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Ja 585
By kind permission of GOAM
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| 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 | 2.2 | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
TEXT
1 Yṣbḥ ʾs²wʿ w-ʾḫy-hw ʿrbm bnw ḏ-ʿblm w-Hʿ(ll)( )[hqn]—
2 [y]y ʾlmqh-Ṯhwn-bʿl-ʾwm ṣlmnhn ḏy ḏhbn ḏ-s²ft-hw |
3 [ḥmdm b]-ḏ-ḫmr ʿbdy-hw Yṣbḥ ʾs²wʿ w-ʾḫy-hw ʿrbm bny ʿb(l)—
4 [m w-Hʿll] b-tʾwln ʾb-hmy Hwfʿṯt ʾṣḥḥ ḏ-Ġymn b-wfym bn
5 [hgrn S³w]m w-S¹hrtn b-kn nbl-hw mrʾy-hmw ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb w-(ʾ)[ḫ]—
6 [y-hw Yʾ]zl Byn mlky (S¹b)ʾ w-ḏ-Rydn b-ʿb[r ](ʾ)ḥb(s²)n w-hṣnʿw ʾb-
7 (hm)y Hwfʿṯt ḏ-Ġymn ʾḥbs²n b-hgrn S³wm brqm w-ṯny ḫrfn w-(k)—
8 [y]dw ʾḥbs²n hgzn grb ʾb-hmy Hwfʿṯt ḏ-Ġymn w-ḥmdy Yṣb—
9 [ḥ] w-ʿrbm ḫyl w-mqm ʾlmqh-Ṯhwn-bʿl-ʾwm b-ḏt tʾwl ʾb-hmy [H]—
10 [w]fʿṯt ʾṣḥḥ ḏ-Ġymn b-wfym bn hyt s¹bʾtn w-bn ʿs¹m ḥl(ẓ) [w-]
11 [m]rḍ mrḍ ʾb-hmy b-hyt hgrn S³wm w-ḥmdm b-ḏ-ḫmr ʾlmqh-Ṯh[wn]
12 [bʿ]l-ʾwm mrʾy-hmw ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb w-ʾḫy-hw Yʾzl Byn mlky [S¹]—
13 [b]ʾ w-ḏ-Rydn bny Frʿm Ynhb mlk S¹bʾ b-wḍʿ kl ʾḍrr yfʿ-hm[w]
14 b-ʿltm w-s¹fylt bḥrm w-ybs¹m w-b-ḏt s²kr ʾs¹n Grmt wld n[g]—
15 s²yn mlk ʾks¹mn b-kn ʿdw b-ḍrm w-ts²kr hʾ ʾs¹n Grmt w-[ʾḥ]—
16 (z)b Ḥbs²t w-l-wzʾ ʾlmqh-bʿl-ʾwm hws²ʿn mrʾy-h<m>w ʾls²rḥ Y[ḥḍ]—
17 (b) w-ʾḫy-hw Yʾzl Byn mlky S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn b-wḍʿ kl ḍr w-s²nʾ mr[ʾy]-
18 hmw w-l-wzʾ ʾlmqh hwfyn ʿbdy-hw Yṣbḥ ʾs²wʿ w-ʾḫy-hw ʿrbm[ bny]
19 [ʿ]blm w-Hʿll b-kl ʾmlʾ ys¹tmlʾnn b-ʿm-hw w-l-ḫmr-hmw ʾlm(qh)-[Ṯh]—
20 [wn-b](ʿl)-(ʾ)[w](m) (ḥẓy w)-(rḍw mrʾy)-(hmw )(ʾls²rḥ)( )(Yḥḍb)( )w-ʾḫy-hw Yʾzl [B]—
21 [yn mlky S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn ... ...]
| The text between square brackets refers to Jamme's transcription. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 Yṣbḥ ʾs²wʿ and his brother ʿrbm, descendants of ḏ-ʿblm and Hʿll, dedicated 2 to ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, these two bronze statues, which they promised to Him 3 in praise because He granted His two servants Yṣbḥ ʾs²wʿ and his brother ʿrbm, of the family ʿblm 4 and Hʿll the return in safety of the father of both of them, Hwfʿṯt ʾṣḥḥ of Ġymn, from 5 the city of S³wm and (from) S¹hrtn, when their two lords ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl Byn 6 the two kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān had sent him on a mission to the Habashites; but the Habashites 7 did shut up the father of them both Hwfʿṯt of Ġymn in the city of S³wm for one season and two years, and when 8 the Habashites almost did put an end to the life of the father of them both Hwfʿṯt of Ġymn. Yṣbḥ 9 and ʿrbm praised the power and the authority of ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, because the father of them both 10 Hwfʿṯt ʾṣḥḥ of Ġymn returned in safety from that expedition, and from the frequent sicknesses and 11 and diseases from which he suffered in that town of S³wm, and in praise because ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, 12 Lord of ʾwm, granted their two lords ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl Byn, the two kings of Sabaʾ 13 and ḏu-Raydān, sons of Frʿm Ynhb king of Sabaʾ, to humiliate all the enemies who rose up against them 14 in the highlands and in the lowlands of the sea and of the land; and because was defeated the adversary Grmt, son of the 15 Negus, the king of the ʾAksumites, when he went to war; and were defeated this adversary Grmt and the armed bands of 16 the Ḥabashat. And may continue ʾlmqh, Lord of ʾwm, to grant their two lords ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb 17 and his brother Yʾzl Byn, the two kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, to humiliate every foe and enemy of their 18 two lords, and may continue ʾlmqh to gratify His two servants Yṣbḥ ʾs²wʿ and his brother ʿrbm, descendants of 19 ʿblm and Hʿll, with all the help they will seek from Him, and may grant them ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, 20 the goodwill and the satisfaction of their two lords ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl 21 Byn, the two kings of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān [... ...] |
| The phrase is translated accepting Ryckmans' interpretation of nbl in the sense of "envoyer (en ambassade) auprès de" (Rycmans, Jacques 1966: 478) instead of "have sent him ... against" (Jamme). | |
| Our translation of the verb hgzn follows Beeston (1972: 540), whereas Jamme renders the phrase: "and the Ḥabashites have plotted to shave the body of their father.." and Ryckmans: "décapiter la personne de..". All interpretations are etymologically based on Arabic, but Beeston refers to ʾanjaza "put an end to (someone's life)" and the other two, on the contrary, to jazza "shear, crop (the hair)". However, the Semitic roots gwz and gzw/y, both with the sense of "pass away, disappear" are even semantically more suitable to the context. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Deposit | Ṣanʿāʾ, Military Museum, MṢM 139 |
| Support type | Artefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription |
| Material | Stone |
| Dimensions | h. 45, w. 36, th. 14 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Maḥram Bilqīs |
| Ancient site | ʾwm |
| Geographical area | Maʾrib |
| Country | Yemen |
| Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of ʾlmqh Ṯhwn bʿl ʾwm |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
This text dates back to the period of the Abyssinian control over the Tihāma (first half of 3rd c. AD). Few decades later they would have been thrown out by the Sabaean king Ns²ʾkrb Yhʾmn Yhḥrb.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Jamme 1962 a: 91-93, pl. 6 | 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. |