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Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions

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CIH 581


INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

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

TEXT

marker


   1  Nʿmgd [bnt ʾlt] Tḥy[ʿ]z w-[H]—
   2  nʾṯwn w-Nʿmt bnt ʾlt T—
   3  [ḥy]ʿz ʾmh S¹ʿds²ms¹m Kbs¹yn h—
   4  [q]nyy ʾlm[q]h Ṯhwn w-Ṯ[w]r Bʿlm b—
   5  [ʿ]ly Ḥrwnm ṣlmtn ḏt ḏhbn |
   6  ḏt whb w-ḫmr ʾlmqh ʾmh-hw ʾ—
   7  [lt] Tḥy[ʿ]z b-ʿm-n ʾs¹m ḏ-mẓʾ w-wg—
   8  r byt-hmw b-lly s¹dṯm s³qt btrm
   9  [w]-yqrʾn-hmw k-hmy ʿ(krw)-(s²ʾ)m hyt |
  10  [ṣ]lmtn w-bʿd-hmw f-hbrrw l-gtzḥ—
  11  [n] b-ʿm ʾs¹n w-nfq bn-hw w-ṣlmtn |
  12  [f-ʾl] l-hmw w-[r]ʾ k-bhʾt hʾ ʾṯtn |
  13  [N]ʿmgd ʿdy Ḥrwnm w-s¹tmlʾt b-ʿm
  14  [ʾ]lmqh w-hʾ [h]ṯb-hw w-rʾ k-wqh
  15  l-hqnyn-hw ṣlmtn w-ʾlmqh
  16  [f]-l ys²rḥn w-s²wf w-mtʿn grb mr—
  17  ʾ-hw Mhbḍm bn Wdm w-bn-hw L—
  18  ḥyʿṯt w-ʾmh-hw ʾlt Tḥyʿz (|)
  19  bn bʾs¹tm w-mngt s¹wʾm w-s²[ṣy]
  20  s²nʾm b-ʿṯtr w-ʾlmqh

Apparatus
6[b]-ḏt (editors); ḏt (Multhoff).
12[fʿ] (CIH); [kf]l (Rhodokanakis 1926: 467).

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  Nʿmgd daughter of those of Tḥyʿz,
   2  Hnʾṯwn and Nʿmt daughters of those of
   3  Tḥyʿz, maidservants of S¹ʿds²ms¹m Kbs¹yn
   4  dedicated to ʾlmqh Ṯhwn and Ṯwr Bʿlm, the two
   5  Masters of Ḥrwnm, the statue in bronze
   6  that ʾlmqh gave and granted his maidservants
   7  those of Tḥyʿz by means of a man who came and asked for hospitality (?)
   8  in their house in the sixth night with a good offer
   9  and asks them whether they wished to buy that
  10  statue, and subsequently they agreed to getting into business with
  11  the man; but then he hung back from it (the agreement) and the statue
  12  was (stated) that it was not theirs; and so that woman
  13  Nʿmgd entered Ḥrwnm and sought favours from
  14  ʾlmqh and He rewarded her and so He ordered
  15  to dedicate Him the statue; and as for ʾlmqh,
  16  may He protect, look after and save the person of her
  17  lord Mhbḍm son of Wdm and her (or: his) son
  18  Lḥyʿṯt and His maidservants those of Tḥyʿz
  19  against the harm and accident of the evil and the malice
  20  of the enemy; by ʿṯtr and ʾlmqh.
7-12Our translation mostly follows the new interpretation of the inscription suggested by A. Multhoff, along with her minor changes to the reading of the text. The most difficulties, which caused such different translations of this inscription, concern the meaning of some words, like wgr (ll. 7-8), s³qt brtm (l. 8), ʿkr (l. 9), gtzḥn (ll. 10-11) and nfq (l. 11). The translation given to wgr and s³qt brtm is ours.
Beeston: "... by means of a man who came and married into their family on the six night the conception of a (hitherto) childless woman. For the deity had instructed them, in the event of [either of them] becoming pregnant, to acquire this statuette; and subsequently they made it their duty to accept the bride-gift from this man, and to vow the son born of him and the statuette as a thank-offering on their behalf".
Jamme: "that entered a man and was a medicine man, their house on the sixth night a sound contract .. so that he would command that both of them [=Nʿmgd and Hnʾṯwn] would initiate the buying of this statue. After that, they [the women] agreed to get into business with the man and to pay the expenses for her [Nʿmgd] son and this statue".
Beeston 1978 cBeeston, Alfred F.L. 1978. Temporary marriage in pre-islamic South Arabia. Arabian Studies, 4: 21-25.
Jamme 1982Jamme, Albert W.F. 1982. Miscellanées d'ancient arabe XII. Washington. 2025/04/17; https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.38250303. [Privately printed]
Multhoff 2010 aMulthoff, Anne 2010. How difficult is it to dedicate a statue? A new approach to some Sabaic inscriptions from Maʾrib. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 40: 233-238.

OBJECT INFORMATION

DepositParis, Geographical Society's Museum, Beneyton 2
Support typeArtefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription
MaterialStone
Dimensionsh. 55, w. 25, th. 10
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin and provenance
Modern siteMaʾrib
Ancient siteMryb / Mrb
Geographical areaMaʾrib
CountryYemen
Archaeological contextReligious context: Temple of ʾlmqh Ṯhwn w-Ṯwr Bʿlm bʿly Ḥrwnm
Link to site record

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Rhodokanakis 1926Rhodokanakis, Nikolaus 1926. Altsüdarabische Inschriften. Pages 463-471 in Hugo Gressmann (ed.). Altorientalische Texte zum Alten Testament. Hugo Gressmann (ed.), Altorientalische Texte und Bilder zum Alten Testament. (Altorientalische Texte und Bilder zum Alten Testament, 1). Berlin; Leipzig: De Gruyter. 2024/10/03; https://archive.org/details/gtu_32400005669209_1/page/n5/mode/2up.
Beeston 1978 c: 21-25Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1978. Temporary marriage in pre-islamic South Arabia. Arabian Studies, 4: 21-25.
Jamme 1982: 17-28Jamme, Albert W.F. 1982. Miscellanées d'ancient arabe XII. Washington. 2025/04/17; https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.38250303. [Privately printed]
Multhoff 2010 a: 235-237Multhoff, Anne 2010. How difficult is it to dedicate a statue? A new approach to some Sabaic inscriptions from Maʾrib. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 40: 233-238.