WʿZB’s campaign against the WYTL

Side A 1. By the glory of the Father, the Son, and the [Holy] Spirit […], 2. Creator and Maker of everything, visible and invisible, whose 3. grace is sufficient, who gave me <kingship>; as it is written: “[…] you have suffered, 4. Christ accomplishes [it] for you.” Trusting in this, <knowing> that He would help me, 5. I made war on the WYTL. I, WʿZB, king of Aksum and of Ḥimyar and 6. of Raydān and of Sabaʾ and of Sal<ḥēn> and of Bega and of Kāsū and of Ṣeyāmo and of the WYTL, 7. the man of HDFN, son of ʾƎllä ʾAṣbəḥa, servant of Christ, whom the enemy does not defeat, 8. with the authority of the Merciful One, made war when DHR had wronged me. My troops made war 9. on the W<YT>L and the WHSS, putting <DHR> to flight, defeated. <Then> he took refuge in the de[sert]. 10. And besides, …, toward whom God will not be 11. merciful (?) and whom He did not […] first (?). Trusting in this, I made war 12. wherever God led me. And I learned—on returning, I learned— 13. that the four chiefs whom I had sent to help the SBL ʿLY[-], 14. —who had made me king—when DHR fell upon them, <that those chiefs>, with my troops, 15. attacked them and put him to flight, by the power of God, and killed their nobles. 16. As for DHR, he persisted in his crime and continued to rebel. Continuing my march, I arrived in the region of the DMW (of?) 17. SLL, where he was to arrive. And there I learned that God had judged DHR 18. and that he had died before I arrived. As it is written in the prophet Ezekiel: 19. “I will fight your enemies and make war on your adversaries.” And it is also said in the Psalm: 20. “My God renders me vengeance and subjects the peoples under me.” And 21. it is said again in the Book: “God will fight for you, and you, be silent.” 22. Continuing, I reached their country by the power of God. And I found them entrenched 23. in his refuge, whose name was DGM, where DHR had surrounded the tents (or: “the camp”) with entrenchments, 24. as well as the ʾKRY (?) and ʾMBS (?). I spent the night in the fortified enclosure and seized all the tents (or: “the whole camp”) 25. and his refuge, whose name was WTT. As it is written in the Psalm: “All 26. the nations surrounded me; in the name of the Lord I overcame them and […].” 27. Then they killed them. The next day I sent on expedition into the country the regiments HDFN, SGRT, 28. ṢBH, DMW, and ʾ<T>GW (or: “ʾGW”), and God broke <the enemy>. As it is written in 29. the Psalm: “Fight, Lord, those who fight me; take up shield and spear and rise 30. to help me.” “Let those who plot evil against me turn back and be put to shame; 31. let them be like dust before the wind; let the angel of the Lord drive them away.” 32. Furthermore, it is said in the Psalm: “I pursue my enemies and seize them.” “You gird me with strength 33. for battle; You have brought down beneath me all those who rose against me; and You 34. have given me the backs of my adversaries.” And it is said again: “The right hand of the Lord has [done] valiantly, 35. the right hand of the Lord has exalted me.” And it is said again: “[…] believers (?) […], 36. he glorified Your holy name. And […] the warrior praised it.” 37. The regiments that I had sent subdued, killed, took captives, and took booty; and they returned 38. safely, by the power of God. I erected a throne in their territory 39. that … WYT[L]. And I returned safely with my troops, by the power 40. of God. I spent the night at ZWGS, and there those who had fought together with me had taken refuge in the desert, and they said: “Those who 41. […] our country attacked us on the road.” For this reason I sent on expedition the regiments 42. Ḥarā, Luken, Sagarāt, and ṢBH. They killed, took captives, and took booty, by the 43. power of God; and they returned safely. What God gave me, both on the first expedition 44. and on the last, is: captives, men (numerals), women and children (numerals). <The total of> the captives is 45. (numerals). <The number of> the slain is: men (numerals), women and children (numerals); 46. <the total of> the slain is (numerals). The total of the captives <and the slain> is (numerals). The booty is: cattle, 47. (numerals). All the tribes of the WYTL came there with gifts (or: “offered themselves as tribute”), and they <made me> king. I imposed my law […], 48. […] and I ordered them to serve, with their tribes, as SGRT <troops> of the desert, and I gave them 49. as chief FG (or: “FGH”), the ʾangabenāwi, chief of the DMW and […], 50. […] and the W<YT>L (?) […] (…[.]m[.]t wmśh ḥrṣ?) and they returned (?) […]. Side B 1. […], 2. […] DḤLRJ […] and … and […] and 3. he (or: “they”) made war against […]. God did <this> for me, by His power, with which He 4. has favoured me since my childhood. This is the work of God, who neither dies nor grows old, 5. who is and will be from generation to generation and forever, Amen. And if there is 6. anyone who [takes care] of <this stone> and its surroundings, if <this monument> has been overturned and cast to the ground, may God have mercy on him; 7. may he be blessed in his house, his children, his means of subsistence, and his work. May God reward him; 8. may the punishment of God not remain upon him, in this world or 9. in the world to come. This I placed under the protection of Him who made me king, of God, to whom <belong> praise 10. and power forever, Amen and Amen.