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Ja 564 MaMB 314
Phillips, Wendell 1955: 284 (photo)
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic | ||
| Script | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Text direction | Right-to-left | ||
| Text appearance | Recessed | ||
| Execution technique | Incision | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
GENERAL NOTES
| Second half of the 2nd century CE. |
TEXT
1 ʾnmrm [... ... ](Ġ)ymn ʾ(b)[ʿ]l byt(n)
2 [S¹lḥn]( )(ʾq)wl s²(ʿb)n Ġymn hqny ʾlmqh
3 [Ṯhwn] (b)ʿl ʾwm ṣlmn ḏ-b-hw ḥmd ʾnmrm mqm
4 [ʾ](l)mqh b-ḏt s¹twfy mngwm ḏ-b-hw tqnʿw w-s¹t—
5 ydʿn ʾs¹bʾn w-ʾqwln w-ḫms¹n mrʾ-hmw Krbʾl
6 (W)tr Yhnʿm mlk S¹bʾ bn Whbʾl Yḥz mlk S¹bʾ
7 (h)yhr mrʾ-hmw Krbʾl byt-hmw S¹lḥn w-ḥmdm
8 b-ḏt s¹twfy ʿbd-hw ʾnmrm ḏ-Ġymn w-kl ʾs¹d s²w—
9 ʿ-hw bn s²ʿb-hmw Ġymn b-gzyt gzyw b-hgrn (M)[ry]—
10 b bn ryt mrʾ-hmw Krbʾl Wtr Yhnʿm mlk S¹bʾ bn
11 Whbʾl Yḥz mlk S¹bʾ ḥg-n wqh-hmw l-nẓr w-tn(ṣ)f—
12 n qht-hw b-hgrn Mryb hʾ w-ʾḫ-hw Rṯdm ḏ-Mʾḏnm b-
13 mlʾ ḫms¹t ʾwrḫm w-ḥmdm b-ḏt s¹twfy w-s²trḥn
14 w-s¹tkmln l-mrʾ-hmw Krbʾl kl mngt wqh-hmw (b)-
15 kl hmt ʾwrḫn w-l-s¹ʿd ʾlmqh ʿbd-hw ʾnmrm ḏ-Ġ[ym]—
16 n nʿmtm w-wfym w-mngt ṣdqm w-ḥẓy w-rḍw mrʾ-[hm]—
17 w Krbʾl Wtr Yhnʿm mlk S¹bʾ bn Whbʾl Yḥ(ẓ)[ ml]—
18 k S¹bʾ w-l-s¹ʿd ʾlmqh ʿbd-hw ʾnmrm ḏ-Ġymn ʾw(ld)[m]
19 ʾḏkrm hnʾm b-ʾbyt Ġymn w-l-s¹ʿd ʾlmqh ʿbd[-hw]
20 ʾnmrm ḏ-Ġymn nʾd ʾṯmrm w-ʾfqlm bn kl ʾrḍt-
21 hmw w-ʾs¹rr-hmw w-ʾġyl-hmw w-mfnt-hmw w-l-hʿ[nn]
22 w-s²wf w-ḫryn ʾlmqh bʿl ʾwm ʿbd-hw ʾnmrm w-(bny)
23 (ḏ)-Ġymn w-s²ʿb-hmw Ġymn bn bʾs¹tm w-mngt s¹wʾ—
24 m w-bn nḍʿ w-s²ṣy s²nʾm w-l-wḍʿ w-ṯbr ʾlmqh bʿl ʾ—
25 (w)m kl ḍr w-s²nʾ ʾnmrm w-bny ḏ-Ġymn w-s²ʿb-hmw Ġ—
26 ymn w-l-ḏt nʿmt w-tnʿmn l-ʾnmrm w-bny ḏ-Ġymn w-
27 s²ʿbn Ġymn b-ʿṯtr ḏ-Ḏbn bʿl Bḥr Ḥṭbm |
28 w-Hbs¹ w-ʾlmqh Ṯhwn w-Ṯwr Bʿlm bʿly ʾwm w-Ḥrw—
29 nm w-ʾlmqh bʿl Ms¹kt w-Yṯw Brʾn w-b-ḏt Ḥmy—
30 m w-b-ḏt Bʿdnm w-b-s²ym-hmw Ḥgrm Qḥmm bʿl ʿr—
31 nhn Tnʿ w-Lms¹ w-bytn ʾḥrm w-b-s²ms¹y-hmw bʿlty Nhd—
32 [..]ʾm w-rṯdw hqnyt-hmw ʿṯtr-S²rqn w-ʾlmqh bʿl ʾwm
| 31-32 | Nhd[..]ʾm could be the name of two sanctuaries. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 [ʾnmrm ... ...] Ġymn, lords of the house 2 S¹lḥn, ʾqwl of the tribe Ġymn, dedicated to ʾlmqh 3 Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, the statue with which ʾnmrm praised the power 4 of ʾlmqh, because He has brought to a successful conclusion the divine outcome thanks to which 5 the Sabaeans, the ʾqwl and the army consented to an action and made it known 6 to their lord Krbʾl Wtr Yhnʿm, king of Sabaʾ, son of Whbʾl Yḥz, king of Sabaʾ. 7 Their lord Krbʾl has exalted their house Slḥn. In praise 8 because He protected His servant ʾnmrm of Ġymn and all the soldiers who followed him 9 from their tribe Ġymn in the tasks they acquitted in the city of Mryb, 10 in consequence of the decision of their lord Krbʾl Wtr Yhnʿm, king of Sabaʾ, son of 11 Whbʾl Yḥz, king of Sabaʾ, as he had ordered them in order to observe and to comply 12 his authority in the city of Mryb: himself and his brother Rṯdm of Mʾḏnm, during 13 a period of five months. In praise because he brought to a successful conclusion and performed successfully 14 and accomplished for their lord Krbʾl all the outcome he ordered them during 15 all these months. May ʾlmqh grant to His servant ʾnmrm of Ġymn 16 prosperity, safety and good luck, and the goodwill and the satisfaction of their lord 17 Krbʾl Wtr Yhnʿm, king of Sabaʾ, son of Whbʾl Yḥz, king 18 of Sabaʾ; and may ʾlmqh grant to His servant ʾnmrm of Ġymn, male healthy 19 children in the houses of Ġymn; and may ʾlmqh grant to His servant 20 ʾnmrm of Ġymn abundance of crops and harvests in all their 21 lands and their valleys and their water-courses and their lands irrigated by canals; and may 22 ʾlmqh, Lord of ʾwm, help and protect and preserve His servant ʾnmrm and the descendants 23 of Ġymn and their tribe Ġymn from harm and bad luck 24 and from the malice and the maleficence of any enemy; and may ʾlmqh, Lord of ʾwm, destroy and crush 25 every war enemy and personal enemy of ʾnmrm and of the descendants of Ġymn and of their tribe 26 Ġymn, and for what has been and will be favourable for ʾnmrm and the descendants of Ġymn and 27 the tribe Ġymn. By ʿṯtr ḏ-Ḏbn, Lord of Bḥr Ḥṭbm, 28 and Hwbs¹, and ʾlmqh Ṯhwn and Ṯwr Bʿlm, the two Lords of ʾwm and Ḥrwnm, 29 and ʾlmqh, Lord of Ms¹kt and Yṯw Brʾn, and by ḏt-Ḥmym 30 and by ḏt-Bʿdnm and by their patron Ḥgrm Qḥmm, Lord of the two mountains 31 Tnʿ and Lms¹ and of the house ʾḥrm, and by their two solar deities, Ladies of Nhd 32 [..]ʾm; and they entrusted their dedication to ʿṯtr S²rqn and ʾlmqh, Lord of ʾwm. |
| 7 | Korotayev 1996 gives a different interpretation of the term hyhr and translates it as "accession (probably to the throne)" instead of "has exalted". |
| 11-13 | Nebes 1987 translates "wie er ihnen befohlen hatte, dass Ausschau halten und seinem Befehl Folge leisten sollten in der Stadt Mārib er und sein Bruder Rṯdm aus der Sippe Maʾḏin während eines Zeitraums von funf Monaten". |
| 23 | Höfner 1964 b translates mngt as "storm". |
| Höfner 1964 b: 424 | Höfner, Maria 1964. Review of Jamme, Albert W.F. 1962. Sabaean Inscriptions from Maḥram Bilqîs (Mârib). (Publications of the American Foundation for the Study of Man, 3). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 114: 423-426. |
| Nebes 1987: 88 | Nebes, Norbert 1987. Zur Konstruktion von Subjekt und Objekt abhängiger Infinitive in Sabäischen. Pages 75-98 in Christian J. Robin and Muḥammad ʿA. Bāfaqīh (eds). Ṣayhadica. Recherches sur les inscriptions de l'Arabie préislamique offertes par ses collègues au professeur A.F. L. Beeston. (Arabie préislamique, 1). Paris: Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner. |
| Korotayev 1996: 100 | Korotayev, Andrey V. 1996. Pre-Islamic Yemen. Socio-political organization of the Sabaean cultural area in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Deposit | Mārib |
| Support type | Artefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription |
| Material | Stone |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Maḥram Bilqīs |
| Ancient site | ʾwm |
| Geographical area | Maʾrib |
| Country | Yemen |
| Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of ʾlmqh bʿl ʾwm |
| Link to site record |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Jamme 1962 a: 44-47, 282-283 | Jamme, Albert W.F. 1962. Sabaean Inscriptions from Maḥram Bilqîs (Mârib). (Publications of the American Foundation for the Study of Man, 3). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. |
| Phillips, Wendell 1955: 284 (photo) | Phillips, Wendell 1955. Qataban and Sheba. Exploring ancient kingdoms on the Biblical spice routes of Arabia. New York: Harcourt Brace. |
| Korotayev 1996: 99-100 | Korotayev, Andrey V. 1996. Pre-Islamic Yemen. Socio-political organization of the Sabaean cultural area in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. |