CSAI
Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions

Indexes
Tools
Record’s details
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).

Ag 2 Buraʿ al-Aʿlā 1


al-Aġbarī 2013: 179, fig. 1

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Sabaic » Late Sabaic
ScriptAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Text directionRight-to-left
Text appearanceRecessed
Execution techniqueIncision
Measure of letters6.5
Chronology
PeriodE
Start date - BCE/CE345 CE
End date - BCE/CE365 CE
Date accuracyApproximate
Textual typologyConstruction text

TEXT

marker


   1  Mʿdkrb ʾs²wʿ bn Ḍrn
   2  w-Gmln w-ʾḥrm wzʿ Mḍ—
   3  ḥym bn ʾbydʿ tqdm mq—
   4  ṣʿt mwgln l-byt mlkn H—
   5  rgb b-rdʾ ʾln bʿl s¹myn b-w—
   6  rḫn Ṣyd ḏ-l-ṯmnt w-ṯmnhy w-
   7  ṯlṯ mʾtm ḫryftm

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  Mʿdkrb ʾs²wʿ descendant of Ḍrn,
   2  Gmln and ʾḥrm, governor of the tribe Mḍ-
   3  ḥym, son of ʾbydʿ,
   4  directed the extraction of the marble for the king's palace H-
   5  rgb, by the help of ʾln Master of heaven, in the month
   6  Ṣyd of the year three hundred
   7  eighty-eight.

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support typeRock
Dimensionsh. 68, w. 70
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin and provenance
Modern siteḌayq Buraʿ al-Aʿlā
Ancient siteUnknown
Geographical areaWādī Buraʿ
CountryYemen
FoundIn situ
Link to site record

CULTURAL NOTES

This may be the earliest dated monotheistic inscription attested in South Arabia (355 ± 10 AD). See also the inscription B 8457 (dated to 354 AD).

Mʿdkrb ʾs²wʿ, author of this inscription, holds the title of wzʾ, which seems to indicate a governor administrating a territory (and a tribe) on behalf of the king. This would imply that the king has taken control of the tribe of Maḍḥī after the rule of S¹ʿdm Yhs¹kr, the prince under whom the father of Mʿdkrb wrote the other inscription Ag 3 (cf. Robin 2005-2006: 58).

The text commemorates the construction of the palace Hrgb, which is the royal palace of Ẓafār (cf. Gar Sharahbil A/3).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Robin 2005-2006 aRobin, Christian J. 2005-2006. Les banū Haṣbaḥ, princes de la commune de Maḍḥām. Arabia. Revue de Sabéologie, 3: 31-110.
al-Aġbarī 2013: 174, fig. 1al-Aġbarī, Fahmī 2013. Nuqūš sabaʾiyya ǧadīda taḥtawī ʿalāʾ aqdam naqš tawḥīdī muʾarraḫ. Raydān, 8: 167-183.