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RES 3688 Q 66; CSAI I, 197
Beeston 1971: photos
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 | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Legal text | ||
| Royal inscription | Yes |
TEXT
1 S²hr Ġyln bn ʾbs²bm mlk Qtbn whb w-s¹qny l-ʿm ḏ-Lbḫ w-ʾrby-s¹ ṣḥf tḥ—
2 rg s²ʿbn Kḥd ḏ-Dtnt b-ʿm kbrm b-ykbr w-ḥrg s²ʿbn Kḥd w-l yṣḥf w-ḥrg ḏn
3 ṣḥfn ʿṣmm b-yʿṣm ʿm ḏ-Lbḫ ṭd ʾns¹m ḫrfmyw bn-km b-ynfṯ ʿd-km b-ys¹fd ḫrf—
4 myw w-ṯwb ʾḫ-s¹ l-ḏn tḥrgn l-ḏm b-yfṯ-s¹ w-l yqny w-ṯʿd ḏm b-yḥrg ḏn ṣḥf—
5 n b-ʿm kbrm b-yḥrg Kḥd ʿs²r kl hnʾm w-mwblm w-tqntm w-trṯm w-kl lfym b-y—
6 lfy kbr Kḥd ḏ-Dtnt w-l yṣḥf w-ḥrg ʿṣmn bn s²hr wrḫn ḏ-Tmnʿ ḫrf Mwhbm ḏ-Ḏ—
7 rḥn ʾḫrn l-ʾḫr w-kwn ḏn ṣḥfn s¹qnytm l-ʿm ḏ-Lbḫ w-ʾrby-s¹ l-ḏt bd mlʾt
8 w-kwmw l-yṣḥf w-ḥrg w-ʿtqb w-ṯtwb ḏn ṣḥfn ʾrbym b-yrby ʿm ḏ-Lbḫ w-ṣry
9 S²hr ʾrby ʿm ḏ-Lbḫ ʿṣm ḏ-Lbḫ bn tḥt ʿm ḏ-Dwnm w-ʾnby S²ymn w-S²ms¹ w-rbʿ
10 S²hr b-ṣdq-s¹m ḥg ḏt ṣḥftn w-ʾs¹ṭr-s¹ w-ṯfṭ S²hr ʾrby ʿm ḏ-Lbḫ l-ftḫ
11 w-s¹ṭr ḏtn ʾs¹ṭrn b-byt Wrfw w-ʿm ḏ-Lbḫ b-ḏ-Ġylm w-b byt ʿm b-s¹rn Lbḫ
12 wrḫ-s¹ ḏ-Brm qdmn ḫrf Mwhbm ḏ-Ḏrḥn qdmn w-tʿlm-ʾy yd S²hr
13 w-Nbṭʿm bn ʾls¹mʿ bn Hybr |
14 tqdm ḏtn ʾs¹ṭrn
| 5-6 | For lfym/ylfy see Mazzini 2008. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 S²hr Ġyln, son of ʾbs²m, king of Qataban, granted and dedicated to ʿm ḏ-Lbḫ and His Priests the legal document of autho- 2 rity on the Kḥd of Dtnt tribe, through the kabīr-official who acts as the kabīr-official and who is in charge of wielding authority over the Kḥd tribe and let this legal document take effect and 3 wield authority as a convenant which makes a covenant with ʿm ḏ-Lbḫ - each individual (is) for two years, from when he starts until he completes the two 4 years and his equal succeeds (in the administration) to this authority to the one who starts it - and the one who wields authority over this legal 5 document through the kabīr-official who is in charge of wielding authority over Kḥd let acquire and obtain (as a due share) the tithe of all the crops and yield and goods and harvest and all the exactions that 6 the kabīr-official of Kḥd of Dtnt exacts; and let (this) covenant take effect and wield authority from the first day of the month ḏ-Tmnʿ, the last year of Mwhbm he of Ḏ- 7 rḥn, onwards; and this legal document was constituted as a dedication to ʿm ḏ-Lbḫ and His Priests for eternity; 8 and thus, let this legal document take effect and wield authority and replace (cyclically) and rotate (in the administration) the Priests whom ʿm ḏ-Lbḫ ordains Priests; and S²hr proclaimed the oracular decision 9 for the Priests of ʿm ḏ-Lbḫ (concerning) the covenant of ʿm ḏ-Lbḫ under the protection of ʿm ḏ-Dwnm and ʾnby S²ymn and S²ms¹ and Rbʿ 10 S²hr to their benefit according to this legal document and its written records; and S²hr ordered to the Priests of ʿm ḏ-Lbḫ to inscribe 11 and to write these written records in the temple of Wrfw and ʿm ḏ-Lbḫ in ḏ-Ġylm and in the temple of ʿm in the valley of Lbḫ; 12 its month the former ḏ-Brm the first year of Mwhbm he of Ḏrḥn; and the signature (was made by) the hand of S²hr 13 and Nbṭʿm, son of ʾls¹mʿ, he of Hybr 14 was in charge of these written records. |
| Mazzini 2020: 87-89 | Mazzini, Giovanni 2020. The Ancient South Arabian royal edicts from the Southern Gate of Timnaʿ and the Ǧabal Labaḫ. (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, 8). |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Support type | Rock |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Unknown (wādī Labaḫ) |
| Ancient site | Unknown |
| Geographical area | wādī Labaḫ |
| Country | Yemen |
| Link to site record |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Beeston 1971: 12-15, photo | Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1971. The Labakh texts. Qahtan. Studies in Old Arabian Epigraphy. 2. London: Luzac and Co.. |
| Pirenne 1991: 159-160, 164, photo | Pirenne, Jacqueline 1991. Les ʾArbay du Dieu ʿAmm de Labakh et leur sanctuaire rupestre. Pages 153-166 in Études sud-arabes. Recueil offert à Jacques Ryckmans. (Publications de l'Institut Orientaliste de Louvain, 39). Louvain-La-Neuve: Université Catholique de Louvain, Institut Orientaliste. |
| Mazzini 2008 | Mazzini, Giovanni 2008. Further notes on Qatabanic lexicography. Egitto e Vicino Oriente, 31: 157-164. |
| Mazzini 2020: 87-158; fig. 40 | Mazzini, Giovanni 2020. The Ancient South Arabian royal edicts from the Southern Gate of Timnaʿ and the Ǧabal Labaḫ. (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, 8). |