CSAI
Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions

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CIH 46


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
Start date - BCE/CE275 CE
End date - BCE/CE275 CE
Date accuracyAccurate
Textual typologyConstruction text - fragmentary

GENERAL NOTES

The photo in CIH refers to Langer's copy of the last three lines, retouched by Müller, David H.

TEXT

marker


   1  [... ...]
   2  [... ...]
   3  [... ... ]s²ʿbn Mhʾnfm [.]ẓhr
   4  [... ...]hm(w) w-kl (n)kl-hw w-tḥ(ẓ)t-±(h)w w-m(ṣrʿy)-hw bn mwṯrm (ʿdy t)[frʿm w]-mḥfd-hmw Lgbm ṯlṯt ʾs¹qfm bn mwṯrm [ʿdy tfrʿm ... ...]m..q[.]yb
   5  w-mqbr(tn) Lʾymm ʿdy mẓlfn Ḏmr±m b-rdʾ w-mqm mrʾ-h(mw) ʿ[ṯt]r-S²rqn w-ʾly-hmw ʿṯtr ḏ-Gwftm bʿl ʿlm w-Bs²r w-ʾs²ms¹-hmw w-b-rdʾ mrʾy-hmw Ys¹rm Yhnʿm w-bn-h—
   6  w S²mr Yhrʿs² mlky S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn w-b-r±dʾ s²ʿby-hmw Mhʾnfm w-(Ẓ)hrm w-b-wrḫn ḏ-Mhltn ḏ-b-ḫrfyn ḏ-l-ḫms¹t w-ṯmnyy w-ṯlṯ mʾtm bn ḫryf Mbḥḍ bn ʾbḥḍ

Apparatus
3[.]ẓhr (Minardi).
4Minardi's reading at the beginning.
5mẓlqn (Glaser in Hommel 1889: 660-662), Mẓlfn as a toponym (Schaffer), mẓll "baldacchino" (Minardi); Ḏmrm as a toponym (Minardi).
6this is one of the earliest occurrences of the plural form mʾtm.
According to Stein (2003 a: 108) it must be considered as an innovation which from the southern himyaritic inscriptions has spread over the whole Sabaic.

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  [... ...]
   2  [... ...]
   3  [... ...] the tribe Mhʾnfm ... (?)
   4  [... ...] and all its stone work, its lay-out and its two door leaves from foundation to top, and their field (?) Lgmm with three roofs from foundation to top [... ...]
   5  [... ...] their tomb Lʾymm in the covered structure Ḏmrm, by the help and the power of their Lord ʿṯtr S²rqn and their gods ʿṯtr ḏ-Gwftm Master of ʿlm, Bs²r and their ʾs²ms¹, and by the help of their two lords Ys¹rm Yhnʿm and his son
   6  S²mr Yhrʿs², the two kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, and by the help of their two tribes Mhʾnfm and Ẓhrm, and in the month ḏu-Mhltn of the year three hundred eighty-five of Mbḥḍ ʾbḥḍ.

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support typeArchitectural structure
MaterialStone
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Provenance
Modern siteYakār
Ancient siteYgrn
Geographical areaDhamār
CountryYemen
FoundReemployed. In modern times
NotesNowadays the stone, in about two thirds of its original length, is reemployed upside down into the wall of the mosque at Yakār.
Link to site record

CULTURAL NOTES

This inscription dates back to the co-regency between Ys¹rm Yhnʿm and his son S²mr Yhrʿs².

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Schaffer 1972: 50-53Schaffer, Brigitte 1972. Sabäische Inschriften aus verschiedenen Fundorten. Sammlung Eduard Glaser. 7. (Sitzungsberichte der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philosophisch-historische Klasse, 282/1). Vienna: Böhlaus in Komm.
Minardi 1973: 283-284Minardi, Giovanna 1973. Note sudarabiche. Annali dell'Istituto Orientale di Napoli, 33/2: 283-285.
Müller, Walter W. 2010: 33Müller, Walter W. 2010. Sabäische Inschriften nach Ären datiert. Bibliographie, Texte und Glossar. (Veröffentlichungen der Orientalischen Kommission, 53). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.
Hommel 1889Hommel, Fritz 1889. Ueber das Wort Wein im Südsemitischen und insbesondere über die sabaïsche Inschrift Glaser n. 12. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 43: 653-663.
Stein 2003 aStein, Peter 2003. Untersuchungen zur Phonologie und Morphologie des Sabäischen. (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, 3). Rahden: Marie Leidorf GmbH / Westf.: Marie Leidorf GmbH.