-kl ʾlʾl(t) M↯ʿn w-Yṯl w-b ʾbydʿ Yṯʿ ml—
   6  k Mʿn w-b-s²ʿbh-(s¹)m Mʿn w-Yṯl w-r(ṯ)±d ʿlmn w-bhn-s¹w s³lʾ-s¹±m w-mḫḍn-s¹m w-nḥlt-s¹m ʿṯtr S²rqn ±(w)-ʿṯtr ḏ-Q↯bḍ w-Wd w-Nkrḥm w-kl ʾlʾlt Mʿn w-Yṯl w-Hrn((Hrn))-±ġyl Wd ±bn ḏ-ys¹nkr-s¹m w-ʾ(s¹ṭr)-↯s¹m ywmy ʾrḍm|

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  ʿlmn, son of ʿmkrb ḏ-Ḥḏʾr, father of Yʾws¹ʾl, Yḏkrʾl, S¹ʿdʾl, Whbʾl and Ys¹mʿʾl, of the clan Gbʾn, friends of ʾbydʿ Yṯʿ, king of Maʿīn, consecrated, built and dedicated to ʿṯtr ḏ-Qbḍm, Wdm and Nkrḥm all the elevation and the fortification of six curtains and six towers, in the wall of the town
   2  of Qrnw, which overlooks the quarter Rms³w, from the tower that the judges of quarrels built to the town's angle that ḏ-Ẓll built and erected, of wood and cut stone, and the blocks of their inside wall, from the construction of the foundations to the top, thanks to the contributions that ʿṯtr ḏ-Qbḍ levied on him and the firstfruits that he offered to the gods, and to what he added by his hand, when he
   3  offered offers to Wd and sacrificed to ʿṯtr ḏ-Qbḍ and to Wd 15 victims during the festivals, and when ʾbydʿ Yṯʿ, king of Maʿīn, and the Assembly of Maʿīn after the Great Assembly testified their gratitude to ʿlmn and granted him rights for what he accomplished towards his gods, his patrons, his kings and his tribes, in time of war and in time of peace; and they assigned to him land to build
   4  inside (?), from the land of the king, forty-seven cubits 47 (long) and seventeen cubits 17 large, and outside (?), in the territory of Maʿīn, in the month of the sowing season (?), 47 ẓabar, its boundaries and its borders towards the East (being) the territory of ḏ-Ḥnḏr, towards the North the canal of ḏ-Hwr
   5  and the irrigated land of the territory of ḏ-Gnd, towards the West the cultivated land of Ṭnf, and towards the South the two canals of the clan ʿmm and the canal of ḏ-ʿs²r, with the written confirmation of his witnesses; by ʿṯtr S²rqn and by ʿṯtr ḏ-Qbḍ, Wd and Nkrḥm and by ʿṯtr ḏ-Yhrq and by all the gods of Maʿīn and Yṯl, and by ʾbydʿ Yṯʿ, king
   6  of Maʿīn, and by their tribe Maʿīn and Yṯl. ʿlmn and his sons committed their dedication, their granted territory and their concessions to ʿṯtr S²rqn, ʿṯtr ḏ-Qbḍ, Wd, Nkrḥm and all the gods of Maʿīn and Yṯl and Hrn torrent of Wd, against anyone who may damage them and their inscriptions, for the duration of the earth.
Bron 1998 a: 38-40Bron, François 1998. Maʿīn. Fasc. A: Les documents. Fasc. B: Les planches. Inventaire des inscriptions sudarabiques. 3. Paris: de Boccard / Rome: Herder. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres; Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente]

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support typeArchitectural structure » Gate
MaterialStone
Dimensionsw. 680, h. 64
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin and provenance
Modern siteMaʿīn
Ancient siteQrnw
Geographical areaJawf - Wādī Madhab
CountryYemen
FoundIn situ
Archaeological contextUrban context: City gate
NotesThe inscription is engraved on the western gate of the town.
Link to site record

CULTURAL NOTES

The ġyl Wd, probably a sacred torrent of the main god Wd, appears three times in the Minaic corpus. Here the name is also specified: Hrn.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bron 1998 a: 37-40, pls 4-7Bron, François 1998. Maʿīn. Fasc. A: Les documents. Fasc. B: Les planches. Inventaire des inscriptions sudarabiques. 3. Paris: de Boccard / Rome: Herder. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres; Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente]
Pirenne 1956: pl. XXX/aPirenne, Jacqueline 1956. Paléographie des inscriptions sud-arabes. Contribution à la chronologie et à l'histoire de l'Arabie du sud antique. (Verhandelingen van de Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten van België. Klasse der letteren, 26). Brussels: Paleis der Academiën.
Fakhry 1952: iii, pl. LVIIIFakhry, Ahmed 1952. An archaeological Journey to Yemen (March-May 1947). (3 vols), Cairo: Government Press.
Tawfīq 1951: pls 17-19/30-35Tawfīq, Muḥammad 1951. Aṯār Maʿīn fī Ǧawf al-Yaman. (Les monuments de Maʿîn). (Publications de l'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale du Caire. Études sud-arabiques, 1). ʾal-Qāhira: ʾal-Maʿhad ʾal-ʿIlmī ʾal-Faransī lil- ʾĀthār ʾal-Sharqīyah.