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Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions

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Ja 2839


Robin 1994 d: 248, fig. 2

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

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

GENERAL NOTES

Lundin 1966 a: 82 edited the lines 6-9 of the text.

TEXT

marker


   1  [... ...]
   2  S¹ḥr ḏ-(S¹ḥr) w-b(n)[y-hw... ...]
   3  w-Whbʾwm bnw ḏ-S¹ḥr[ hqny ʾlmqh]
   4  Ṯhwn bʿl ʾwm ṣlmn ḥ[mdm b-ḏt h]—
   5  wfy ʾlmqh ʿbd-hw Br(l)m b-[... ...]
   6  ṯmnt w-ʾrbʿy ḫryftm (b)[n ḫrf]
   7  [ʾ]bkrb bn Wddʾl bn Fḍḥ[m ṯkmtn]
   8  ʿdy ḫrf Mʿdkrb bn ʾbk[rb bn]
   9  (S²)rs¹hmw w-l-ḏt yzʾn ʾlmq[h Ṯhwn h]—
  10  wfyn ʿbd-hw Brlm l-bd(d)[ ... ...]
  11  w-l-ḏt hwfy-hmw ʾlmqh [b-kl]
  12  [ʾmlʾ ]s¹tmlʾ w-ntḍʿn b-ʿm-h[w w-l-ḏ]—
  13  [t yzʾ]n ʾlmqh bʿl ʾwm hw[fyn ʿ]—
  14  [bd-hw B]r(l)m b-kl ʾmlʾ yzʾ[n s¹tm]—
  15  [lʾn] w-ntḍʿn b-ʿm-hw w-l s¹ʿd[-hmw w]—
  16  [fym w-nʿ]mtm w-mngt ṣdqm [w-rḍw]
  17  [w-ḥẓy ]mrʾy-hmw S¹ʿds²ms¹m [ʾs¹rʿ]
  18  [w-bn-hw ]Mrṯdm Yhḥmd mlky [S¹bʾ]
  19  [w-ḏ-Rydn] bny ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb[ mlk S¹]—
  20  [bʾ w-ḏ-Ryd](n) w-ʾlmqh f-l ys²m[n wfy]
  21  [grb ʿbd-hw B]rlm w-bny-hw bny [S¹ḥr ... ...]
  22  [... ...]byt ḏ-S¹ḥr b-ʿṯtr w-H[wbs¹ w-]
  23  [b ʾlmq]h bʿl ʾwm w-Ḥrwnm w-(b)-[ḏt-]
  24  [Ḥmym] w-b-ḏt Bʿdnm w-b ʿṯtr S²[rqn]

Apparatus
5At the end of the line Jamme integrates: ḥlmm "dreams".
7ṯkmtn is a hypothetical integration .
9At the presence of an epithet of ʾlmqh before hwfyn is probable.
10-11After l-bdd Jamme integrates an improbable ḥyw-hw "for the period of his life"; in other contexts we find the noun "years"; "for the period of years" i.e. "forever".
20-21The restoration of the formula f-l-ys²m[n wfy grb ʿbd-hw] is based on Nebes 1995 a: 29.
21-22Jamme integrates: bn kl ʾbyt.

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  [... ...]
   2  S¹ḥr, of the family S¹ḥr, and his two sons [... ...]
   3  and Whbʾwm, descendants of the family S¹ḥr [dedicated to ʾlmqh]
   4  Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm this statue [in praise because]
   5  ʾlmqh protected His servant Brlm [... ...]
   6  forty-eight years from [the year]
   7  of ʾbkrb, son of Wddʾl, of the family Fḍḥm, [the first year]
   8  until the year of Mʿdkrb, son of ʾbkrb, son of
   9  S²rs¹hmw and may ʾlmqh [Ṯhwn] continue
  10  to protect His servant Brlm forever (?).
  11  May ʾlmqh grant them [all]
  12  the favours he sought and implore from Him [and may]
  13  ʾlmqh, Lord of ʾwm, continue to provide safety for
  14  [His servant] Brlm in all favours he will continue [to seek]
  15  and implore from Him. May He grant [them]
  16  [well-being and] prosperity and good luck [and the goodwill]
  17  [and the favour] of their two lords S¹ʿds²ms¹m [ʾs¹rʾ]
  18  [and his son] Mrṯdm Yhḥmd, the two kings of [Sabaʾ]
  19  [and ḏu-Raydān] the two descendants of ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb, [king of]
  20  [Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān]. And ʾlmqh, may He grant [the safety]
  21  [of the person of His servant] Brlm and of their sons of the family [S¹ḥr]
  22  [... ...] house of the family S¹ḥr. By ʿṯtr and [Hwbs¹ and]
  23  by ʾlmqh, Lord of ʾwm and Ḥrwnm, and by
  24  [ḏt-Ḥmym] and by ḏt-Bʿdnm and by ʿṯtr [S²rqn].

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support typeArtefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription
MaterialStone
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin and provenance
Modern siteMaḥram Bilqīs
Ancient siteʾwm
Geographical areaMaʾrib
CountryYemen
FoundIn situ
Archaeological contextReligious context: Temple of ʾlmqh Ṯhwn bʿl ʾwm
Link to site record

CULTURAL NOTES

The inscription is interesting for understanding the eponymate during the period of the king of Sabaʾ and dhu Raydān.
Robin 1994 d: 236 "l'éponymat sabéen est annuel et il est exercé par quatre lignages à tour de rôle. Un home qui a été éponyme pendant un an peut être renouvelé dans sa charge quand revient le tour de son lignage, quatre années plus tard. [... ...]
Cette hypothèse permet de supposer que Mʿdkrb, fils de ʾbkrb, fils de S²rs¹hmw qui est éponyme 48 ans (soit 4 x 12) après ʾbkrb, fils de Wddʾl du lignage Fḍḥm, appartient au même lignage. [... ...]
Quant à la mention de S²rs¹hmw, elle aurait pour fonction de distinguer les deux ʾbkrb, en soulignant que le père de Mʿdkrb n'est pas l'éponyme en fonction 48 ans plus tôt."

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lundin 1966 a: 82Lundin (=Loundine), Avraam G. 1966. Dopolnenie k spisku sabeiskih eponimov. Vestnik Drevnej Istorii, 3: 82-91.
Jamme 1976: 19-29, pl. 20Jamme, Albert W.F. 1976. Carnegie Museum 1974-75 Yemen Expedition. (Special Publication, 2). Pittsburgh: Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
Robin 1994 d: 236-237, 239, 242-243, 248, fig. 2Robin, Christian J. 1994. À propos d'une nouvelle inscription du règne de Shaʿrum Awtar, un réexamen de l'éponymat sabéen à l'époque des rois de Sabaʾ et de dhū-Raydān. Pages 230-249 in Norbert Nebes. Arabia Felix. Beiträge zur Sprache und Kultur des vorislamischen Arabien. Festschrift Walter W. Müller zum 60. Geburtstag. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
Nebes 1995 a: 29Nebes, Norbert 1995. Die Konstruktionen mit /fa-/ im Altsüdarabischen. Syntaktische und epigraphische Untersuchungen. (Veröffentlichungen der Orientalischen Kommission, 40). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.