Aksumite eraJa 635

Campaigns under Shaʿirum Awtar

A dedication from the Awwām temple recounts military service, including operations involving Abyssinian forces.

Date
Early 3rd century CE
Place
Maḥram Bilqīs, Yemen
Language
Sabaic
Script
Ancient South Arabian

01 · Original text

Sabaic

Ancient South ArabianComplete surviving text

[𐩱𐩨𐩫𐩧𐩨 𐩱](𐩢)𐩧𐩪 𐩨𐩬 𐩲𐩨𐩡𐩣 |
[𐩥-𐩺𐩢𐩣𐩹𐩡] 𐩠𐩤𐩬𐩺 𐩱𐩡𐩣𐩤𐩠 𐩻—
𐩠𐩥𐩬 𐩨𐩲𐩡 𐩱𐩥𐩣 𐩮𐩡𐩣𐩬 𐩹-𐩹𐩠𐩨𐩬 𐩹-
𐩩𐩣𐩡𐩺 𐩨𐩬 𐩤𐩧𐩺𐩩𐩣 𐩥-𐩷𐩬𐩰𐩣 𐩷𐩺𐩨—
𐩣 𐩢𐩣𐩵𐩣 𐩨-𐩹𐩩 𐩭𐩣𐩧 𐩥-𐩠𐩥𐩦𐩲𐩬 𐩣𐩧—
𐩱-𐩠𐩣𐩥 𐩦𐩲𐩧𐩣 𐩱𐩥𐩩𐩧 𐩣𐩡𐩫 𐩪𐩨𐩱 𐩥-
𐩹-𐩧𐩺𐩵𐩬 𐩨𐩬 𐩲𐩡𐩠𐩬 𐩬𐩠𐩰𐩬 𐩣𐩡𐩫 𐩪—
𐩨𐩱 𐩨-𐩩𐩱𐩥𐩡𐩬 𐩨-𐩥𐩰𐩺𐩣 𐩥-𐩨𐩧𐩺𐩩𐩣
𐩥-𐩢𐩣𐩵𐩣 𐩨𐩬-𐩫𐩡 𐩪𐩨𐩱𐩩 𐩥-𐩳𐩨𐩺𐩱
𐩪𐩨𐩱𐩥 𐩥-𐩳𐩨𐩱 𐩥-𐩣𐩷𐩥 𐩥-𐩠𐩲𐩬𐩬 𐩨-𐩲𐩡𐩺 |
𐩫𐩡 𐩱𐩭𐩣𐩪 𐩥-𐩦𐩲𐩨 𐩩𐩬𐩦𐩱𐩥 𐩳𐩧𐩣 𐩨-𐩲—
𐩡𐩺 𐩣𐩧𐩱-𐩠𐩣𐩥 𐩨𐩬 𐩹-𐩺𐩣𐩬𐩩 𐩥-𐩨𐩬 𐩹-𐩦𐩱—
𐩣𐩩 𐩥-𐩨𐩬 𐩹-𐩨𐩢𐩧𐩣 𐩥-𐩺𐩨𐩪𐩣 𐩥-𐩨-𐩹𐩩
𐩺𐩸𐩱𐩬 𐩱𐩡𐩣𐩤𐩠 𐩻𐩨𐩧 𐩥-𐩥𐩳𐩲 𐩥-𐩳𐩧𐩲—
𐩬 𐩥-𐩠𐩫𐩣𐩪𐩬 𐩫𐩡 𐩳𐩧 𐩥-𐩦𐩬𐩱 𐩣𐩧𐩱-𐩠𐩣—
𐩥 𐩥-𐩢𐩣𐩵𐩣 𐩨-𐩹𐩩 𐩭𐩣𐩧 𐩥-𐩠𐩥𐩦𐩲𐩬 𐩱𐩡𐩣—
𐩤𐩠 𐩲𐩨𐩵-𐩠𐩥 𐩱𐩨𐩫𐩧𐩨 𐩱𐩢𐩧𐩪 𐩨𐩬 𐩲𐩨𐩡—
𐩣 𐩨-𐩩𐩱𐩥𐩡𐩬 𐩨-𐩥𐩰𐩺𐩣 𐩥-𐩶𐩬𐩣𐩣 𐩥-𐩱𐩢—
𐩡𐩡𐩣 𐩥-𐩪𐩨𐩺𐩣 𐩨𐩬 𐩫𐩡 𐩱𐩨𐩧𐩻 𐩥-𐩳𐩨—
𐩺𐩱 𐩥-𐩲𐩬𐩩 𐩪𐩨𐩱𐩥 𐩥-𐩦𐩥𐩲𐩬 𐩣𐩧𐩱-𐩠𐩣𐩥 𐩦𐩲𐩧—
𐩣 𐩱𐩥𐩩𐩧 𐩣𐩡𐩫 𐩪𐩨𐩱 𐩥-𐩹-𐩧𐩺𐩵𐩬 𐩲𐩵𐩺 𐩪—
𐩠𐩧𐩩𐩣 𐩨-𐩲𐩡𐩺 𐩱𐩦𐩲𐩧𐩬 𐩥-𐩨𐩢𐩧𐩣 𐩥-𐩹-𐩫𐩥—
[𐩬 𐩫]𐩥𐩬-𐩠𐩣𐩥 𐩥-𐩲𐩵𐩺 𐩭𐩡𐩰 𐩠𐩴𐩧𐩬 𐩬𐩴𐩧𐩬
[𐩨-𐩲𐩡]𐩺 𐩳𐩨𐩱𐩩 𐩱𐩢𐩨𐩦𐩬 𐩥-𐩹-𐩫𐩥𐩬 𐩫𐩥—
𐩬-𐩠𐩣𐩥 𐩥-𐩲𐩵𐩺 𐩠𐩴𐩧𐩬 𐩤𐩧𐩺𐩩𐩣 𐩹𐩩 𐩫𐩠𐩡—
𐩣((𐩤𐩧𐩺𐩩𐩣 𐩹𐩩 𐩫𐩠𐩡𐩣)) 𐩻𐩩𐩺 𐩳𐩨𐩱𐩩𐩬 𐩨-𐩲𐩡𐩺 𐩧𐩨𐩲𐩩 𐩹-𐩱𐩡
𐩻𐩥𐩧𐩣 𐩣𐩡𐩫 𐩫𐩵𐩩 𐩥-𐩤𐩢𐩷𐩬 𐩥-𐩨-𐩲𐩡𐩺
𐩱𐩨𐩲𐩡 𐩠𐩴𐩧𐩬 𐩤𐩧𐩺𐩩𐩣 𐩥-𐩢𐩣𐩵𐩣 𐩨-
𐩹𐩩 𐩭𐩣𐩧 𐩱𐩡𐩣𐩤𐩠 𐩲𐩨𐩵-𐩠𐩥 𐩱𐩨𐩫𐩧𐩨
𐩨-𐩩𐩱𐩥𐩡𐩬 𐩨-𐩱𐩢𐩡𐩡𐩣 𐩥-𐩪𐩨𐩺𐩣 𐩥-𐩣𐩡—
𐩩𐩣 𐩥-𐩶𐩬𐩣𐩣 𐩥-𐩱𐩰𐩧𐩪𐩣 𐩹-𐩠𐩧𐩴𐩥 𐩥-𐩹-𐩱𐩭𐩹—
𐩥 𐩢𐩺𐩣 𐩨-𐩫𐩬 𐩺𐩪𐩧-𐩠𐩥 𐩣𐩧𐩱-𐩠𐩥 𐩡-𐩪𐩨𐩱
𐩥-𐩤𐩩𐩵𐩣𐩬 𐩹-𐩨𐩬 𐩭𐩥𐩡𐩬 𐩭𐩳𐩡𐩣 𐩥-𐩹-𐩨—
𐩬 𐩬𐩴𐩧𐩬 𐩥-𐩹-𐩨𐩬 𐩱𐩲𐩧𐩨𐩬 𐩡-𐩢𐩧𐩨 𐩲𐩦—
[𐩧]𐩩 𐩺𐩢𐩨𐩧 𐩱𐩪𐩵 𐩫𐩥𐩬𐩥 𐩫𐩥𐩬 𐩨𐩬𐩺 (𐩻)𐩥—
[𐩧]𐩣 𐩥-𐩤𐩧𐩺𐩩𐩣 𐩥-𐩺𐩢𐩧𐩨-𐩠𐩣𐩥 𐩨-𐩫𐩬𐩰 𐩱𐩧𐩳
𐩱𐩡-𐩱𐩪𐩵 𐩣𐩴𐩸𐩩 𐩣𐩥𐩬𐩠𐩬 𐩹-𐩻𐩣𐩡 𐩥-𐩺𐩩—
𐩱𐩥𐩡 𐩫𐩡 𐩴𐩺𐩦-𐩠𐩣𐩥 𐩨-𐩥𐩰𐩺𐩣 𐩨𐩬 𐩠𐩥𐩩 𐩨—
𐩧𐩻𐩬 𐩥-𐩢𐩣𐩵𐩣 𐩨-𐩹𐩩 𐩭𐩣𐩧 𐩱𐩡𐩣𐩤𐩠
𐩲𐩨𐩵-𐩠𐩥 𐩢𐩼𐩺 𐩥-𐩧𐩳𐩥 𐩣𐩧𐩱-𐩠𐩥 𐩦𐩲𐩧𐩣 𐩱𐩥—
𐩩𐩧 𐩣𐩡𐩫 𐩪𐩨𐩱 𐩥-𐩹-𐩧𐩺𐩵𐩬 𐩥-𐩨-𐩹𐩩 𐩺𐩸𐩱—
𐩬 𐩱𐩡𐩣𐩤𐩠 𐩻𐩠𐩥𐩬 𐩭𐩣𐩧 𐩲𐩨𐩵-𐩠𐩥 𐩲𐩪𐩣 𐩱𐩢—
𐩡𐩡𐩣 𐩥-𐩱𐩭𐩹𐩩𐩣 𐩱𐩨𐩧𐩻 𐩺𐩸𐩱𐩬 𐩦𐩥𐩲𐩬
𐩣𐩧𐩱-𐩠𐩥 𐩥-𐩡-𐩭𐩧𐩺𐩬-𐩠𐩥 𐩱𐩡𐩣𐩤𐩠 𐩨𐩬
𐩬𐩳𐩲 𐩥-𐩦𐩮𐩺 𐩥-𐩩𐩻𐩲𐩩 𐩥-𐩲𐩨𐩷𐩩 𐩥-𐩫𐩰—
(𐩢) 𐩦𐩬𐩱𐩣 𐩨-𐩱𐩡𐩣𐩤𐩠 𐩨𐩲𐩡-𐩱𐩥𐩣

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

Scholarly transliteration

[ʾbkrb ʾ](ḥ)rs¹ bn ʿblm | [w-Yḥmḏl] hqny ʾlmqh Ṯ— hwn bʿl ʾwm ṣlmn ḏ-ḏhbn ḏ- tmly bn Qrytm w-ṭnfm ṭyb— m ḥmdm b-ḏt ḫmr w-hws²ʿn mr— ʾ-hmw S²ʿrm ʾwtr mlk S¹bʾ w- ḏ-Rydn bn ʿlhn Nhfn mlk S¹— bʾ b-tʾwln b-wfym w-brytm w-ḥmdm bn-kl s¹bʾt w-ḍbyʾ s¹bʾw w-ḍbʾ w-mṭw w-hʿnn b-ʿly | kl ʾḫms¹ w-s²ʿb tns²ʾw ḍrm b-ʿ— ly mrʾ-hmw bn ḏ-ymnt w-bn ḏ-s²ʾ— mt w-bn ḏ-bḥrm w-ybs¹m w-b-ḏt yzʾn ʾlmqh ṯbr w-wḍʿ w-ḍrʿ— n w-hkms¹n kl ḍr w-s²nʾ mrʾ-hm— w w-ḥmdm b-ḏt ḫmr w-hws²ʿn ʾlm— qh ʿbd-hw ʾbkrb ʾḥrs¹ bn ʿbl— m b-tʾwln b-wfym w-ġnmm w-ʾḥ— llm w-s¹bym bn kl ʾbrṯ w-ḍb— yʾ w-ʿnt s¹bʾw w-s²wʿn mrʾ-hmw S²ʿr— m ʾwtr mlk S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn ʿdy S¹— hrtm b-ʿly ʾs²ʿrn w-Bḥrm w-ḏ-kw— [n k]wn-hmw w-ʿdy ḫlf hgrn Ngrn [b-ʿl]y ḍbʾt ʾḥbs²n w-ḏ-kwn kw— n-hmw w-ʿdy hgrn Qrytm ḏt Khl— m((Qrytm ḏt Khlm)) ṯty ḍbʾtn b-ʿly Rbʿt ḏ-ʾl Ṯwrm mlk Kdt w-Qḥṭn w-b-ʿly ʾbʿl hgrn Qrytm w-ḥmdm b- ḏt ḫmr ʾlmqh ʿbd-hw ʾbkrb b-tʾwln b-ʾḥllm w-s¹bym w-ml— tm w-ġnmm w-ʾfrs¹m ḏ-hrgw w-ḏ-ʾḫḏ— w ḥym b-kn ys¹r-hw mrʾ-hw l-s¹bʾ w-qtdmn ḏ-bn Ḫwln Ḫḍlm w-ḏ-b— n Ngrn w-ḏ-bn ʾʿrbn l-ḥrb ʿs²— [r]t Yḥbr ʾs¹d kwnw kwn bny (Ṯ)w— [r]m w-Qrytm w-yḥrb-hmw b-knf ʾrḍ ʾl-ʾs¹d mgzt mwnhn ḏ-Ṯml w-yt— ʾwl kl gys²-hmw b-wfym bn hwt b— rṯn w-ḥmdm b-ḏt ḫmr ʾlmqh ʿbd-hw ḥẓy w-rḍw mrʾ-hw S²ʿrm ʾw— tr mlk S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn w-b-ḏt yzʾ— n ʾlmqh Ṯhwn ḫmr ʿbd-hw ʿs¹m ʾḥ— llm w-ʾḫḏtm ʾbrṯ yzʾn s²wʿn mrʾ-hw w-l-ḫryn-hw ʾlmqh bn nḍʿ w-s²ṣy w-tṯʿt w-ʿbṭt w-kf— (ḥ) s²nʾm b-ʾlmqh bʿl-ʾwm

02 · Translation

English reading

1–25

ʾbkrb ʾḥrs¹, of the family ʿblm and Yḥmḏl, dedicated to ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, this statue in bronze, which he had taken as booty from Qryt and golden objects, in praise because He granted and favoured their lord S²ʿrm ʾwtr, king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, son of ʿlhn Nhfn, king of Sabaʾ, with a return safe and sound in glory from all the military campaigns and the wars which they made and waged, and they made expeditions and conducted offensive operations against all the troops and tribes which had initiated a war against their lord, among those of the South and those of the North and those of the coast and those of the interior; and because ʾlmqh may continue to crush and humiliate and reduce to submission and defeat every enemy and adversary of their lord; and in praise because ʾlmqh granted and favoured His servant ʾbkrb ʾḥrs¹, of the family ʿblm, with a return in safety and with booty, spoils and captives from all the battles and wars and offensive operations in which they engaged and they performed service for their lord S²ʿrm ʾwtr, king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, in the Shrtm against the ʾs²ʿrn and Bḥrm and their supporters, and in the region of the town of Ngrn against the troops of the ʾḥbs²n and their supporters, and at the town of Qryt ḏt Khlm

26–46

with two military operations against Rbʿt of the clan of Ṯwrm, king of Kdt and Qḥṭn, and against the citizens of the town of Qryt; and in praise because ʾlmqh granted His servant ʾbkrb to return with spoils, captives, booty and loot and horses, which they either killed or took alive, when his lord sent him to lead in campaign some from Ḫwln Ḫḍlm, some from Ngrn and some from the Arabs, to wage war on the tribe of Yḥbr, men who supported the family Ṯwrm and Qryt, and they fought them on the border of the territory of the ʾs¹d, at the crossing-place of the two wells of Ṯml, and the whole of their detachment returned in safety from that battle; and in praise because ʾlmqh granted His servant the goodwill and the satisfaction of his lord S²ʿrm ʾwtr, king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, and because ʾlmqh Ṯhwn may continue to grant His servant numerous spoils and captives in the military campaigns in which he will continue to perform service for his lord; and may ʾlmqh deliver him from the malice and the maleficence and the slander and the calamity and the aggression of any enemy. By ʾlmqh Lord of ʾwm.

DASI / CSAI, CSAI; line breaks joined and evident spelling errors corrected. Record data: CC BY 4.0.

Sources

Editions & references

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

  1. Ja 635 MaMB 270; ZI 16

    Ja 635 MaMB 270; ZI 16. 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

Fabienne Dugast and Iwona Gajda, Reconsidering contacts between southern Arabia and the highlands of Tigrai in the 1st millennium BC according to epigraphic data (2012), p. 2

Mounir Arbach (ed.), Jérémie Schiettecatte (ed.), Pre-Islamic South Arabia and its Neighbours: New Developments of Research (2015), p. 81