01 · Original text
Sabaic
Ancient South ArabianComplete surviving text
Normalized Unicode reading from the cited edition; editorial brackets and uncertain readings are retained.
Scholarly transliteration
Qṭbn ʾwkn bn Grt ʾqwl s²ʿ[bn S¹mhrm Yhwld hqn]— yw ʾlmqhw Ṯhwn-bʿl-ʾwm ṯny ṣlm[n ḏ-ḏhbn ḥmdm] l-ḏt hws²ʿ ʿbd-hw Qṭbn ʾwkn bn Grt[ w-s²ʿb-] (h)mw S¹mhrm Yhwld b-hrg w-hbrwn w-ṯbr w-ḍrʿn [w-] hs¹ḥtn b-ʿs¹m tqdmt tqdmw w-rtḍḥn b-ʿm ʾmlk w-ʾ— s²ʿb s²tʾw ḍrm b-ʿbr mrʾ-hmw S²ʿrm ʾwtr mlk S¹b— [ʾ] w-ḏ-Rydn bn ḏ-bḥrm w-ybs¹m b-kn s²wʿw mrʾ-hmw S²ʿ— rm ʾwtr mlk S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn w-bʿd-hw w-hbʿln w-hrg w- s¹by w-ġnm w-mtlyn mhrgm w-s¹bym w-ġnmm ḏ-ʿs¹m b-ʿ— s¹m s¹bʾt s²wʿw mrʾ-hmw S²ʿrm ʾwtr mlk S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Ry— dn w-b-ḏt hws²ʿ ʿbd-hw Qṭbn ʾwkn bn Grt b-kn nb— l-hw mrʾ-hmw S²ʿrm ʾwtr mlk S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn ʿdy ʾr— ḍ Ḥbs²t b-(ʿ)br Gdrt mlk Ḥbs²t w-ʾks¹mn w-tʾw— lw bn-hw b-wfym hwʾ w-kl s²wʿ-hmw w-ṯhbw mrʾ-hmw S²ʿ— rm ʾwtr mlk S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn b-kl blt-hmw ʿm-n ngs²yn mṯbt ṣdqm ḏ-hrḍw mrʾ-hmw bn kl ḏ-hbltw w-b-ḏt h— ws²ʿ ʾlmqhw-Ṯhwn-bʿl-ʾwm ʿbd-hw Qṭbn ʾwkn bn G— rt w-s²ʿb-hmw S¹mhrm Yhwld b-kn s¹bʾw w-hʿnn Qṭbn ʾwkn bn Grt w-s²ʿb-hmw S¹mhrm Yhwld bn hgrn Nʿḍ ʿdy hgrn Ẓfr ḥg-n hmlʾ-hmw s²ym-hmw ʿṯtr-ʿzzn b-k— n ʿdw w-hṣrn Bygt wld ngs²yn w-mṣr ʾḥbs²n ʿdy h— grn Ẓfr w-ḥyrw b-ḫlf hgrn Ẓfr w-yfṣn Qṭbn ʾwk— n bn Grt w-s²ʿb-hmw S¹mhrm Yhwld ʿdy hgrn Ẓfr ʿbr- n qtr wʿd((Qtr Wʿd)) bn llyn w-ʾḥbs²n yʿdwn bn-hmw ʿbr-n ʿr ʾln ws¹ṭ hgrn w-ʿdw Qṭbn ʾwkn bn Grt w-s²ʿb-hmw S¹— mhrm Yhwld w-yʾttmnn b-ʿm Lʿzzm Yhnf Yhṣdq mlk S¹bʾ w-ḏ-Rydn w-ʾqwl w-ʾs²ʿb ḏ-Rydn w-hrgw w-ḏkwn w- hs¹ḥtn ʾḥbs²n bn ws¹ṭ hgrn w-l-ṯlṯm ywmm ybrrn ḏ-bn Ḏmr w-mns³rt ḫms¹n w-ḏ-bn ʾs²ʿb ḏ-Rydn w-bʿww b-llyn ḥyrt ʾḥbs²n w-yhrgn bn ʾḥbs²n ʾrbʿ mʾ— nm ʾs¹dm bḍwʿm w-l-ṯlṯm ywmm f-ybrrn Qṭbn ʾwkn bn Grt w-s²ʿb-hmw S¹mhrm Yhwld w-yts³bbnn b-ʿm ʾḥb— s²n w-b-ʿm-hmw bn ndf Mʿfrm w-yhrgn bn ʾḥbs²n b- ts³bbn w-gbʾw bn-hmw ʾḥbs²n ḥyrt-hmw w-bʿd ṯny— m ywmm f-tʾwlw ʾḥbs²n bn ḫlf Ẓfr gwʿm w-wrdw Mʿhrtn w-l-wzʾ s¹ʿd-hmw ʾlmqhw Ṯhwn bʿl-ʾwm ḥẓ— y w-rḍw mrʾ-hmw Lḥyʿṯt Yrḫm mlk S¹bʾ w-ḏ-R— ydn w-bry ʾʾḏnm w-mqymtm w-l-ṯbr w-wḍʿ w-ḍ(r)— ʿn ḍr-hmw w-s²nʾ-hmw w-l-s¹ʿd-hmw ʾlmqhw-Ṯhwn bʿl ʾwm nʾd qyẓ w-ṣrb ʿdy ʾrḍ-hmw w-ʾs¹rr-hmw w-mq— yẓ-hmw w-s¹ʿs¹ʿm w-mlym w-l-ḫryn-hmw bn nḍʿ w-s²ṣy s²nʾm b-ʾlmqh-Ṯhwn-bʿl-ʾwm
02 · Translation
English translation
1–10
Qṭbn ʾwkn, of the family Grt, qyl of the tribe S¹mhrm Yhwld, dedicated to ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, two statues in bronze, in praise because He granted favours to His servant Qṭbn ʾwkn, of the family Grt, and to their tribe S¹mhrm Yhwld in killing, destroying, crushing, humbling and routing, in numerous attacks in which they had assaulted and fought to death the kings and the tribes who had waged war against their lord S²ʿrm ʾwtr, king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, from the coast and from the land, when they performed service for their lord S²ʿrm ʾwtr, king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān. And they appropriated and seized and killed and captured and plundered and looted: dead and captives and spoils in a considerable number in numerous campaigns in which they performed service for their lord S²ʿrm ʾwtr, king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān.
11–25
And because He granted favour to His servant Qṭbn ʾwkn, of the family Grt, when their lord S²ʿrm ʾwtr, king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, sent him into the land of Abyssinia to Gdrt, king of Abyssinia and of the Aksumites; and they came back from there in safety, he and all those performing service, and they brought back to their lord S²ʿrm ʾwtr, king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān from the whole of their embassy from the negus a proper answer that satisfied their lord in respect to everything they had been charged with (in that mission). And because ʾlmq Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, granted favours to His servant Qṭbn ʾwkn, of the family Grt and to their tribe S¹mhrm Yhwld, when they conducted a military expedition, Qṭbn ʾwkn of the family Grt and their tribe S¹mhrm Yhwld, from the city of Nʿḍ to the city of Ẓfr as their patron ʿṯtr-ʿzzn had ordered in the oracle, when Bygt, son of the negus, and the Abyssinian army moved and marched to the city of Ẓfr and encamped near the town of Ẓfr; then Qṭbn ʾwkn, of the family Grt, and their tribe S¹mhrm Yhwld moved to the city of Ẓfr, from the agreed place, with the favour of the night; and then the Abyssisians withdrew from there, towards (or, from) the "citadel of the god", in the middle of the city. And Qṭbn ʾwkn, of the family Grt, and their tribe
26–40
S¹mhrm Yhwld moved so as to meet with Lʿzzm Yhnf Yhṣdq, king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, and the ʾqwl and the tribes of ḏu-Raydān killed, massacred and routed the Abyssinians from the center of the city. And on the third day some of the tribe of Ḏmr and the vanguard of the troops and some tribes of ḏu-Raydān made a sally and assaulted during the night the encampment of the Abyssinians and they killed among the Abyssinians four hundred soldiers in combat. And on the third day Qṭbn ʾwkn, of the family Grt, and their tribe S¹mhrm Yhwld made a sally and engaged at close quarters with Abyssinians and with them (there were) some of the cavalry of Mʿfrm and they killed some of the Abyssinians at close quarters. And the Abyssinians withdrew from them into their encampment and after another day the Abyssinians moved from the territory of Ẓfr, hungry, and came back to Mʿhrtn. And may ʾlmqhw Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, continue to grant them the goodwill and the satisfaction of their lord Lḥyʿṯt Yrḫm, king of Sabaʾ and ḏu-Raydān, and soundness of faculties and material resources; may He crush, humiliate and defeat their enemy and their adversary; and may ʾlmqhw Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm, grant them abundance of summer crops and harvests in their lands and their valleys and
41–42
their fields in summer and winter and may He deliver them from the malice and the maleficence of any enemy. By ʾlmqh Ṯhwn, Lord of ʾwm.
DASI / CSAI, CSAI; line breaks joined and evident spelling errors corrected. Record data: CC BY 4.0.