RIÉ 93
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 93Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainLaʿlay ʿAddi
Inscription from Laʿlay ʿAddi
Two surviving words. Only the kinship phrase and name remain legible.
bn WDD
418 inscriptions
Inscriptions
DʿMT and Aksumite texts in their attested scripts, with published translations and exact sources.
Catalogue
418 inscriptions in chronological order
Showing 97–120
RIÉ 94
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 94Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainLaʿlay ʿAddi
Inscription from Laʿlay ʿAddi
Preserved personal name. The same name occurs in RIÉ 97 and has South Arabian parallels.
ʾWSM
RIÉ 95
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 95Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainLaʿlay ʿAddi
Inscription from Laʿlay ʿAddi
Published translation. WDGLY is considered a local name of uncertain etymology; MʿDʾL is well attested in South Arabia.
WDGLY bn MʿDʾL
RIÉ 96
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 96Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainLaʿlay ʿAddi
Inscription from Laʿlay ʿAddi
Alternative readings of a personal name. Both readings are possible; the inscription does not decide between them.
SFLN / KFLN
RIÉ 97
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 97Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainLaʿlay ʿAddi
Inscription from Laʿlay ʿAddi
Preserved personal name. The same name occurs in RIÉ 94.
ʾWSM
RIÉ 98
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 98Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainLaʿlay ʿAddi
Inscription from Laʿlay ʿAddi
Preserved personal name. Its grammatical form and interpretation remain uncertain.
YMNY
RIÉ 99
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 99Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainLaʿlay ʿAddi
Inscription from Laʿlay ʿAddi
Surviving first line and proposed name gloss. The patronymic is lost after the kinship term.
YMNʾL bn […]
RIÉ 100
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 100Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainLaʿlay ʿAddi
Inscription from Laʿlay ʿAddi
Alternative readings of a personal name. Neither reading is otherwise attested as a South Arabian personal name.
STʾM / NTʾM
RIÉ 101
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 101Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainLaʿlay ʿAddi
Inscription from Laʿlay ʿAddi
Preserved personal name. The edition compares related names in RIÉ 9, 12, and 79.
RDYʾ
RIÉ 102
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 102Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainLaʿlay ʿAddi
Inscription from Laʿlay ʿAddi
Probable local personal name. Drewes rejects Jamme’s reading and the translation ‘ʾAbih has slept [here].’
NḤBʾ (?)
RIÉ 106
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 106Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainLaʿlay ʿAddi
Inscription from Laʿlay ʿAddi
Published translation. The verb is interpreted from the root wdd, ‘love’; the linguistic classification remains discussed in the commentary.
l-dd ʿstr
RIÉ 107
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 107Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainLaʿlay ʿAddi
Inscription from Laʿlay ʿAddi
Two probable personal names. Both etymologies remain uncertain.
ḤQN / YʿM
RIÉ 108
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 108Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainRuba Kodo
Inscription from Ruba Kodo
Published formula with abbreviated divine name. The preserved letters DḤ are understood as an abbreviation of the goddess DṮ ḤMN.
l-ṭḥw DḤ
RIÉ 109
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 109Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainRuba Kodo
Inscription from Ruba Kodo
Possible remains of a known formula. The graffito is incomplete and difficult to read; the formula depends on the tentative reading of its first two letters.
tḥ[…] (?)
RIÉ 110
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 110Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainRuba Kodo
Inscription from Ruba Kodo
Probable personal name and lexical gloss. The related Arabic root can also mean ‘be indulgent.’
ḤLM
RIÉ 111
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 111Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainRuba Kodo
Inscription from Ruba Kodo
Alternative readings of a personal name. Neither reading is otherwise attested in South Arabia; QṢRY has a different possible derivation.
YṢRY / QṢRY
RIÉ 113
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 113Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainRuba Kodo
Inscription from Ruba Kodo
Probable personal name and preferred gloss. The edition prefers derivation from the Ethiopian root ʾkl, ‘suffice,’ over a root meaning ‘eat’; a pronominal suffix would yield ‘it will suffice for him.’
YʾKL
RIÉ 114
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 114Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainRuba Kodo
Inscription from Ruba Kodo
Probable personal name. The final r is not certain and the exact meaning of the underlying verb remains unresolved.
YMḤR
RIÉ 115
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 115Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainRuba Kodo
Inscription from Ruba Kodo
Two names with one alternative reading. The first reading is insecure; DMLY is clear but its etymology is unknown.
SQY[M] / ʿQY[M] // DMLY
RIÉ 116
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 116Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainZeban Mororo
Inscription from Zeban Mororo
Preserved personal name. It may be local; its root and exact form are uncertain.
ʾNʿN
RIÉ 117
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 117Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainZeban Mororo
Inscription from Zeban Mororo
Preserved personal name and lexical relation. The final n may be South Arabian nunation; the name may nevertheless be local.
NQHN
RIÉ 118
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 118Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainZeban Mororo
Inscription from Zeban Mororo
Preserved personal name. The same name occurs in RIÉ 117.
NQHN
RIÉ 119
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 119Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainZeban Mororo
Inscription from Zeban Mororo
Published translation. Both names are probably local; their precise verbal derivations remain uncertain.
HNQH bn HʿSʿL
RIÉ 121
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 121Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainZeban Mororo
Inscription from Zeban Mororo
Published translation with uncertain principal name. The reading BQLNYʾ is not entirely certain; the father’s name is well attested.
BQLNYʾ bn HʿN
Source register
Source register
RIÉ 1–443, with separately numbered text versions, supplements, and Arabian witnesses from the checked corpus and DASI. Dates and uncertain identifications follow the cited editions; missing texts, translations, and images are recorded below.
481–512 of 512 entries. Copies and language versions retain their own references.
Aksumite corpus & Arabian witnesses30
Ry 506
552 CE · Murayghān, Saudi Arabia · Late Sabaic
Abraha records a campaign against Maʿadd, military detachments, submission, and hostages.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- Verified artifact image or labelled facsimile.
Ry 507
523 CE · Biʾr Ḥimā, Saudi Arabia · Late Sabaic
A damaged campaign text recounts attacks at Ẓafār and Makhāwān and operations toward Najrān.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- Verified artifact image or labelled facsimile.
- Ry 507. DASI / Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions; full text, translation, object record, and bibliography.
- George Hatke, “Aksum [and South Arabia]”, Ancient Arabia: archaeology & history of pre-islamic Arabia. Source inventory and historical context.
- Romolo Loreto, discussion of Christian architecture and inscriptions, in A. V. Sedov (ed.), Arabia and Islam (2014), pp. 134–135.
Ry 508
523 CE · ʿān-Halkān, Saudi Arabia · Late Sabaic
A Ḥimyarite commander’s account of attacks on Abyssinians and churches, and preparations at Mandab and Najrān.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- Verified artifact image or labelled facsimile.
- Ry 508. DASI / Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions; full text, translation, object record, and bibliography.
- George Hatke, “Aksum [and South Arabia]”, Ancient Arabia: archaeology & history of pre-islamic Arabia. Source inventory and historical context.
- Romolo Loreto, discussion of Christian architecture and inscriptions, in A. V. Sedov (ed.), Arabia and Islam (2014), pp. 134–135.
Sayed / Murayghān 2
6th century CE; probably c. 552 · Murayghān, Saudi Arabia · Late Sabaic
The qayl Mns¹ dhū-Dharnḥ records accompanying King Abraha on a campaign against Maʿadd.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- Verified artifact image or labelled facsimile.
Wellcome A 103664
6th century CE · Unknown, Unknown · Late Sabaic
A fragmentary Christian inscription mentions Aksum and Abyssinian forces at Ṣanʿāʾ; it may belong to the same text as Ist 7608 bis.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- Verified artifact image or labelled facsimile.
CIH 308
Late 2nd–early 3rd century CE · Jabal Riyām, Yemen · Sabaic
A Sabaean dedication records an alliance with GDRT, king of Ḥabašat. Several ancient copies preserve this longer version.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- Verified artifact image or labelled facsimile.
CIH 308 bis
Late 2nd–early 3rd century CE · Jabal Riyām, Yemen · Sabaic
The shorter recension of the Riyām dedication, preserved in several copies. The photograph shows Gl 870+872.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- Verified artifact image or labelled facsimile.
CIH 314+954
3rd century CE · al-ʿAmāyid / ʿArsh Bilqīs, Yemen · Sabaic
Two Sabaean officers dedicate bronze statues and record an embassy from Shammar dhū-Raydān and the tribes of Ḥabašat.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- Verified artifact image or labelled facsimile.
CIH 350
3rd century CE · Unknown, Unknown · Sabaic
A damaged dedication recounts campaigns against several opponents, including Ḥabašat.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- Verified artifact image or labelled facsimile.
Ry 533
Early 3rd century CE · Rayda, Yemen · Sabaic
Commanders serving Shaʿirum Awtar recount campaigns by land and sea in a dedication to their solar deity.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- Verified artifact image or labelled facsimile.
MAFRAY-al-Miʿsāl 2
253 CE · al-Miʿsāl, Yemen · Sabaic
A military commemoration in the temple of the solar deity ʿAlyat, dated in the Ḥimyarite era.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- Verified artifact image or labelled facsimile.
MAFRAY-al-Miʿsāl 5
272 CE · al-Miʿsāl, Yemen · Sabaic
A long temple text recounts military service under successive Ḥimyarite kings and campaigns involving Abyssinian forces.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- Verified artifact image or labelled facsimile.
Ir 12
Early 3rd century CE · Maḥram Bilqīs, Yemen · Sabaic
Wfym ʾḏrḥ dedicates a bronze statue and bull after defending Ḥashid during the reign of Shaʿirum Awtar.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- No exact artifact image retrieved from the checked sources.
Ir 19
3rd century CE · Maḥram Bilqīs, Yemen · Sabaic
Two qayls dedicate bronze statues after campaigns of Ilsharaḥ Yaḥḍub and Yaʾzil Bayyin against Ḥabašat and their allies.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- Verified artifact image or labelled facsimile.
Ir 20
3rd century CE · Maḥram Bilqīs, Yemen · Sabaic
Hʿn dedicates a bronze statue after a campaign against Abyssinian forces under Nashʾakarib Yuʾmin Yuharḥib.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- No exact artifact image retrieved from the checked sources.
Ir 28
c. 312–316 CE · Maḥram Bilqīs, Yemen · Sabaic
A Sabaean envoy records travel to the land of Ḥabašat and the Aksumites and his return with Abyssinian envoys.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- No exact artifact image retrieved from the checked sources.
Ja 574
3rd century CE · Maḥram Bilqīs, Yemen · Sabaic
Two Sabaean kings dedicate silver statues after fighting Abyssinian forces and their allies in the western lowlands.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- Verified artifact image or labelled facsimile.
Ja 575
3rd century CE · Maḥram Bilqīs, Yemen · Sabaic
A fragmentary royal dedication recounts a campaign from Ṣanʿāʾ into Sahratān and the coastal country.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- No exact artifact image retrieved from the checked sources.
Ja 631
Early 3rd century CE · Maḥram Bilqīs, Yemen · Sabaic
Qṭbn ʾwkn records an embassy to GDRT, king of Ḥabašat and the Aksumites, followed by campaigns involving the prince BYGT.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- No exact artifact image retrieved from the checked sources.
Ja 635
Early 3rd century CE · Maḥram Bilqīs, Yemen · Sabaic
A dedication from the Awwām temple recounts military service, including operations involving Abyssinian forces.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- No exact artifact image retrieved from the checked sources.
Robin-Umm Laylā 1
c. 160–190 CE · Umm Laylā, Yemen · Sabaic
A tribal agreement to strengthen defences and restore cisterns after Abyssinian forces reached the country.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- Verified artifact image or labelled facsimile.
Ir 69
3rd century CE · al-ʿAmāyid / ʿArsh Bilqīs, Yemen · Sabaic
A Barʾān dedication combines favourable oracles, diplomacy with Ḥimyar, and campaigns against Abyssinian forces.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- Verified artifact image or labelled facsimile.
FB-Maḥram Bilqīs 2
First half of the 3rd century CE · Maḥram Bilqīs, Yemen · Sabaic
An Awwām dedication recounts conflict with Abyssinian forces in Sihām and Wādī Ḥaraḍ under Laḥayʿathat Yarkham.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- Verified artifact image or labelled facsimile.
- FB-Maḥram Bilqīs 2. DASI / Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions; full text, translation, object record, and bibliography.
- George Hatke, “Aksum [and South Arabia]”, Ancient Arabia: archaeology & history of pre-islamic Arabia. Source inventory and historical context.
- Christian Julien Robin, “Sabaʾ et la Khawlān du Nord”, in A. V. Sedov (ed.), Arabia and Islam (2014), pp. 188–189, Text 8.
Ja 585
3rd century CE · Maḥram Bilqīs, Yemen · Sabaic
Two brothers thank ʾAlmaqah for their father’s return after an embassy to the Abyssinians and imprisonment at S³wm.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- Verified artifact image or labelled facsimile.
Murayghān 3
c. 552 CE · Murayghān, Saudi Arabia · Late Sabaic
A royal rock inscription records Abraha’s authority over Maʿadd and other Arabian communities.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- Verified artifact image or labelled facsimile.
Ja 576+577
3rd century CE · Maḥram Bilqīs, Yemen · Sabaic
A long dedication of Ilsharaḥ Yaḥḍub and Yaʾzil Bayyin recounts wars, hostages, and conflict involving Abyssinian forces.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- Verified artifact image or labelled facsimile.
Gr 210
Late 2nd–early 3rd century CE · Jabal Riyām, Yemen · Sabaic
A fragmentary statue base preserves a shorter version of CIH 308, including GDRT and the alliance.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- Partial English rendering: lines 10–11 only.
- Image
- Verified artifact image or labelled facsimile.
al-Ḥasanī 2017
Middle Sabaic period; absolute date uncertain · Jabal Ḏaẖār, Yemen · Sabaic
A damaged building inscription records repairs to a city, houses, towers, and a burial place after an attack by an Abyssinian army. The surviving year-number is 98 or 198; its absolute date is not established here.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- Verified artifact image or labelled facsimile.
Nāmī NAG 13–14
Late 2nd–early 3rd century CE · South Arabia · Sabaic
Alliance witness cited in the scholarly inventory; exact edition identified.
- Original
- Full edition not retrieved.
- English
- Full English translation not retrieved.
- Image
- No exact artifact image retrieved.
MAFRAY al-Miʿsāl 3
3rd century CE · Jabal Miʿsāl, Yemen · Sabaic
Rock inscription cited for campaigns against Abyssinians; lines 8–9 are discussed in the corpus.
- Original
- Full edition not retrieved.
- English
- Full English translation not retrieved.
- Image
- No exact artifact image retrieved.
Earlier, later & uncertain comparisons2
Ry 509
First half of the 5th century CE · wādī Maʾsal, Saudi Arabia · Late Sabaic
A Ḥimyarite royal campaign inscription of Abīkarib Asʿad and Ḥassān Yuhaʾmin. An Arabian comparison; neither its authorship nor its date is Aksumite.
- Original
- Full surviving edited text; losses and uncertain letters retained.
- English
- English translation of the surviving text; credit and qualifications in the reader.
- Image
- Verified artifact image or labelled facsimile.
- Ry 509 Maʾsal 1. DASI / Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions; full text, translation, object record, and bibliography.
- George Hatke, “Aksum [and South Arabia]”, Ancient Arabia: archaeology & history of pre-islamic Arabia. Source inventory and historical context.
- Christian Julien Robin, “Himyar et Israël” (2004), discussion of Abīkarib Asʿad and Ry 509; the text belongs to the first half of the fifth century.
DAI Barʾān 2000-1
Early 3rd century CE · Barʾān temple, Maʾrib, Yemen · Sabaic
Campaign account of Shaʿirum Awtar cited as historical context; its text does not explicitly name Aksum or Ḥabašat.
- Original
- Edited Sabaic text available in DASI.
- English
- English and German translations available in DASI.
- Image
- No exact artifact image retrieved.