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Šibām Kawkabān 1
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 | 5-6 | ||||||||
| Chronology |
| ||||||||
| Textual typology | Construction text |
TEXT
1 Gḥḍm ʾyhr w-ʾḫy-hw Nmrn Ynf w-Nwfm Yrm w-bny-hmw [... ...]
2 w-Mrṯdʾln w-Brlm w-Lḥyʿt w-ʾbkrb w-S²rḥʾl w-ʾbs²mr [...] Kbr [ʾqynm ... ...]—
3 dr w-ḏ-Ryb w-ḏ-Qms²m w-ḏ-ʿlwn w-Ṯnym w-ḏ-Ḫs³mtm w-kbwr Ṣydn S²ddm [... ...]
4 w-Ḥfs²m brʾw w-hwṯrn w-hqḥ w-hs²qrn byt-hmw Ḥḍrn w-ms³wd-hw br[dʾ mrʾ-yhm]
5 w-ʾbkrb ʾs¹ʿd w-Ḏrʾʾmr ʾymn mlky S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn w-Ḥḍrmwt w-Ym[nt w-b-ḫyl s²ʿb-h]—
6 mw Bklm wrḫ-hw ḏ-Qyṣn ḏ-b-ḫrfn ḏ-l-s¹bʿt w-ṯmny w-ʾrbʿ mʾtm
| 3 | ḏ-Ḫs³mtm: unknown lineage name. Ṣydn: could be another spelling of Ṣdn. |
| 4 | Ḥḍrn: mentioned here for the first time as house name; often occurs as a lineage name. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 Gāḥiḍum ʾAyhar, his brothers Nimrān Yanūf and Nawfum Yarīm, and their sons [... 2 Marṯadʾilān, Barīlum, Luḥayʿt, ʾAbīkarib, Šaraḥʾīil und ʾAbīšamar, [...] Kabīr [Aqyānum ... 3 .., ḏū-Rayb, ḏū-Qamišum, ḏū-ʿAlwān, Ṯanīm, and ḏū-Ḫaśmatum, chiefs of Ṣaydān of Šaddātum [... 4 and Ḥufāšum, have built, laid foundations, finished off (plastered) and elevated their house Ḥaḍrān and its assembly/reception hall [with the assistance of their two lords] 5 ʾAbīkarib ʾAsʿad and Ḏaraʾʾamar ʾAyman, kings of Sabʾ, ḏū-Raydān, Ḥaḍramawt and Yam[anat and with the power of their tribe] 6 Bakīlum. Its date is (the month of) ḏū-Qiyāṣān of the year 487. |
| Sholan and Gajda 2015: 161-166 | Sholan, Amida and Gajda, Iwona 2015. A new Ḥimyaritic inscription from Šibām Kawkabān dated to the year 487 of the Ḥimyaritic era. Pages 161-169 in Iris Gerlach (ed.). South Arabia and its neighbours. Phenomena of intercultural contacts. 14. Rencontres Sabéennes. (Archäologische Berichte aus dem Yemen, 14). Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Support type | Stone piece |
| Material | Stone |
| Dimensions | h. 42, w. 120 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Shibām-Kawkabān |
| Ancient site | S²bm |
| Geographical area | al-Maḥwīt |
| Country | Yemen |
| Found | Reemployed. In modern times |
| Archaeological context | Urban context: Private house Ḥḍrn |
| Notes | The stone inscription is reemployed as a part of pillar inside the mosque of Shibām Kawkabān. |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
In the year 487 of the Ḥimyaritic era, the two kings Abīkarib Asʿad and Ḏaraʾʾamar Ayman ruled together with their father Malkīkarib Yuhaʾmin, as shown by two later (493 Ḥim) royal inscriptions Bayt al-Ašwal 2 and RES 3383 (cf. Sholan and Gajda 2015: 165-166).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Sholan and Gajda 2015: 161-167, figs 1-4 | Sholan, Amida and Gajda, Iwona 2015. A new Ḥimyaritic inscription from Šibām Kawkabān dated to the year 487 of the Ḥimyaritic era. Pages 161-169 in Iris Gerlach (ed.). South Arabia and its neighbours. Phenomena of intercultural contacts. 14. Rencontres Sabéennes. (Archäologische Berichte aus dem Yemen, 14). Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag. |