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RES 3878 Q 78; CSAI I, 204
By kind permission of Mission Qatabān
By kind permission of Mission Qatabān
By kind permission of Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Qatabanic » Central Qatabanic | ||
| Script | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Text direction | Right-to-left | ||
| Text appearance | Recessed | ||
| Execution technique | Incision | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Legal text | ||
| Royal inscription | Yes |
TEXT
1 [... ... ]w-s¹ḥr Ydʿʾb Ḏbyn bn S²hr mlk Qtbn w-Qtbn ms³[wdn
2 w-Fqḍtn ]w-Btln w-Rdmn w-ʾlmlk w-Mḍḥym w-Yḥr w-Bklmy-w-ḏ-Ṯ[... ...]
3 [... ...]tn w-Bklnhn w-kl ʾs²ʿbm ymlk Ydʿʾb bn mʾtmm w-ʾmm |
4 [... ...]m ʾḫ-s¹ bn Qtbn w-ḏtn ʾs²ʿbn w-l yḥrm s¹w ʾns¹n hrgn
5 [... ... ]kn-m b-yṯfṭ-s¹ w-s¹ḥr w-s¹ʿbr w-ṣry mlkn bn Tmnʿ w-
6 [... ...](k)r brṯm w-mʿbrm ġyr brṯm b-ys¹ḥr-s¹ w-s¹ʿbr w-ṣry m—
7 [lkn ... ...l-y](mt) s¹w ʾns¹n ms¹tʿdwn kn-m b-yks³ʾ w-ḥlt (nfs¹)-(s¹)
8 [... ...](gs¹) mwt ʾw mʿbr b-nfs¹ ms¹tʿdwn ʾs¹mʿm
9 [... ...wr]ḫ-s¹ ḏ-Ms¹lʿt ḫrf Ġwṯʾl ḏ-Ġ—
10 [... ...] f hgrn Tmnʿ w-Wʿln w-S³yrm w-
11 [... ... ṯ](fṭ) w-ḥr(g mlkn) bn hgr ʾs²ʿb ʿm w-ḏm b-yhrg f-l |
12 [... ...ʾ]rḍm b-s¹ b-yhrg nḥql ((n-ḥql)) bn ʾrbʿ ywmytm n-l yntwḥ ʿd |
13 [... ... ]mʿbrn ʿd-km b-yṣry-s¹ mlkn kn-m b-yʿbr w-ḥwr w-tʿlm-ʾy y—
14 [d Ydʿʾb w-tʿlm-ʾ]y ʾydw Zydm ḏ-Ẓrb ḏ-Ḏrʾn w-S²hrm d-Ḏrʾn w-Ṣbḥkrb ḏ-Hrn |
15 [... ...]Ms²krm ḏ-Ġrbm w-Ḏrʾkrb bn Ḥnẓt w-Gyrm ḏ-S²hr w-Hwfʿm bn
16 [... ... ḏ-]Ygr w-ʿmyṯʿ ḏ-Rs²m w-Lḥyʿṯt Mʿhr w-Ḍbʾm bn Zḫnn w-Hwfʿṯt N—
17 [... ...] bn Mʿhr w-ʾbs²bm bn ʾʿs¹yfr w-Ḏydm Ġrbn w-ʿmḏḫr Glgln w-Hwtrʿṯt
18 [ ... ...w]-Hwfʿm ḏ-Hṣbḥ w-ʿmḏḫr ḏ-S²rgn w-ʾbs²fq ḏ-Hrmw w-ʾbs²fq bn Gʾnn w-Ls³b
19 [... ...] w-Yṯʿkrb Yʾḏn w-Nbṭʿly bn Hṯb Rs²ḥm w-ʿmkrb bn Ṣbḥm w-S¹mydʿ ḏ-Gʿrn
20 [... ...S²]fq ḏ-Yfʿm w-Mʿdʾl ḏ-Nḍrn w-Nbṭʿm bn Ṭwyn w-Yʿgf ḏ-Yʿgf w-Ḏydm ḏ-ʿgḏ w-ʿ—
21 [... ...] ḏ-Hṯʿr Lḥy w-ʿmʾmn Ḫbḏn w-S¹mydʿ Ṭn[.]zm w-Ynfʾ ḏ-Rft w-Nbṭʿm ḏ-Ḏrḥn
| The original text is today almost completely lost. We edited the text offered by Rhodokanakis (RES). | |
| 4 | Rhodokanakis reads [... ... ʾ]ḫm ʾḫ-s¹; the sign ḫ is, however, not readable; an alternative restoration could be [... ... ʾns¹]m ʾḫ-s¹. |
| 6 | The integration ʿ]kr is probable. |
| 12-13 | Jamme 1972: 73-74 mentioned the existence of two fragments TS 104 and 105. The lines could be read: w-ḏm b-yhrg fl [.]m bn mts¹km b-ʾrḍm b-s¹ b-yhrg nḥql bn ʾrbʿ ywmytm n-l yntwḥ ʿd [m]ḥrm ʾlhn ḏtw mʿbrn. See Mazzini 2020: 79-80. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 [... ...] and decreed Ydʿʾb Ḏbyn son of S²hr king of Qataban and Qataban the Council 2 and the Fqḍtn and the Btln and Rdmn and ʾlmlk and Yḥr and Bklmy and ... 3 [... ...] and Bklnhn and all the tribes, over which Ydʿʾb rules, as the king by full assembly and united community, 4 [if anybody kills (?)] somebody else from Qataban and these tribes, then let that one who kills be interdicted 5 [... ...] as the king orders and decrees and puts into effect and proclaims from Timnaʿ and 6 [whenever there is an appeal] against (?) the public declaration (of the death sentence) and compensation without the public declaration (of the death sentence), which the king decrees and puts into effect and proclaims 7 [... ...] let that individual who is the transgressor be condemned to death as (the king) rules indeed his life is at the mercy (of anyone) 8 [... ...] death penalty or compensation as to the life of the transgressor; witnesses 9 [... ...] its month of Ms¹ʿlt the year of Ġwṯʾl he of Ġ- 10 [... ... on the gate of (?)] the city of Timnaʿ and Wʿln and S³yrm and 11 [... ...] (as the king) orders and commands from the city of the tribes of ʿm; and the one who kills 12 [without being apprehended (?)] in the territory in which he kills unless (within a period) of four days, then let there be mourning until (?) 13 [... ...] compensation until the king proclaims it as he (the king) puts into effect and prescribes; and the signature (was made by) the 14 hand of Ydʿʾb and the signature (was made by) the hands of (then list of witnesses' names). |
| Mazzini 2020: 33-35 | Mazzini, Giovanni 2020. The Ancient South Arabian royal edicts from the Southern Gate of Timnaʿ and the Ǧabal Labaḫ. (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, 8). |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Deposit | Aden, The National Museum, NAM 2381+NAM 2433=AM 60.1311A |
| Deposit | Wien, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Sem 701 |
| Support type | Architectural structure » Gate |
| Material | Stone |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Hajar Kuḥlān |
| Ancient site | Tmnʿ |
| Geographical area | Wādī Bayḥān |
| Country | Yemen |
| Found | In situ |
| Archaeological context | Urban context: City gate ḏ-S³dw |
| Link to site record |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Pirenne 1956: pl. XXXIV/b | Pirenne, Jacqueline 1956. Paléographie des inscriptions sud-arabes. Contribution à la chronologie et à l'histoire de l'Arabie du sud antique. (Verhandelingen van de Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten van België. Klasse der letteren, 26). Brussels: Paleis der Academiën. |
| Jamme 1972: 73-74 | Jamme, Albert W.F. 1972. Miscellanées d'ancient arabe III. Washington. 2025/04/17; https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.38250312. [Privately printed] |
| Mazzini 2020: 33-86; fig. 27-32, 34 | Mazzini, Giovanni 2020. The Ancient South Arabian royal edicts from the Southern Gate of Timnaʿ and the Ǧabal Labaḫ. (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, 8). |