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).
MB 2005 I-88
Maraqten 2015: 126, fig. 22
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 | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Legal text |
TEXT
1 bn-m ʾlwhb ḏ-ʿbrn l-yḥḏrn w-l-
2 ynḏrn ḏ-ys³fn ʾṯtm b-mḥrmn w-ḏ-yb—
3 hʾn mḥrmn w-ʾl ẓy w-ḏ-ybhʾn l-ḫbz q—
4 dfn w-ʾl ẓy w-ʾl trḥḍ w-ʾlmqh f-hẓm
5 l-ʿbd-hw ʾlwhb
| 3-4 | qdfn: attested here for the first time. According to the editor it could be related with the Arabic al-qadf, "taking water from the basin", or "scooping out and pouring and taking water from the basin". |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 From ʾĪlwahab of the family Dhū-ʿAbrān: let him beware of [his crime] and 2 let him perform an expiation: whoever would have a sexual intercourse with a woman inside the temple and 3 whoever enters the temple impure (without being ritually purified) and whoever enters (the temple) to get water in a jar while he is 4 impure (without being ritually purified) and he did not have the ritual washing. And Almaqahū granted 5 protection for His worshiper ʾĪlwahab. |
| Maraqten 2015: 126 | Maraqten, Mohammed 2015. Sacred spaces in ancient Yemen - The Awām temple - Maʾrib : A case study. Pages 107-134 in Mounir Arbach and Jérémie Schiettecatte (eds). Pre-Islamic South Arabia and its Neighbours: New Developments of Research. Proceedings of the 17th Rencontres Sabéennes held in Paris, 6–8 June 2013. (BAR International Series, 2740). Oxford: Archaeopress. [British Foundation for the Study of Arabia Monographs, 16] |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Support type | Stone piece |
| Material | Stone |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Maʾrib |
| Ancient site | Mryb / Mrb |
| Geographical area | Maʾrib |
| Country | Yemen |
| Found | In situ |
| Notes | The inscription is engraved on a wall on the opposite side of the ʿAlhān Nahfan Gate. |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
M. Maraqten 2015: 126 : "The text is directed to the public or worshippers and not to a specific person. ʾĪlwahab... seems to have been one of the priests or administrators of the Awām temple. Although the style of this text is similar to the style of the penitential inscription, it is considered to be a temple prescription since the ritual rules mentioned are for common people and visitors."
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Maraqten 2015: 126, fig. 22 | Maraqten, Mohammed 2015. Sacred spaces in ancient Yemen - The Awām temple - Maʾrib : A case study. Pages 107-134 in Mounir Arbach and Jérémie Schiettecatte (eds). Pre-Islamic South Arabia and its Neighbours: New Developments of Research. Proceedings of the 17th Rencontres Sabéennes held in Paris, 6–8 June 2013. (BAR International Series, 2740). Oxford: Archaeopress. [British Foundation for the Study of Arabia Monographs, 16] |