CSAI
Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions

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CIH 40


CIH: pl. XI

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

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

GENERAL NOTES

Dating based on Lʿzm Nwfn Yhṣdq, king of Sabaʾ and dhu-Raydān, contemporary to and enemy of S²ʿrwm ʾwtr: beginning of the 3rd cent. CE.

TEXT

marker


   1  ʾlrfʾ ʾḥṣn w-bn-hw w-Rbs²ms¹m bnw Mḏrḥm [w]-Mṯln w-Ṯfyn w-Mly(k)m w-ḏ-Mrs¹ w-ʿmd ʾqwl s²ʿbynhyn Mh—
   2  ʾnfm w-Bkylm ḏ-Tms¹ [w]-(ʾl)h(n)( )(Mnʿ)y br(ʾw) w-hwṯr w-hqwḥ w-hs²qrn nṭʿt-hmw Tlfm ḏt b-fnw hwr mḥfd-hmw ḏ-Mʿynn w-b-s²—
   3  h[d]-hw Kryfm w-kl nk[l] w-ṣwf w-ṣll w-tḥẓt s¹qf kw(n) b-hyt nṭʿtn Tlfm w-kl mwrt w-gnʾ w-ṣwbt mḥfdn Mʿynn ʿdy rfdt-
   4  h (b)-(m)wrtn w-gnʾn b-hyt nṭʿtn Tlfm w-ms¹lf-hw Zlt Frznm b-rdʾ w-mqmt ʾlʾlt-hmw ʿṯtr ḏ-Gwftm bʿl ʿlm w-Ḥlm bʿl
   5  mḥrmynh[n] Yfʿ w-Mtbʿm w-Rḫm S¹gḥ bʿl S³ydm w-Mḏrḥm w-ʾs²ms¹-hmw w-mnḍḥt ʾbyt-hm[w] w-b-rdʾ w-mqm mrʾ-h—
   6  mw Lʿzm Nwfn (Y)hṣdq mlk S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn w-b-ʾḫyl w-mqymt s²ʿby-hmw Mhʾnfm w-Bkylm ḏ-Tms¹ [w]-ʾlhn Mnʿy

Apparatus
Wissmann reports that ʾlhn Mnʿy is the name of a castle at the top of jabal Ḍurān.

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  ʾlrfʾ ʾḥṣn and his son Rbs²ms¹m, descendants of Mḏrḥm, Mṯln, Ṯfyn, Mlykm, ḏ-Mrs¹ and ʿmd, ʾqwl of the two tribes Mh-
   2  ʾnfm and Bkylm, of Tms¹ [and] ʾlhn Mnʿy, constructed, founded, finished and completed their nṭʿt-building Tlfm, which is in front of the watercourse of their tower ḏu-Mʿynn, opposite thereto
   3  being Kryfm; and all the ornamentations and facing (?) and stonework and even lay-out of the roof which was on this nṭʿt-building Tlfm, and all the access ways, walls and ṣwbt of the tower Mʿynn up to the buttresses of
   4  these access ways and the wall, in that nṭʿt-building Tlfm, and its glacis Zlt Frznm; by the help and the power of their gods ʿṯtr ḏ-Gwftm, Master of ʿlm, and Ḥlm Master of
   5  the two temples Yqʿ and Mtbʿm, and Rḫm S¹gḥ Master of S³ydm and Mḏrḥm, and their ʾs²ms¹, and the tutelary deities of their houses; and by the help and the power of their
   6  lord Lʿzm Nwfn Yhṣdq, king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, and by the might and the power of their two tribes Mhʾnfm and Bkylm, of Tms¹ and ʾlhn Mnʿy.
Beeston suggests as alternative translation for ḏt b-fnw hwr: "which is by the canal behind", considering, on the contrary, fnw as a noun and hwr as a preposition.

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support typeArchitectural structure
MaterialStone
Dimensionsh. 35, w. 130
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Provenance
Modern siteUnknown (Dhamār)
Ancient siteUnknown
Geographical areaDhamār
CountryYemen
FoundReemployed. In modern times
Archaeological contextUrban context
NotesThe inscription, seen in the village of Maḏāb (near Ḍurān) originally comes from the area between Ḍaf and Qarīs (tribes of Muhaʾnif and Bakīl ḏ-ʾlhn).
Link to site record

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Höfner, Mlaker and Rhodokanakis 1934: 86-93Höfner, Maria, Mlaker, Karl and Rhodokanakis, Nikolaus 1934. Zur altsüdarabischen Epigraphik und Archäologie II. Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, 41: 69-106.
Beeston 1937 a: 8-11Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1937. Sabaean inscriptions. Oxford.
Wissmann 1964 a: 365-366Wissmann, Hermann von 1964. Zur Geschichte und Landeskunde von Alt-Südarabien. Sammlung Eduard Glaser. 3. (Sitzungsberichte der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philosophisch-historische Klasse, 246). Vienna: Böhlaus.