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Doe 2 CSAI I, 129
Beeston 1981 a: 10
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Qatabanic » Central Qatabanic | ||
| Script | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Text direction | Right-to-left | ||
| Text appearance | Recessed | ||
| Execution technique | Incision | ||
| Measure of letters | 3.4 | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
GENERAL NOTES
| As the usual final invocations are missing, Lundin suggests that the inscription might continue on a second slab. |
TEXT
1 Hws²ʿ ʾs²wʿ bn ʾḫrn ʿrb Dwnm b-ʿm Ṯmdm w-ʿṣm ʿm
2 ḏ-ʾwʿlm b-hgrn Ḫḏry s¹qny ʾl-s¹ w-mrʾ-s¹ ʿm ḏ-ʾwʿlm
3 ʿd mḥrm-s¹ S²bʿn b-hgrn Ḫḏry ṣlm ḏhbn ḥg s²ft-s¹ l-wf—
4 y-s¹ w-wfy ʾḏn-s¹ w-mqm-s¹ w-l-wfy ʾbʿl byt-s¹m w-kl ḏm q(n)—
5 y w-bʿl w-ywm mtʿ w-s¹ʿn ʿm ʿbd-s¹ Hws²ʿ w-s¹hmm w-qnym w-(s²)—
6 rʿm ʾtw ʿm-s¹ ywm s¹bʾ w-s¹ḥḍr Bʿl Bs³rm ʿd mḥrm-s¹ (Ṣ)—
7 nʿ b-ywm ws³ʿ-s¹m ġzwtm bn ʿrbn b-s¹rn Kls³fm w-kw(n)
8 hrgm l-ʾḫr-s¹m w-qdm-s¹m b-ḏk ʿṣrn w-ʾrḫ ʿm w-mtʿ ʿ(b)[d-s¹ ... ...]
| 8 | ḏk could be a mistake for ḏn. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 Hws²ʿ ʾs²wʿ he of ʾḫrn he who is in charge of sacrifices for Dwnm in Ṯmdm, tied by a convenant with ʿm, the 2 god of ibexes, in the town of Ḫḏry, dedicated to his God and Lord ʿm, the god of ibexes 3 in His temple S²bʿn in the town of Ḫḏry the bronze statue as he had promised to Him for his sa- 4 fety and the safety of his faculties and of his material resources and for the safety of the men of their family and of all that they 5 possessed and owned, when ʿm saved and protected his servant Hws²ʿ and the servants and the properties and the wa- 6 res which were with him during his travels for the pilgrimage to the Master of Bs³rm in His temple Ṣ- 7 nʿ, when a raid of the bedouins victoriously defeated them in the valley of Kls³fm, there happened 8 a massacre in their rearguard and in their vanguard in that moment of danger, but ʿm intervened and saved his servant ... |
| 1 | Retsö 2003: 542: "ʿrb of Dwnm from Ṯmd, protected by ʿm". |
| 5 | qnym could mean 'cattle'. |
| 8 | Retsö 2003: 542: "and ʿm instructed and delivered his servant". |
| Retsö 2003: 542 | Retsö, Jan 2003. The Arabs in antiquity. Their history from the Assyrians to the Umayyads. London: Routledge Curzon / New York: Routledge Curzon. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Support type | Stone piece |
| Material | Stone |
| Dimensions | h. 31, w. 37 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Unknown |
| Ancient site | Unknown |
| Geographical area | Unknown |
| Country | Unknown |
| Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of ʿm ḏ-ʾwʿlm ʿd S²bʿn |
| Notes | The toponym Ḫḏry, mentioned in the text and from which the inscription may come, is probably to be identified with Ḫudrāʾ, located south of Hajar ibn Ḥumayd (see also Aylward 2=CSAI I, 123). |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
The dedicant bears two religious titles, whose translation is not completely sure. The first one, rendered with "he who is in charge of sacrifices for Dwnm" could mean also, following an interpretation by the scholar Lundin, "he who attends to the herds that are in Dwnm". However, the dedicant thanks the god ʿm ḏ-ʾwlʿn "of ibexes" for having been saved from the attack on his caravan by a group of Bedouins. The attack caused deaths at the head and the tail of the caravan, but the god intervened and saved his worshipper. The goods and the servants carried by the caravan were saved. An
interesting point is that, being the dedicant a priest, the attack seems to have taken place during a pilgrimage. In Southern Arabia, too, the pilgrim routes and the trade routes coincided.
interesting point is that, being the dedicant a priest, the attack seems to have taken place during a pilgrimage. In Southern Arabia, too, the pilgrim routes and the trade routes coincided.
Retsö 2003: 542 translates ʿrb at l. 1 as "Arab" and observes "we find Arabs as both enemies and allies of the rulers of South Arabia in the first half of the first century AD. Arabs around Timnaʿ are mentioned in a text called Doe 2, originating from that very area".
The date proposed by Retsö for the inscription is wrong.
The date proposed by Retsö for the inscription is wrong.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Beeston 1981 a: 10-13, photo | Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1981. Miscellaneous Epigraphic Notes. Raydān, 4: 9-28. |
| Lundin 1988: 3-9 | Lundin (=Loundine), Avraam G. 1988. Novaja Katabanskaja posvjatitel'aja nadpis' Doe 2. Epigrafika Vostoka, 24: 1-9. |