Aksumite eraCIH 314+954

Peace sought by Ḥimyar and Ḥabašat

Two Sabaean officers dedicate bronze statues and record an embassy from Shammar dhū-Raydān and the tribes of Ḥabašat.

Date
3rd century CE
Place
al-ʿAmāyid / ʿArsh Bilqīs, Yemen
Language
Sabaic
Script
Ancient South Arabian

01 · Original text

Sabaic

Ancient South ArabianComplete surviving text

(𐩧𐩨𐩦)[𐩣𐩪](𐩣)( )(𐩺𐩸𐩵) [𐩨𐩬 𐩪𐩱𐩧𐩬 𐩥-𐩣𐩢𐩺𐩡](𐩣) [𐩥]-(𐩣)[𐩥𐩳𐩲𐩣 𐩥]-
𐩯𐩣𐩫𐩣 𐩤𐩺𐩡 𐩦𐩲𐩨𐩬 𐩨𐩫𐩡𐩣 𐩧𐩨𐩲𐩬 𐩹-𐩧𐩺𐩵𐩩 𐩥-𐩥𐩠(𐩨)—
[𐩱𐩥](𐩣) 𐩺𐩱𐩹𐩰 (𐩨𐩬) 𐩴𐩵𐩬𐩣 𐩥-𐩭𐩹𐩥𐩩 𐩣𐩤𐩩𐩥𐩺𐩺 𐩱𐩡𐩦𐩧𐩢 𐩺𐩢𐩳[𐩨]
[𐩥-𐩱](𐩭)𐩺-𐩠𐩥 𐩺𐩱𐩸𐩡 𐩨𐩺𐩬 𐩣𐩡𐩫𐩺 𐩪𐩨𐩱 𐩥-𐩹-𐩧𐩺𐩵𐩬 𐩨𐩬𐩺 𐩰𐩧[𐩲𐩣 𐩺]—
[𐩬𐩠]𐩨 𐩣𐩫𐩡 𐩪𐩨𐩱 𐩠𐩤𐩬𐩺𐩺 𐩱𐩡𐩣𐩤𐩠-𐩨𐩲𐩡-𐩣𐩪𐩫𐩩-𐩥-𐩺𐩻𐩥-𐩨𐩧[𐩱𐩬]
[...] (𐩮)𐩡𐩣𐩬𐩠(𐩬) 𐩹-𐩹𐩠𐩨𐩬 𐩢𐩣𐩵𐩣 𐩨-𐩹𐩩 𐩭𐩣𐩧 𐩥-𐩠𐩥𐩦𐩲𐩬
[𐩣𐩧𐩱𐩺-𐩠]𐩣𐩥 𐩱𐩡𐩦𐩧𐩢 𐩺𐩢𐩳𐩨 𐩥-𐩱𐩭𐩺-𐩠𐩥 𐩺𐩱𐩸𐩡 𐩨𐩺𐩬
[𐩣𐩡𐩫𐩺 𐩪𐩨𐩱 𐩥-𐩹-𐩧𐩺𐩵]𐩬 𐩨-𐩠𐩥𐩰𐩺𐩬-𐩠𐩣𐩥 𐩨-𐩱𐩣𐩧 𐩥-𐩮𐩢𐩰𐩩
[.... 𐩲𐩨𐩵](𐩺)-(𐩠)𐩣𐩥 [𐩧]𐩨𐩦𐩣𐩪𐩣 𐩥-𐩥𐩠𐩨𐩱𐩥𐩣 𐩡-𐩮𐩢𐩰 𐩨-
[... 𐩨-𐩥𐩧]𐩭 𐩹-𐩬𐩺[𐩡](𐩣) 𐩹-𐩭𐩧𐩰 𐩩𐩨𐩲𐩫𐩧𐩨 𐩨𐩬 𐩥𐩵𐩵𐩱𐩡 𐩨—
[𐩬 𐩢𐩸𐩰]𐩧𐩣 𐩪𐩵𐩻𐩬 [𐩥]-𐩥𐩫𐩨𐩥 𐩨-𐩠𐩺𐩩 𐩮𐩢𐩰𐩩𐩬 𐩱𐩣𐩡𐩱 𐩮𐩵—
[𐩤𐩣] 𐩨-𐩲𐩣 𐩱𐩡𐩣𐩤𐩠-𐩨-𐩨𐩧𐩱𐩺𐩬 [𐩡-𐩯](𐩣)𐩫 𐩥-𐩩𐩺𐩰𐩲𐩬 𐩣𐩧𐩱𐩺-𐩠𐩣𐩥
[...] 𐩠𐩴𐩧𐩬 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 𐩥-𐩧𐩢𐩨𐩩𐩬 𐩥-𐩨-𐩣𐩥 𐩹𐩬 𐩭𐩧𐩰𐩬 𐩰-𐩬𐩨𐩡 𐩦𐩣𐩧
[𐩹-]𐩧𐩺𐩵𐩬 𐩥-𐩱𐩢𐩸𐩨 𐩢𐩨𐩦𐩩 𐩨𐩬 𐩠𐩴𐩧𐩬 𐩯𐩥𐩣 𐩥-𐩪𐩠𐩧𐩩𐩬 𐩩𐩬𐩨𐩡𐩩—
𐩣 𐩥-𐩩𐩳𐩧𐩲𐩣 𐩥-𐩰𐩭𐩧𐩣 𐩡-𐩪𐩡𐩣𐩣 𐩨-𐩲𐩨𐩧 𐩣𐩧𐩱𐩺-𐩠𐩣𐩥 𐩱𐩡𐩦𐩧—
𐩢 𐩺𐩢𐩳𐩨 𐩥-𐩱𐩭𐩺-𐩠𐩥 𐩺𐩱𐩸𐩡 𐩨𐩺𐩬 𐩣𐩡𐩫𐩺 𐩪𐩨𐩱 𐩥-𐩹-𐩧—
𐩺𐩵𐩬 𐩨[𐩲𐩵] 𐩹-𐩪𐩩𐩮𐩧 𐩦𐩣𐩧 [𐩹-]𐩧𐩺𐩵𐩬 𐩥-𐩢𐩣𐩺𐩧𐩣 𐩱𐩢𐩸𐩨 (𐩢)—
𐩨𐩦𐩩 𐩡-𐩳𐩧𐩣 𐩨-𐩲𐩡𐩺 𐩱𐩣𐩡𐩫 𐩪𐩨𐩱 𐩥-𐩭𐩣𐩧 𐩣𐩧[𐩱𐩺-𐩠𐩣𐩥] 𐩱𐩡[𐩣]—
𐩤𐩠 𐩩𐩳𐩧𐩲𐩬 𐩦𐩣𐩧 [𐩹-]𐩧𐩺𐩵𐩬 𐩥-𐩱𐩢𐩸𐩨 𐩢𐩨[𐩦𐩩 𐩨]-𐩩𐩢𐩩 [𐩣𐩧𐩱]—
(𐩺)-(𐩠)𐩣𐩥 (𐩱𐩡)𐩦𐩧𐩢 (𐩺𐩢𐩳𐩨) 𐩥-(𐩱𐩭)𐩺-𐩠𐩥 (𐩺𐩱)𐩸(𐩡)( )(𐩨𐩺𐩬)( 𐩣𐩡𐩫𐩺) [𐩪𐩨𐩱]
𐩥-𐩹-𐩧𐩺𐩵𐩬 𐩥-𐩡-𐩥𐩸𐩱 𐩱𐩡𐩣𐩤𐩠-𐩨𐩲𐩡-𐩣𐩪𐩫𐩩-𐩥-𐩺𐩻𐩥-𐩨𐩧𐩱𐩬 [...]
𐩥-𐩦𐩫𐩧 𐩥-𐩻𐩨𐩧 𐩥-𐩳𐩧(𐩲𐩬 𐩥)-𐩠𐩫𐩣𐩪 𐩫𐩡 𐩳𐩧 𐩥-𐩦𐩬𐩱 𐩣𐩧[𐩱𐩺-𐩠𐩣𐩥]
𐩱𐩡𐩦𐩧𐩢 𐩺𐩢𐩳𐩨 (𐩥)-(𐩱)𐩭𐩺-𐩠𐩥 𐩺𐩱𐩸𐩡 𐩨𐩺𐩬 𐩣𐩡𐩫𐩺 [𐩪𐩨𐩱 𐩥-𐩹]-
(𐩧𐩺𐩵)𐩬 𐩥-𐩡-𐩪𐩲𐩵 𐩥-𐩭𐩣𐩧 𐩱𐩡𐩣𐩤𐩠 𐩲𐩨𐩵𐩺-𐩠𐩥 𐩧𐩨(𐩦)[𐩣𐩪𐩣 𐩨𐩬]
𐩪𐩱𐩧𐩬 𐩥-𐩣𐩢𐩺𐩡𐩣 𐩥-𐩣𐩥𐩳𐩲𐩣 𐩥-𐩯𐩣𐩫𐩣 𐩥-𐩥(𐩠)[𐩨𐩱𐩥𐩣 𐩺𐩱𐩹𐩰 𐩨]—
𐩬 𐩴𐩵𐩬𐩣 𐩥-𐩭𐩹𐩥𐩩 (𐩢)𐩼𐩺 𐩥-𐩧𐩳𐩥 𐩣𐩧𐩱𐩺-𐩠𐩣𐩥 𐩱(𐩡)[𐩦𐩧𐩢]
𐩺𐩢𐩳𐩨 𐩥-𐩱𐩭𐩺-𐩠𐩥 𐩺𐩱𐩸𐩡 𐩨𐩺𐩬 𐩣𐩡𐩫𐩺 𐩪𐩨𐩱 𐩥-(𐩹)-[𐩧𐩺𐩵]—
𐩬 𐩥-𐩬𐩲𐩣𐩩𐩣 𐩥-𐩥𐩰𐩺𐩣 𐩥-𐩨𐩧𐩺 𐩱𐩱𐩹𐩬𐩣 𐩥-𐩣(𐩤)[𐩺𐩣]—
𐩩𐩣 𐩨-𐩱𐩡𐩣𐩤𐩠-𐩨𐩲𐩡-𐩣𐩪𐩫𐩩-𐩥-𐩺𐩻𐩥-𐩨𐩧𐩱𐩬

Normalized Unicode reading from the cited edition; editorial brackets and uncertain readings are retained.

Scholarly transliteration

(Rbs²)[ms¹](m)( )(Yzd) [bn S¹ʾrn w-Mḥyl](m) [w]-(M)[wḍʿm w]- S³mkm qyl s²ʿbn Bklm rbʿn ḏ-Rydt w-Wh(b)— [ʾw](m) Yʾḏf (bn) Gdnm w-Ḫḏwt mqtwyy ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍ[b] [w-ʾ](ḫ)y-hw Yʾzl Byn mlky S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn bny Fr[ʿm Y]— [nh]b mkl S¹bʾ hqnyy ʾlmqh-bʿl-Ms¹kt-w-Yṯw-Br[ʾn] [...] (ṣ)lmnh(n) ḏ-ḏhbn ḥmdm b-ḏt ḫmr w-hws²ʿn [mrʾy-h]mw ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb w-ʾḫy-hw Yʾzl Byn [mlky S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Ryd]n b-hwfyn-hmw b-ʾmr w-ṣḥft [.... ʿbd](y)-(h)mw [R]bs²ms¹m w-Whbʾwm l-ṣḥf b- [... b-wr]ḫ ḏ-Ny[l](m) ḏ-ḫrf Tbʿkrb bn Wddʾl b— [n Ḥzf]rm s¹dṯn [w]-wkbw b-hyt ṣḥftn ʾmlʾ ṣd— [qm] b-ʿm ʾlmqh-b-Brʾyn [l-s³](m)k w-tyfʿn mrʾy-hmw [...] hgrn Ṣnʿw w-Rḥbtn w-b-mw ḏn ḫrfn f-nbl S²mr [ḏ-]Rydn w-ʾḥzb Ḥbs²t bn hgrn S³wm w-S¹hrtn tnblt— m w-tḍrʿm w-fḫrm l-s¹lmm b-ʿbr mrʾy-hmw ʾls²r— ḥ Yḥḍb w-ʾḫy-hw Yʾzl Byn mlky S¹bʾ w-ḏ-R— ydn b[ʿd] ḏ-s¹tṣr S²mr [ḏ-]Rydn w-Ḥmyrm ʾḥzb (Ḥ)— bs²t l-ḍrm b-ʿly ʾmlk S¹bʾ w-ḫmr mr[ʾy-hmw] ʾl[m]— qh tḍrʿn S²mr [ḏ-]Rydn w-ʾḥzb Ḥb[s²t b]-tḥt [mrʾ]— (y)-(h)mw (ʾl)s²rḥ (Yḥḍb) w-(ʾḫ)y-hw (Yʾ)z(l)( )(Byn)( mlky) [S¹bʾ] w-ḏ-Rydn w-l-wzʾ ʾlmqh-bʿl-Ms¹kt-w-Yṯw-Brʾn [...] w-s²kr w-ṯbr w-ḍr(ʿn w)-hkms¹ kl ḍr w-s²nʾ mr[ʾy-hmw] ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb (w)-(ʾ)ḫy-hw Yʾzl Byn mlky [S¹bʾ w-ḏ]- (Ryd)n w-l-s¹ʿd w-ḫmr ʾlmqh ʿbdy-hw Rb(s²)[ms¹m bn] S¹ʾrn w-Mḥylm w-Mwḍʿm w-S³mkm w-W(h)[bʾwm Yʾḏf b]— n Gdnm w-Ḫḏwt (ḥ)ẓy w-rḍw mrʾy-hmw ʾ(l)[s²rḥ] Yḥḍb w-ʾḫy-hw Yʾzl Byn mlky S¹bʾ w-(ḏ)-[Ryd]— n w-nʿmtm w-wfym w-bry ʾʾḏnm w-m(q)[ym]— tm b-ʾlmqh-bʿl-Ms¹kt-w-Yṯw-Brʾn

02 · Translation

English reading

1–6

Rbs²ms¹m Yzd, of S¹ʾrn, Mḥylm, Mwḍʿm and S³mkm, qayl of the tribe Bklm, the ḏ-Rydt branch, and Whbʾwm Yʾḏf, of Gdnm and Ḫḏwt—both officers of ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl Byn, kings of Sabaʾ and ḏū-Raydān, sons of Frʿm Ynhb, king of Sabaʾ—dedicated to ʾAlmaqah, lord of the Ms¹kt and the Yṯw of Brʾn, […] these two bronze statues in gratitude.

6–13

For he granted their lords ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl Byn, kings of Sabaʾ and ḏū-Raydān, full satisfaction in the omens and documents which they had ordered their servants Rbs²ms¹m and Whbʾwm to have prepared at Brʿn, in the month ḏ-Nylm, in the sixth eponym-year of Tbʿkrb, son of Wddʾl of Ḥzfrm. In these documents they had received favourable oracles from ʾAlmaqah who is at Brʾyn concerning their lords’ ascent and ceremonial entry into the city of Ṣnʿw and into Rḥbtn.

13–21

In that same year, S²mr ḏū-Raydān and the tribes of Abyssinia sent an embassy from the city of S³wm and S¹hrtn to humble themselves and submit, seeking peace from their lords ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl Byn, kings of Sabaʾ and ḏū-Raydān, after S²mr ḏū-Raydān and Ḥmyrm had called upon the tribes of Abyssinia to help them wage war against the kings of Sabaʾ. ʾAlmaqah granted their lords that S²mr ḏū-Raydān and the tribes of Abyssinia should submit to their lords ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl Byn, kings of Sabaʾ and ḏū-Raydān.

21–24

May ʾAlmaqah, lord of the Ms¹kt and the Yṯw of Brʾn, continue to […], defeat, break, humble and destroy every enemy and adversary of their lords ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl Byn, kings of Sabaʾ and ḏū-Raydān.

24–29

May ʾAlmaqah grant his two servants Rbs²ms¹m Yzd, of S¹ʾrn, Mḥylm, Mwḍʿm and S³mkm, and Whbʾwm Yʾḏf, of Gdnm and Ḫḏwt, the favour and goodwill of their lords ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb and his brother Yʾzl Byn, kings of Sabaʾ and ḏū-Raydān, together with blessings, well-being and the best dispositions and positions. With ʾAlmaqah, lord of the Ms¹kt and the Yṯw of Brʾn.

English rendering of Christian J. Robin’s French translation in DASI, CIH 314 + CIH 954; compare Calvet and Robin (1997), pp. 141–144, catalogue 69. CC BY 4.0 record data.

Sources

Editions & references

Follow the record back to the edition, catalogue, or image source used here.

  1. CIH 314+CIH 954

    CIH 314+CIH 954. DASI / Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions; full text, translation, object record, and bibliography.

  2. Aksum and South Arabia

    George Hatke, “Aksum [and South Arabia]”, Ancient Arabia: archaeology & history of pre-islamic Arabia. Source inventory and historical context.

Habesha History corpus

A. Jamme, Sabaean Inscriptions from Mahram Bilqis (Marib) (1962), p. 28

A. Jamme, Sabaean Inscriptions from Mahram Bilqis (Marib) (1962), p. 61