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Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions

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Ja 550 CIH 375; Gl 485


Jamme 1962 a: ii, pl. 1/1-4
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Jamme 1962 a: ii, pl. 1/1-4
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Jamme 1962 a: ii, pl. 2
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Jamme 1962 a: ii, pl. 3

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Sabaic » Early Sabaic
ScriptAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Text directionBoustrophedon
Text appearanceRecessed
Execution techniqueIncision
Chronology
PeriodA
Textual typologyDedicatory text

GENERAL NOTES

According to the linguistic analysis by P. Stein (2005 c), the inscriptions on the wall of the temple of Awām are dated between the end of the 4th and the end of the 2nd century BC (apart from Ja 552, which is dated to the 4th century BC). Their textual peculiarities show the shift from the Early to the Middle Sabaic linguistic periods. For the chronology, see the discussion in Wissmann 1982: 353 ff., Stein 2005 c: 187-189, Avanzini 2010: 188.
The text is boustrophedon and begins left-to-right.

TEXT

marker


   1  [Tbʿkrb rs²w ḏt Ġḍrn qyn S¹ḥr w-qyn Ydʿʾl Byn w-Ykrbmlk Wtr w-Yṯʿʾmr Byn bn Ḏ]↯(m)rydʿ bn ↯[M]ḏmrm hqny ʾlmqh kl tmlʾ gnʾn ln ʾʾwdn ʾly s¹ṭrn ʿd s²qrm w-kl mġbb ±w-mḥf±dt ḏn mhyʿn w-b±n-hw Ḏmrydʿ w-S¹±mhʾmr w-kl wld-hw w-qny-hw w-kl ʾnḫl-h±w b-ʾḏnt Ktm w-W±rq w-ḏTrd w-Wġmm± w-ʿs¹[mt w-Brʾm w-Zmn w-Ḥgrw w-Gdlm w-S¹ḥm w-Mṭrn b-Ys¹rn mflqn w-Rdmn b-Ys¹rn mḥmyn w-Mḫ]ḍn b-Yhdl ywm h[wfy-hw ʾlmqh ... ...]
   2  ḏt tnbʾ-hw l-wldm w-ywm hw±ṣt-hw Ykrbmlk Wtr± w-yʿqb b-Kbtn b-ʿly ±S¹bʾ ±w-ʾs²ʿbn ḫms¹t ḫrfn b-ḍr Qtb±n w-hwfy ʾlmqh kl S¹bʾ w-ʾs²ʿbn w-kl ʾrgl hwrd± ʿd ±hgrn Thrgb b-kl± ḫrfy hrs¹ b-Kb±tn b-ʿly S¹bʾ w-ʾs²ʿbn w-ʾtw ʿd± Mryb b-s¹lm S¹bʾ w-Qt±bn w-±hṯb l-hw Yṯʿ±ʾmr Byn w-S¹bʾ tʾmnm± b-ʿṯtr± w-b Hwbs¹ w-b ʾlmqh w-b ḏt± Ḥmym w-b ḏt Bʿdnm w-b ḏt Ġḍrn w-b Y±dʿʾl ±Byn w-b Ykrbmlk Wtr w-b (Y)[ṯ]↯ʿʾmr Byn w-b Kr(b)↯[ʾl Wtr w-b ʾb-hw Ḏmrydʿ bn Mḏm]↯rm

Apparatus
The text between brackets at the beginning of l.1 and at the end of l.2 is supplied on the basis of Glaser's estampage of the complete inscription (see Rhodokanakis 1917). The text between the editorial signs of the broken support in l.2 and the last two letters of the lines were readable on some fallen stones at Jamme's times.
1Rhodokanakis: w-Brʾm w-Brʾm w-Zmn.
Jamme considers Rdmn the name of the tribe.
Mḫḍn is the proper name of a palmgrove according to Jamme and Müller 1985.
1-2At the end of l.1, Jamme's integration has been accepted, despite Rhodokanakis's reading "ywm hwfy ḏt tnbʾ-hw". Cf. Ja 555, l.3: hwfy-hw ʾlmqh ḏt tnbʾ-hw.
2kbtn is a common noun "troops" according to Beeston et al. 1982, but it is a toponym according to Robin 1996 a: 1097 and al-Sheiba 1987: 48 (cf. RES 3951, l.2).
According to Müller, thrgb is a sort of epithet of Marib "welche verehrt wird".

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  Tbʿkrb, priest of ḏt Ġḍrn, minister of S¹ḥr and qyn of Ydʿʾl Byn and Ykrbmlk Wtr and Yṯʿʾmr Byn son of Ḏmrydʿ of the family Mḏmrm dedicated to ʾlmqh the whole completion of the wall, from the lines of this inscription to the top, and all the curtains and the towers of this construction and his sons Ḏmrydʿ and S¹mhʾmr and all his offspring and his property and all his palmgroves in ʾḏnt: Ktm and Wrq and ḏ-Trd and Wġmm and ʿs¹mt and Brʾm and Zmn and Ḥgrw and Gdlm and S¹ḥm and Mṭrn in Ys¹rn, open to the waters, and Rdmn in Ys¹rn, irrigated by dam-canal, and Mḫḍn in Yhdl, when ʾlmqh saved him [... ...]
   2  that He promised him regarding a child, and when Ykrbmlk Wtr appointed him and so he was viceroy in Kbtn for Sabaʾ and the tribes for five years in the war of Qatabān, and ʾlmqh saved all Sabaʾ and the tribes and all the soldiers, that he had conducted in the town of Thrgb in all the years he performed the military service in Kbtn for Sabaʾ and the tribes; and he returned to Mryb during the peace between Sabaʾ and Qatabān (or: and he brought back in Mryb the peace between Sabaʾ and Qatabān), and Yṯʿʾmr Byn and Sabaʾ expressed gratitude to him. By ʿṯtr and by Hwbs¹ and by ʾlmqh and by ḏt Ḥmym and by ḏt Bʿdnm and by ḏt Ġḍrn and by Ydʿʾl Byn and by Ykrbmlk Wtr and by Yṯʿʾmr Byn and by Krbʾl Wtr and by his father Ḏmrydʿ of the family Mḏmrm.
1Mḫḍn and Mṭrn could be two nouns, respectively: "canal dug in the rock" and "rain-watered field".
For mflqn, cf. Ja 555.
2b-ʿly: "in the hostilities against" (Jamme).
For the alternative interpretation of Thrgb as a sort of epithet of the town of Marib "which is venerated", see Müller 1980: 64-66 and 1985: 662.
For the alternative translation of the phrase beginning with w-ʾtw, see Müller 1985: 662.
For Kbtn Beeston et alii 1982 suggest the translation "troops".
Jamme 1962 a: 9-10Jamme, 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.
Müller, Walter W. 1980: 64-66Müller, Walter W. 1980. Altsüdarabische Miszellen (I). Raydān, 3: 63-73.
Müller, Walter W. 1985: 660-662Müller, Walter W. 1985. Altsüdarabische und frühnordarabische Inschriften. Pages 651-668 in Diethelm Conrad, Wilhelmus C. Delsman and Ursula Kaplony-Heckel (eds). Historisch-chronologische Texte. Rechts- und Wirtschaftsurkunden. Otto Kaiser (ed.), Texte aus der Umwelt des Alten Testaments. 1.6. Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus Gerd Mohn.

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support typeArchitectural structure » Wall
MaterialStone
Dimensionsh. (l.1) 23, h. (l.2) 21, w. 2426 (max. length of the in situ text)
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 bʿl ʾwm
NotesThe inscriptions Ja 550-557 are engraved on the outside enclosure wall of the temple, at the sides of the western door (see the location in Jamme 1962 a: ii, pl. C/1).
Link to site record

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Rhodokanakis 1917: 15-25Rhodokanakis, Nikolaus 1917. Studien zur Lexikographie und Grammatik des Altsüdarabischen. II Heft. (Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, 185/3). Vienna: Alfred Hölder.
Fakhry 1952: i, 93, 99, fig. 45Fakhry, Ahmed 1952. An archaeological Journey to Yemen (March-May 1947). (3 vols), Cairo: Government Press.
Jamme 1962 a: i, 9-15, ii, pls 1-3Jamme, 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.
ʿInān 1976ʿInān, Zaid b. ʿA 1976. Taʾriḫ ḥaḍāra al-Yaman al-qadīm. Cairo.
Müller, Walter W. 1980: 64-66Müller, Walter W. 1980. Altsüdarabische Miszellen (I). Raydān, 3: 63-73.
Wissmann 1982Wissmann, Hermann von 1982. Die Geschichte von Sabaʾ II. Das Grossreich der Sabäer bis zu seinem Ende im frühen 4. Jh. v. Chr. (Sitzungsberichte der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophischhistorische Klasse, 402). Vienna: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. [Walter W. Müller (ed.)]
Müller, Walter W. 1985: 661-662Müller, Walter W. 1985. Altsüdarabische und frühnordarabische Inschriften. Pages 651-668 in Diethelm Conrad, Wilhelmus C. Delsman and Ursula Kaplony-Heckel (eds). Historisch-chronologische Texte. Rechts- und Wirtschaftsurkunden. Otto Kaiser (ed.), Texte aus der Umwelt des Alten Testaments. 1.6. Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus Gerd Mohn.
Jamme 1985: 131-132Jamme, Albert W.F. 1985. Miscellanées d'ancient arabe XIV. Washington. 2025/04/17; https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.38250301. [Privately printed]
Stein 2005 cStein, Peter 2005. Linguistic contributions to Sabaean chronology. Archäologische Berichte aus dem Yemen, 10: 179-189.
Avanzini 2010Avanzini, Alessandra 2010. A reassessment of the chronology of the first millennium BC. Aula Orientalis, 28: 181-192.