| 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 | ||
| Measure of letters | 2.4-3.4 | ||
| Chronology |
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| Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
| 8-9 | Stein's interepretation of the sentence has been accepted; the variants follow Jamme's edition (see the note to the translation). |
| English | |
1 Rbbʾl ʾs²wʿ and his son 2 Ddʾl, of the family Ḥlḥlm, 3 ʿqbt of the king in the town of Ns²qm, dedicated 4 to ʾlmqh, Lord of ʾwm, the two statues in bronze 5 that he promised Him in praise because 6 ʾlmqh granted and saved His servant Rbbʾl 7 from the fall, in which he was overthrown by his camel (when) 8 a canine animal (?) entered between the legs of his camel 9 in the vicinity of the town of Yṯl during the night and indeed 10 ʾlmqh made him know that He saved 11 him and because He saved him and all his vassals 12 in his houses from the ill-health and the malady 13 from which they suffered in the town of Ns²qm; may 14 ʾlmqh grant them the goodwill and the satisfaction of their lord 15 Ns²ʾkrb Yhʾmn Yhrḥb, king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, son of 16 ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb and Yʾzl Byn, kings of 17 Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydan, and may 18 ʾlmqh protect them from the malice and the maleficence 19 of any enemy, the one they are aware of and the one they are not 20 aware of. By ʾlmqh, Lord of ʾwm. |
| 8-9 | The translation follows the one proposed by Stein, instead of that by Jamme "from the fall [that] happened to his camel, in which the knee of his camel Klbym was dislocated". |
| Jamme 1962 a: 120 | 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. |
| Stein 2003 a: 233-234 | Stein, Peter 2003. Untersuchungen zur Phonologie und Morphologie des Sabäischen. (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, 3). Rahden: Marie Leidorf GmbH / Westf.: Marie Leidorf GmbH. |
| Support type | Artefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription |
| Material | Stone |
| Dimensions | h. 54, w. 27, th. 19.5 ca. |
| Link to object record |
| 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 |
| Jamme 1962 a: 120-121, pl. 12 | 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. |
| Ryckmans, Jacques 1966: 481 | Ryckmans, Jacques 1966. Himyaritica 2. Le Muséon, 79: 475-500. |