CSAI
Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions

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MṢ1


Maraqten 2014: 152, fig. 3
photo
Maraqten 2014: 152, fig. 3
photo
Maraqten 2014: 153, fig. 4

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic
ScriptAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Text directionRight-to-left
Chronology
PeriodD. Conjectural
Textual typologyDedicatory text

TEXT

marker


   1  Hʿn w-bny-hw Qs²bm bny Ḥs²km
   2  hqnyw s²ym-hmw Tʾlb bʿl Qs¹m—
   3  m ḏn ṯwrn w-ymnn ḥg-n s²ft-hw
   4  ʿbd-hw Hʿn l-ḥmd ḫyl w-mqm s²—
   5  ym-hmw Tʾlb bʿl Qs¹mm b-ḏt
   6  ḫmr-hmw Tʾlb ṯwbn-hmw fql
   7  ṣdqm bn ms²my-hmw b-ḫrf ʾlw—
   8  fd ʾmrm Yhs³ḥm w-l-wzʾ Tʾlb
   9  s¹ʿd-hmw ʾfql ṣdqm bn ms²my-hmw
  10  w-l gyb-hmw Tʾlb bn brdm w-ʾ[r]—
  11  (b)ym w-ḥbrm w-bn-kl qmltm w-
  12  l ḫryn-hmw bn nḍʿ w-s²ṣy s²nʾ—
  13  m ḏ-rḥq w-qrb b-Tʾlb Rymm

Apparatus
10-11Maraqten reads ʾḏym and notes "this noun occurs for the first time in ancient South Arabian inscription; cf. Arabic aḏīya 'damage, harm, injury, trouble'" (Maraqten 2014: 154). However, a letter is probably missing at the end of l.10 due to the damage of the stone and we should probably restore and read ʾ[r](b)ym "locusts", as in other inscriptions (e.g. FB-al-Bayḍāʾ 1, MB 2002 I-28, Ja 610, etc.).

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  Hʿn and his son Qs²bm, of the family Ḥs²km,
   2  dedicated to their patron Tʾlb, Lord of Qs¹mm,
   3  this bull (statuette) and the right hand, as he had promised Him
   4  - His servant Hʿn - to praise the might and the power of
   5  their patron Tʾlb, Lord of Qs¹mm, because
   6  Tʾlb granted them to reward them with a good
   7  crop from their fields in the year of ʾlwfd
   8  ʾmrm Yhs³ḥm; and may Tʾlb continue to
   9  grant them good crops from their fields;
  10  and may Tʾlb protect them against any cold weather and
  11  locusts and sorcery and from every insect pest; and
  12  may He deliver them from the malice and the maleficence of any enemy,
  13  the one far or near. By Tʾlb Rymm.
7, 9bn ms²my-hmw: Maraten considers this a previously unattested form of broken plural of the noun ms²(y)m. However, an interpretation of ms²my as a dual seems more simple. A metathesis for ms²ym should be excluded as the form is repeated twice. Another possibility might be a sound plural at the oblique case.
Maraqten 2014: 151Maraqten, Mohammed 2014. Two new Sabaic inscriptions: the construction of a building and the offering of a right hand. Pages 148-155 in Alexander V. Sedov (ed.). Arabian and Islamic studies. A collection of papers in honour of Mikhail Borishovich Piotrovskij on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Moskow.

OBJECT INFORMATION

DepositṢanʿāʾ, Unknown (Private collection)
Support typeArtefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription
MaterialStone
Dimensionsh. 32, w. 23
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin
Modern siteUnknown
Ancient siteUnknown
Geographical areaUnknown
CountryUnknown
Archaeological contextReligious context: Temple of Tʾlb bʿl Qs¹mm
NotesBeing a dedication to the god Tʾlb, the inscription should come from the kingdom of S¹mʿy. The epithet provides the name of a temple of Tʾlb, previously unknown.
Link to site record

CULTURAL NOTES

This is the first attestation of the epithet bʿl Qs¹mm of Tʾlb Rymm, the main deity of the tribe of S¹mʿy. The editor suggests that the name Qs¹mm is probably related to the temple's function as a place of oracles (QS¹M "oracular decision").

The editor notes that the examples of dedication of a right hand in Ancient Yemen are two so far, both to the god Tʾlb. As for the object dedicated, he suggests to compare the 3rd century AD inscribed bronze hand in the British Museum collection (BM 139443=1983,0626.2).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Maraqten 2014: 149-154, figs. 3-4Maraqten, Mohammed 2014. Two new Sabaic inscriptions: the construction of a building and the offering of a right hand. Pages 148-155 in Alexander V. Sedov (ed.). Arabian and Islamic studies. A collection of papers in honour of Mikhail Borishovich Piotrovskij on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Moskow.