Habesha History
Profile

Aksumite eraCIH 541

Abraha’s Maʾrib dam inscription

548 CEMaʾrib, Yemen

Abraha’s monumental construction text reports rebellion and war, the mobilization of Abyssinian and Himyarite forces, diplomatic receptions, and repairs to the Great Maʾrib Dam.

The CIH 541 stela from Maʾrib, bearing Abraha’s Sabaic account of the dam repairs and the conference of 547–548.
Photograph courtesy of Christian Julien Robin; G. W. Bowersock, The Throne of Adulis (2013), p. 113, fig. 7. Resized and converted to WebP.Reproduced with permission for Habesha History. No onward reuse licence.Enlarge image ↗

Late Sabaic

Excerpt · lines 1–8

𐩨-𐩭𐩺𐩡 𐩥-[𐩧]𐩵𐩱 𐩥-𐩧𐩢𐩣𐩩 𐩧𐩢𐩣𐩬𐩬 𐩥-𐩣𐩪𐩢-𐩠𐩥 𐩥-𐩧𐩢 [𐩤]𐩵𐩪 𐩪𐩷𐩧𐩥 𐩹𐩬 𐩣𐩯𐩬𐩵𐩬 𐩱𐩬 𐩱𐩨𐩧𐩠 𐩲𐩸𐩡𐩺 𐩣𐩡𐩫𐩬 𐩱𐩴𐩲𐩸𐩺𐩬 𐩧𐩣𐩢𐩯 𐩸-𐩨-𐩺𐩣𐩬 𐩣𐩡𐩫((𐩸𐩨𐩺𐩣𐩬)) 𐩪𐩨𐩱 𐩥-𐩹-𐩧𐩺𐩵𐩬 𐩥-𐩢𐩳𐩧𐩣𐩥𐩩 𐩥-𐩺𐩣𐩬𐩩 𐩥-𐩱𐩲𐩧𐩨-𐩠𐩣𐩥 𐩷𐩥𐩵𐩣 𐩥-𐩩𐩠𐩣𐩩

Normalized transcription from the cited reading; original letterforms appear in the image.

Transliteration

b-ḫyl w-[r]dʾ w-rḥmt Rḥmnn w-ms¹ḥ-hw w-rḥ [q]ds¹ s¹ṭrw ḏn ms³ndn ʾn ʾbrh ʿzly mlkn ʾgʿzyn rmḥs³ z-b-Ymn mlk((Zbymn)) S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn w-Ḥḍrmwt w-Ymnt w-ʾʿrb-hmw Ṭwdm w-Thmt

English translation

With the power, the aid, and the mercy of Rḥmnn, of his Messiah and of the Holy Spirit. Have written this inscription I, Abraha, ʿzly, the Ethiopian king rmḥs³ zbymn, king of Sabaʾ, ḏu-Raydān, Ḥaḍramawt and Ymnt, their nomads in Ṭwdm and in Thmt.

CSAI English translation in DASI, lines 1–8

Sources & references

  1. CIH 541 Sadd Maʾrib 5

    CIH 541 Sadd Maʾrib 5 — CSAI Team; CC BY 4.0

  2. Further reference

    George Hatke, ‘Aksum [and South Arabia]’, Thematic Dictionary of Ancient Arabia, online ed. 2023

  3. Further reference

    Christian Darles, Christian Robin and Jérémie Schiettecatte, ‘Contribution à une meilleure compréhension de l’histoire de la digue de Maʾrib au Yémen’, in Arabia and Islam (2014), pp. 9–70

Habesha History corpus

Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, vol. I, Abraha, p. 43a

Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, vol. III, Inscriptions, p. 155b