CSAI
Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions

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Record’s details
  • Editor(s)
    Marina Sartori
    Irene Rossi
  • First published
    2014-05-05
  • Last revised
    2022-05-28
  • DOI
    10.82194/dasi-epi-7388
CC BY 4.0
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Robin/al-Mašamayn 1 Rob Maš 1


Robin and Ryckmans, Jacques 1978: 47, pl. 1

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic
ScriptAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Text directionRight-to-left
Text appearanceRecessed
Execution techniqueIncision
Measure of letters3.4
Chronology
PeriodC. Conjectural
Textual typologyLegal text

TEXT

marker


   1  ḥg-n k-tqhw w-s¹twddn bnw Ġ[ḍ]—
   2  bm w-Ḏrmt w-s²ʿbn ḏ-hgrn Mdrm
   3  qs¹d-hmw w-rgl-hmw w-ʾdm-hmw k-yḥ—
   4  grnn w-ʿrbn ḏt brktn l-Nws²m b—
   5  n s¹qy b-ḏt brktn qnym f-ʾ[w]
   6  rḥḍ b-hw w-ḏ-ys¹qyn b-hyt brk[t]—
   7  n bqrm f-ʾw ḥmrm f-ʾw ḍʾnm
   8  l-yḏbḥnn ʾḏkrn Tʾlb w-ʾṯy[n]
   9  Nws²m w-ḏ-yʿkrn ftdyn qny-hw [l-y]—
  10  s²ʾmn-hw ʿmn Nws²m w-ḥmrm l-yw(g)—
  11  rn w-ḏ-yrḥḍ b-hw l-ys¹bṭn ḫms¹y
  12  s¹bṭm b-mqmn w-ḏ-yʾs¹yn b-hw qn[..]
  13  f-ʾw ḏ-ydrmn-hw w-ʾl yḥdṯn ʾ—
  14  qdmn l-yhnkrn ḫms¹ blṭm l-
  15  ʾḥt drm

Apparatus
8Robin and Ryckmans read ʾṯn (so Jamme, Sima and Stein). Müller 1980, on the basis of an unpublished photograph, proposed ʾṯy[n] (so Mazzini).
10l-yw[d]rn (Robin and Ryckmans and so Jamme). Müller 1980 reads l-yw(g)rn or l-yw(l)rn: Nebes, Sima and Mazzini retain the first suggestion.
Mazzini transliterates ʿnm instead of ʿmn.
12At the end of the line: qn (Robin and Ryckmans, and so Beeston). Jamme proposes qn(m); possibly qn[ym] (Müller 1983 and Stein 2010 b).
Translation of the whole text by Robin and Ryckmans, Jamme, Müller 1983 and Mazzini.

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  Thus did they order and decide in agreement the bnw Ġ[ḍ]bm
   2  and Ḏrmt and the tribe of the city of Mdrm
   3  and their priestly class (?) and their men in arms (?) and their vassals that is that they
   4  make intangible and offer to Nws²m this cistern against the letting
   5  water animals in this cistern o[r]
   6  washing in it and who lets water in this ciste[rn]
   7  bovines or ass or sheep
   8  let the males be sacrificed to Tʾlb and the femal[es] to
   9  Nws²m and who resorts to the right to redeem their animals [let h]im pay
  10  to (buy from) Nws²m while the ass be stoned
  11  and who washes in it let him be struck with fifty
  12  strokes at the place and who accompanies animals in it
  13  or who walks around it but does not commit
  14  the preceding (misdemeanours?), let him be punished with five coins for
  15  one time.
3qs¹d: the interpretation of this term is still open to debate. Mazzini notes that the context suggests the designation of a political body or of a social class: according to Robin and Ryckmans it indicates a social class specific to the area of Saba and the northern areas of the high plateau, but he prefers the suggestion by Bron (1996: 111-112) that it refers to a certain category of priests (Mazzini 2005b: 106). Müller: "Siedler".
4ʿrb: "bestimmen für" (Müller).
9ftdyn: according to Mazzini this word does not mean "darbringen" (Müller) nor "confisqué à titre de fidāʾ"(Robin - Ryckmans) but "to redeem, deliver from". It comes from the Semitic root FDY with a clear technical meaning regarding the institution of redemption (by means of compensation).
Cf. Müller: "und wenn jemand sich weigert, sein Stück Vieh darzubringen"; Sima: "und wer die Konfiskation seines (Vieh)Besitzes verweigert".
14Mazzini considers the form ʾqdmn a plural adjective ("the previous, the preceding ones"), referred to the several misdemeanours listed in the upper part of the text. The translation of this clause though should be taken as very hypothetical.
Müller: "und dies sich (noch) nicht zuvor ereignet hat"; Stein: "sofern (dies) nicht früher (schon einmal) vorgekommen ist (?)".
12-15Stein 2010 b: 304 'Whosoever finds a ship (qnym) in it, or who knows of it, and does not tell the overseers, shall be punished by five blṭt(-coins) for one (single) occasion'.
Mazzini 2005 a: 97-98Mazzini, Giovanni 2005. The Rob Maš 1 South Arabian legal inscription revised. Studi Epigrafici e Linguistici, 22: 95-123.
Müller, Walter W. 1983: 269Müller, Walter W. 1983. Altsüdarabische Dokumente. Pages 268-282 in Diethelm Conrad (ed.). Dokumente zum Rechts- und Wirtschaftsleben. Otto Kaiser (ed.), Texte aus der Umwelt des Alten Testaments. 1.3. Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus Gerd Mohn.
Stein 2003 a: 111Stein, Peter 2003. Untersuchungen zur Phonologie und Morphologie des Sabäischen. (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, 3). Rahden: Marie Leidorf GmbH / Westf.: Marie Leidorf GmbH.
Stein 2010 b: 304Stein, Peter 2010. The monetary terminology in Ancient South Arabia in light of new epigraphic evidence. Pages 303-343 in Martin Huth and Peter G. van Alfen (eds). Coinage of the Caravan Kingdoms. Studies in Ancient Arabian Monetization. New York: American Numismatic Society / New York: Oxford: Oxbow.

French

   1  Conformément à ce que se sont imposé et ont accepté les banu Ġ[d]—
   2  bm-et-Drmt et la tribu de la ville de Madar,
   3  paysans libres, soldats et clients: on réser—
   4  vera et attribuera ce bassin à Nwšm pour
   5  prévenir qu'on fasse boire dans ce bassin quelque animal que ce soit ou qu'on
   6  lave dedans. Si quelqu'un faisait boire dans ce bassin
   7  des bovins, des ânes ou des ovins,
   8  qu'on sacrifie les mâles à Tʾlb et les femelles
   9  à Nwšm; et s'il refusait que son animal soit confisqué à titre de fidāʾ, qu'il
  10  le rachète à Nwšm, sauf si c'est un âne.
  11  Si quelqu'un lavait dedans, qu'il reçoive cinquante
  12  coups avec force (?). Quant à celui qui persisterait (?) à (faire) cela sciemment (?)
  13  ou qui récidiverait, même s'il ne renouvelle pas l'(infraction)
  14  antérieure, qu'il soit frappé d'une amende de cinq blṭ pour
  15  une fois.
Robin and Ryckmans, Jacques 1978: 46Robin, Christian J. and Ryckmans, Jacques 1978. L'attribution d'un bassin à une divinité en Arabie du Sud antique. Raydān, 1: 39-64.

OBJECT INFORMATION

Support typeStone piece
MaterialStone
Dimensionsh. 70, w. 29
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin and provenance
Modern siteṢirwāḥ-Arḥab
Ancient siteMdrm
Geographical areaArḥab
CountryYemen
Archaeological contextAgricultural irrigation context: Cistern
NotesThe epigraph was taken from the ruins of Ṣirwāḥ-Arḥab by an inhabitant of the near village of al-Mašamayn. The inscription was seen by Ch. Robin in his house.
Link to site record

CULTURAL NOTES

This decree establishes that a cistern is offered to the god Nws²m and it must be safeguarded from watering animals and from washing: the sanctions applied to the trespassers are listed in detail.
According to Robin and Ryckmans the decree was of profane nature, because issued by the tribal community. It served to prevent contamination of the water to be used for human consumption and the offering to a god was aimed at strenghtening the prohibition.
Mazzini, instead, maintains a strong connection of the decree with the religious sphere and highlights that the first editors already suggested a link of the god Nws²m with water: the rules refer to the possible consequences deriving from a contamination of the cistern, which is a sacred area.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Robin and Ryckmans, Jacques 1978: 43-64, pl. 1Robin, Christian J. and Ryckmans, Jacques 1978. L'attribution d'un bassin à une divinité en Arabie du Sud antique. Raydān, 1: 39-64.
Jamme 1979 a: 24-33Jamme, Albert W.F. 1979. Miscellanées d'ancient arabe VIII. Washington DC. 2025/04/17; https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.38250307. [Privately printed]
Müller, Walter W. 1980: 68-69Müller, Walter W. 1980. Altsüdarabische Miszellen (I). Raydān, 3: 63-73.
Beeston 1981 c: 55Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1981. Notes on Old South Arabian Lexicography XII. Le Muséon, 94: 55-73.
Müller, Walter W. 1983: 269Müller, Walter W. 1983. Altsüdarabische Dokumente. Pages 268-282 in Diethelm Conrad (ed.). Dokumente zum Rechts- und Wirtschaftsleben. Otto Kaiser (ed.), Texte aus der Umwelt des Alten Testaments. 1.3. Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus Gerd Mohn.
Nebes 1995 a: 227Nebes, Norbert 1995. Die Konstruktionen mit /fa-/ im Altsüdarabischen. Syntaktische und epigraphische Untersuchungen. (Veröffentlichungen der Orientalischen Kommission, 40). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
Sima 2000: 95-96Sima, Alexander 2000. Tiere, Pflanzen, Steine und Metalle in den altsüdarabischen Inschriften. Eine lexikalische und realienkundliche Untersuchung. (Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur. Veröffentlichungen der Orientalischen Kommission, 46). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
Stein 2003 a: 19Stein, Peter 2003. Untersuchungen zur Phonologie und Morphologie des Sabäischen. (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, 3). Rahden: Marie Leidorf GmbH / Westf.: Marie Leidorf GmbH.
Mazzini 2005 a: 95-113Mazzini, Giovanni 2005. The Rob Maš 1 South Arabian legal inscription revised. Studi Epigrafici e Linguistici, 22: 95-123.
Stein 2010 b: 304Stein, Peter 2010. The monetary terminology in Ancient South Arabia in light of new epigraphic evidence. Pages 303-343 in Martin Huth and Peter G. van Alfen (eds). Coinage of the Caravan Kingdoms. Studies in Ancient Arabian Monetization. New York: American Numismatic Society / New York: Oxford: Oxbow.