Aksumite eraRIÉ 195

Aksumite Geʿez victory inscription from Maʾrib

Two fragmentary Geʿez slabs preserve an Aksumite account of a Red Sea crossing, fighting, captives, a Himyarite king, and the burning of the palace of Sabaʾ.

Date
about 530 CE
Place
Maʾrib, Yemen
Language
Geʿez
Script
Ethiopic

01 · Original text

Geʿez

EthiopicComplete surviving text

…ወተ…፡ …፡ ወያዓቢየከ፡ …፡ …ዶኩ፡ መርሰ፡ ዘስሙ፡ …፡ …ለ፡ ምስለ፡ አሕዛቢ…፡ …፡ ከመ፡ ይቤ፡ መዝሙር፡ ይትነሣእ፡ …፡ …፡ ጸላእቱ፡ እምቅድመ፡ ገጹ፡ …፡ …፡ ወፄውዎ፡ ወበርበረ…፡ …ሰደደ፡ አሕዛበ፡ እምቅድመ፡ …፡ …ቤትኩ፡ ውስተ፡ ሐመር፡ …፡ …ታ፡ ሐይቃ፡ ዘመጠወኒ፡ እግዚአ፡ ብሔር፡ …፡ …መራን፡ ወመንፈቁ፡ አሕዛብየ፡ …፡ …፡ መንፈቁ፡ አሕዛብየ፡ ወረደ፡ እንተ፡ ቀርጸ፡ …፡ …መንፈቁ፡ አሕዛብየ፡ ወረደ፡ …፡

The original text covers Fragment A. The English also includes Fragment B, through its last surviving line, 29.

02 · Translation

English translation

Fragment A 1. …] … … [… 2. …] and he shall exalt you [… 3. …] I have [dev]astated the port called [… 4. …] … with my tribes [… 5. … a]s sayeth the psalm: ‘Let he [arise and his enemies disperse] 6. [and his adversaries fl]ee before him’ [… 7. …], taking prisoners, and he looted [… 8. …] and he chased (?) the tribes in fro[nt … 9. …] I have … on a ship [… 10. …] … his bay that has delivered to me G[od … 11. …] … and a part of [my] t[ribes … 12. … and a part of m]y tribes descended through the breach (?) … 13. … and a par]t of my tribes descended [… Fragment B … the fug]- 1. itives wande[red … … Enga]- 2. bēnāy and … [… 3. … victor … [… 4. ‘I will give you th[is land … 5. so that you dominate it’ … […]. 6. Christ in whom I [… 7. … and he chased the fugitives [… … their bro]- 8. thers and their sisters [… 9. I have sent him and … [… … Gwərā]- 10. gwəʿā and he reached Gwərā(gwə)ʿā [… 11. he captured my tribes at [… 12. … except Go[d … 13. Mārab in their mēlāt [… 14. while he was killing and taking captives [… 15. … Engabēnāy with [… 16. whose name is Hagaraynē and he killed [… … ʿAqa]- 17. nʾēl, the king of Ḥamēr, deposed and [… 18. and I burnt the palace of Sabaʾ [… 19. This is what has done for me Go[d … 20. … ‘Thou, look first for [his] justi[ce … 21. will be added.’ Moreover sayeth [David in the psalm: ‘Come, lis]- 22. ten to me, so that I say all that He did to my soul, while I was crying out to 23. Him with my mouth and cried out with my tongue.’ And … 24. … the glory of David, and he will judge, and there is nothing [… 25. … for the believer of the world, and I shall place on [… 26. and thus he sayeth in the psalm: ‘The[y are on horses and chariots, and] 27. we are great by the name of Go[d, our god; they] 28. were trapped and have fallen, but we have [risen up’] … 29. In Isaiah, as is said: ‘Go[d … …

Christian Julien Robin, in Greg Fisher (ed.), Arabs and Empires before Islam (2015), pp. 160–162, text 3.18.

The attribution to King Kaleb is probable rather than preserved in the damaged text.

Sources

Editions & references

Edition, catalogue, and image records used for this entry.

  1. RIÉ 195

    RIÉ I (Bernand, Drewes and Schneider 1991), page 284-288; RIÉ I (Bernand, Drewes and Schneider 1991), page 284—288; RIÉ II, plates (Bernand, Drewes and Schneider 1991), plate 143—144; RIÉ III.B (Drewes 2019), page 279–285

Habesha History corpus

Abraham J. Drewes, Recueil des inscriptions de l’Éthiopie III.B (2019), pp. 279–285