CC BY 4.0
The above license applies to the data in this record, but not to any images displayed. The images are the property
of third parties and are either used with permission or reproduced from publications (see the credits below each image).
al-Ṣilwī 3
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Northern Middle Sabaic | ||
| Script | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Text direction | Right-to-left | ||
| Text appearance | Raised | ||
| Execution technique | Casting | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Expiation text |
GENERAL NOTES
| Penitential inscription. Its edition by al-Ṣilwī was based on a transcription by Khalīl al-Zubayrī, until its photograph has been identified on the website of an auction house (https://www.bidsquare.com/online-auctions/1070352) allowing the CSAI team to apply a number of corrections and apparatus notes (June 2026). |
TEXT
1 |(ʿ)lf(t)(((Q)lf(m))) bnt (M)ltm t—
2 nḫyt w-tnḏrn l-ḏ-
3 S¹mwy bʿl *ʾ*ḏnn b-
4 hn ḥy(ḍ)t b-mḥr—
5 m-hw w-s¹frt ʿly
6 ġrrm((Ġrrm)) b-ʾmr-hw f-
7 hḍrʿt w-ʿnw w-(s¹)|
| 1 | The reading on the photograph suggests that the name of the author could be ʿlft or ʿlfm instead of Qlfm. The circle of the first letter is not aligned with the vertical bar, suggesting that the latter is a word divider positioned at the beginning of the text (cf. the word divider at the end of l. 7) and the circle corresponds to the letter ʿayn. The different realisations of the letters T and M throughout the inscription leave the reading of the last letter of the name uncertain. Since its shape is "open", and given that the name refers to a woman, the reading T is suggested here, since its right bar is straighter than the left one, as elsewhere in this text. However, we cannot exclude an M lacking the upper and lower bars. Note that the name ʿlfm is attested in an ASA graffito from the Ḥimā area (JML-E-25). The B of bnt appears without the upper horizontal bar. The same uncertainty applies to the name Mltm, which might be Tltm (neither of them appears to be attested in ASA). Note that the final M of this name is closed. |
| 3 | ʾḏnn: the shape of the first letter is that of an S, with a straight upper stroke. However, while there are no parallels for s¹ḏnn, ʾḏnn is attested as a sanctuary of ḏ-S¹mwy in the inscription Taīrān 2000. |
| 4 | The shape of the Ḍ recalls that of a Ḏ, but the reading ḥyḍt is confirmed by the context. |
| 6 | The reading of the photograph has allowed us to correct the reading b-ʾmn-hw to b-ʾmr-hw. |
| 7 | The final formula of the Amirītic inscriptions would require – after the chain hḍrʿt w-ʿnw – the coordinated verb tḥlʾn (feminine), sometimes preceded by w-ḫṭʾt. In this case, the presence of w-s¹ (which could be read as w-ʾ as well, cf. l. 3) followed by a word divider points to an error in the realisation of the text, due to a miscalculation in the space left within the frame. However, there seems to be no trace of the continuation of the text, not even on the frame of the plaque, as is sometimes the case. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 (ʿ)lft, daughter of (M)ltm, 2 confessed and did penance to ḏ- 3 S¹mwy, Master of (ʾ)ḏnn, because 4 she had her period in His 5 temple and she travelled to 6 Ġrrm by His order and 7 she showed submission and distress, and ... |
| 5-6 | ġrr: this is the first attestation of this word in the South Arabian inscriptions. The editor found the meaning of "white cloth" in the Classical Arabic dictionary "Lisān al-ʿArab" by Ibn Manẓūr. He traslated the sentence: "and she menstruated on a white cloth". Our translation is hypothetical, the meaning "to travel" for s¹fr is attested in the minuscule texts. |
| al-Ṣilwī 2005: 111 | al-Ṣilwī, Ibrāhim 2005. Naqš ǧadīd min nuqūš al-iʿtiraf al-ʿalanī (naqš min maʿbad ʾḎNN). Dirāsa fī dalālāti-hi al-luġawiyya wad-dīniyya. Pages 109-121 in Amida Sholan, Sabina Antonini and Mounir Arbach (eds). Sabaean Studies (Dirāsāt Sabaʾiyya). Archaeological, epigraphical and historical studies in honour of Yūsuf M. ʿAbdallāh, Alessandro de Maigret, Christian J. Robin on the occasion of their sixtieth birthdays. Naples: Università degli studi di Napoli l'Orientale. [University of Ṣanʿāʾ; Yemeni-Italian Centre for Archeological Reserches Ṣanʿāʾ; Centre français d'archéologie et de sciences sociales de Ṣanʿāʾ] |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Support type | Artefact » Plaque » With framework |
| Material | Bronze |
| Dimensions | h. 21, w. 15 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Unknown (wādī al-Jawf) |
| Ancient site | Unknown |
| Geographical area | wādī al-Jawf |
| Country | Yemen |
| Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of ḏ-S¹mwy bʿl ʾḏnn |
| Notes | Note that a temple of ʿṯtr bʿl ʾḏnn is attested in Nashshān (cf. Moussaieff 22 and al-Saʿīd 2005). |
| Link to site record |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| al-Ṣilwī 2005: 109-121 | al-Ṣilwī, Ibrāhim 2005. Naqš ǧadīd min nuqūš al-iʿtiraf al-ʿalanī (naqš min maʿbad ʾḎNN). Dirāsa fī dalālāti-hi al-luġawiyya wad-dīniyya. Pages 109-121 in Amida Sholan, Sabina Antonini and Mounir Arbach (eds). Sabaean Studies (Dirāsāt Sabaʾiyya). Archaeological, epigraphical and historical studies in honour of Yūsuf M. ʿAbdallāh, Alessandro de Maigret, Christian J. Robin on the occasion of their sixtieth birthdays. Naples: Università degli studi di Napoli l'Orientale. [University of Ṣanʿāʾ; Yemeni-Italian Centre for Archeological Reserches Ṣanʿāʾ; Centre français d'archéologie et de sciences sociales de Ṣanʿāʾ] |