01 · Original text
Geʿez in South Arabian-derived script
Ancient South ArabianComplete surviving text
Native-script transcription is not available here.
Native-script transcription is unavailable here. The DAE plate preserves the letter forms.
02 · Translation
English reading
0. […], 1. son of ʾƎlle ʿAmidā, the man of [-]ŠN, king of Aksum 2. and of Ḥəmer and Raydān and Sa[ba]ʾ, 3. and Salḥen and Ṣəyāmo and Bəgā and 4. Kāsu, king of kings, son of Maḥrəm, who is not 5. defeated by the enemy, set out to restore the country and impose his law upon it. 6. Whoever [accep]ts will be spared; whoever refuses, he will kill. 7. He came to ʿLB, and there the king of 8. the ʾAgʷəzāt, SWSWT, came with gifts (or: “offering himself as tribute”), with his troops. He (the Aksumite king) imposed 9. his law upon them; they submitted to it, and he sent them back to their country. 10. He came to FNŠḤT, and there the king 11. of GBZ, SBL, came with gifts (or: “offering himself as tribute”), with his troops. He imposed his law upon them; 12. they submitted to it, and he sent them back to their country. 13. He came to ḤMŚ, and there all the tribes of Maṭin arrived. 14. He imposed his law upon them; they submitted to it, and he sent them back 15. to their country. He levelled the road, and he made (?) the country. 16. He … the QBL (or: “the QBL …”?) on the road that is in the region of GBL, 17. his (their?) gifts, as well as (?) food for men and women. 18. He (probably the Aksumite king) provisioned the four armies […]. 19. In every camp at which he arrived, he provisioned <them> […]. 20. their country. There he fought them, and they perished in the desert. 21. He (the king of Aksum) continued and came to [D]MW, and he imposed his law upon them. He 22. came to MTT, and there … and he stopped (?) … 23. […] and with his troops, and 24. he gave his gifts. He [came to] SRSMN to impose his law upon 25. the QBL. He imposed his law upon them and sent them back to 26. their country. From there he proceeded to MGZN, and N[-]L, 27. the king of (or: “of the”) WYLQ, arrived, saying: “[Our] troops have come, 28. and with [our] …, we submit in peace (?). 29. […] you have established SB[-] as king over us, 30. […] and if, on your part, 31. […], 32. […].” And we said to him: 33. “[…] we do […].” 34. […] he said to him: 35. “[…] from the country […].” 36. […] he said to him: “[…]” 37. […] we said to them: 38. “[…] him (?) […]” 39. […], 40. […].
Habesha History translation of Abraham J. Drewes, RIÉ III.B (2019), pp. 208–209.
Fresh English translation made directly from Drewes’s French Traduction section; line numbers, lacunae, supplied text, and alternatives are retained.