418 inscriptions
DʿMT and Aksumite texts in their attested scripts, with published translations and exact sources.
418 inscriptions in chronological order
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 152Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainGobo Fentseh
Published translation. The reading of YWḎRʿ is explicitly conditional; both personal names have uncertain etymologies.
YWḎRʿ bn RYKN / l-ydd ʿstr
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 153Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainGobo Fentseh
Apparently complete divine-name phrase. The text appears to contain only these divine names, perhaps preceded by a symbol.
ḤBS w-ʿSTR
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 154Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainGobo Fentseh
Surviving phrase. YŠG is considered a local personal name of unknown etymology.
YŠG bn […]
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 155Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainGobo Fentseh
Apparently complete divine-name phrase. A separator precedes ḤBS, perhaps with a symbol before it.
ḤBS [w-]ʿSTR
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 156Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainAddi Qayyih area
Published translation. YNŠ is a local personal name; the understood subject of the second clause is the goddess DṮ ḤMN.
YNŠ / l-ṭḥw
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 157Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainAddi Qayyih area
Published translation. The connotation is unclear; the commentary compares a traditional oath formula.
y-mwt ʿWB
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 158Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainAddi Qayyih area
Published translation. GBLM is probably a local personal name.
GBLM / l-ṭḥw DṮ ḤM[N]
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 159Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainAddi Qayyih area
Published translation. LNʾ is a local personal name; the verbal subject is understood as DṮ ḤMN, and final -m adds emphasis.
LNʾ / l-yḥ / tḥwm
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 160Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainAddi Qayyih area
Preserved personal name and tentative gloss. The name may be South Arabian or local; identification with a passive participle meaning ‘desired’ is one proposal.
MNYM
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 163Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainAddi Qayyih area
Published translation of a preserved formula. The author’s name may be omitted or lost beyond the photographed edge.
[…] l-ṭḥw DṮ ḤMN
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 164Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainAddi Qayyih area
Probable names in the final two lines. The first two lines are incomprehensible and the etymologies of both proposed names remain uncertain.
[…] / MLGʾ / QŠMN
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 167Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainAddi Qayyih area
Probable name and recognizable formula. The etymology of GGT is uncertain; line 2 preserves only part of the formula.
GGT / […] DṮ ḤMN
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 168Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainAddi Qayyih area
Beginning of a possible formula. A secure reading is impossible because the published retouching is faulty. DṮ ḤMN is only a possible restoration.
Native-script transcription is not available here.
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 169Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainAddi Qayyih area
Possible personal name in line 2. Line 1 is part of an alphabet; the smaller letters in line 2 may form a local name with a South Arabian ending.
TBʿL / TBʿM (?)
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 172Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainAddi Qayyih area
Preserved personal name and tentative verbal gloss. The name is related to the Ethiopian Semitic root meaning ‘help’; the exact verbal force is not certain.
HGZT
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 174Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainAddi Qayyih area
Probable personal name. A South Arabian parallel BʿLM is cited.
BʿL
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 175Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainSaro
Preserved personal name and preferred vocalization. The internal ʿ may represent a vowel; the causative interpretation is preferred but remains an etymological proposal.
YʿSBR
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 176Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainAwalo
Published translation. Both names may be local; the proposed South Arabian connection of DʿMN remains conditional.
DʿMN bn ŠYHN
No verified photograph or facsimile of this artifact has been retrieved.
RIÉ 177Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertainprovenance unknown
Published translation. The object appears much later than the other monumental Sabaic inscriptions from Ethiopia and may have originated in South Arabia.
WHBRYMM / NMRM / GRBN
No verified photograph or facsimile is available here. The cited edition identifies the object.
RIÉ 289pre-Aksumite royal-name sealYeha
This seal from Yeha preserves surviving short text or mark.
WʿRN HYWT
No verified photograph or facsimile is available here. The cited edition identifies the object.
RIÉ 292commentary includes a pre-Aksumite comparison or possible assignmentSabea
This small bronze object from Sabea preserves surviving short text or mark.
ḥsn / nḥs (?)
No verified photograph or facsimile is available here. The cited edition identifies the object.
RIÉ 319commentary includes a pre-Aksumite comparison or possible assignmentMatara
This inscribed pottery or graffito on pottery from Matara preserves preserved name.
YLM
No verified photograph or facsimile is available here. The cited edition identifies the object.
RIÉ 384commentary includes a pre-Aksumite comparison or possible assignmentMatara
This inscribed pottery or graffito on pottery from Matara preserves preserved personal name.
nṣmt
DAE IV no. 43, printed p. 65; facsimile corresponding to RIÉ 390.RIÉ 390commentary includes a pre-Aksumite comparison or possible assignmentʿAddi ʿAlawti / Qohayto region
This monogram from ʿAddi ʿAlawti / Qohayto region preserves surviving short text or mark.
ʾiyu … t-gh- (?)
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.
61–120 of 512 entries. Copies and language versions retain their own references.
Early 1st millennium–5th/4th c. BCE (DASI Period A) · Matara, Senafe, Eritrea · Early Sabaic (Ethiopia/Eritrea)
Early highland dedication, private inscription, or fragment.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Matara during the excavation of the mound B · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Surviving dedicatory fragment. The beginning, ending, and part of the divine name are lost; brackets retain the edition’s restoration.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Matara during the excavation of the mound B · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Uninterpreted inscription. The edition offers no interpretation.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Matara during the excavation of the mound B · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Uninterpreted inscription. The edition offers no interpretation.
Early 1st millennium–5th/4th c. BCE (DASI Period A) · Matara, Senafe area, Eritrea; excavated in Mound B room 33, not in situ · Early Sabaic (Ethiopia/Eritrea)
Cultic or royal names; DʿMT is not named in the surviving text.
Early 1st millennium–5th/4th c. BCE (DASI Period A) · Matara, Senafe, Eritrea · Early Sabaic (Ethiopia/Eritrea)
Early highland dedication, private inscription, or fragment.
Early 1st millennium–5th/4th c. BCE (DASI Period A) · Matara, Senafe, Eritrea · Early Sabaic (Ethiopia/Eritrea)
Early highland dedication, private inscription, or fragment.
Early 1st millennium–5th/4th c. BCE (DASI Period A) · Matara, Senafe, Eritrea · Early Sabaic (Ethiopia/Eritrea)
Early highland dedication, private inscription, or fragment.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Matara during the excavation of the mound E2 · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Probable personal name. The same letter sequence names the tribe Bakīl elsewhere, but the edition considers a personal name more likely here.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Matara during the excavation of the mound E 1, locus 43 · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Uninterpreted inscription. The edition offers no interpretation.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Matara during the excavation of the monument C · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Probable mason’s mark. No linguistic translation is given.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Matara during the excavation of the mound F · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Possible mason’s mark. No linguistic translation is given.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Matara · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Name; other marks uninterpreted. Two m signs on the right-hand stone remain uninterpreted.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Dibdib · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Published translation of the three-line dedication. DWL may designate a locality, region, people, or tribe; the edition does not resolve which.
Early 1st millennium–5th/4th c. BCE (DASI Period A) · Dibdib, Senafe, Eritrea · Early Sabaic (Ethiopia/Eritrea)
Early highland dedication, private inscription, or fragment.
Early 1st millennium–5th/4th c. BCE (DASI Period A) · Feqya, Senafe, Eritrea · Early Sabaic (Ethiopia/Eritrea)
Early highland dedication, private inscription, or fragment.
Early 1st millennium–5th/4th c. BCE (DASI Period A) · Feqya, Senafe, Eritrea · Early Sabaic (Ethiopia/Eritrea)
Early highland dedication, private inscription, or fragment.
Early 1st millennium–5th/4th c. BCE (DASI Period A) · Feqya, Senafe, Eritrea · Early Sabaic (Ethiopia/Eritrea)
Early highland dedication, private inscription, or fragment.
Early 1st millennium–5th/4th c. BCE (DASI Period A) · Feqya, Senafe, Eritrea · Early Sabaic (Ethiopia/Eritrea)
Early highland dedication, private inscription, or fragment.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Feqya, engraved on a stone · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Surviving dedication with editorial restoration. The lost verb could have been singular or plural. <This stone> is supplied from the object, not a surviving word.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Feqya, engraved on a stone · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Published translation of the surviving three-line dedication. <This stone> is supplied from the object. HYW is probably a co-dedicant.
Early 1st millennium–5th/4th c. BCE (DASI Period A) · Feqya, Senafe, Eritrea · Early Sabaic (Ethiopia/Eritrea)
Early highland dedication, private inscription, or fragment.
Early 1st millennium–5th/4th c. BCE (DASI Period A) · Feqya, Senafe, Eritrea · Early Sabaic (Ethiopia/Eritrea)
Early highland dedication, private inscription, or fragment.
Early 1st millennium–5th/4th c. BCE (DASI Period A) · Feqya, Senafe, Eritrea · Early Sabaic (Ethiopia/Eritrea)
Early highland dedication, private inscription, or fragment.
Early 1st millennium–5th/4th c. BCE (DASI Period A) · Feqya, Senafe, Eritrea · Early Sabaic (Ethiopia/Eritrea)
Early highland dedication, private inscription, or fragment.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Feqya, engraved on a stone · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Uncertain personal-name fragment. A damaged word may be a personal name; the letters in the second line remain uninterpreted.
Early 1st millennium–5th/4th c. BCE (DASI Period A) · Feqya, Senafe, Eritrea · Early Sabaic (Ethiopia/Eritrea)
Early highland dedication, private inscription, or fragment.
Early 1st millennium–5th/4th c. BCE (DASI Period A) · Feqya, Senafe, Eritrea · Early Sabaic (Ethiopia/Eritrea)
Early highland dedication, private inscription, or fragment.
Early 1st millennium–5th/4th c. BCE (DASI Period A) · Barachit, Debub, Eritrea · Early Sabaic (Ethiopia/Eritrea)
Early highland dedication, private inscription, or fragment.
Early 1st millennium–5th/4th c. BCE (DASI Period A) · Dera, Eritrea · Early Sabaic (Ethiopia/Eritrea)
Early highland dedication, private inscription, or fragment.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Tokhonda, engraved on a stone · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Published translation of two short texts. The divine names in Text II are probable readings; the etymology of YGDY is uncertain.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Tokhonda, engraved on a stone · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Probable personal name. The name is otherwise unknown; its proposed compound structure has no convincing etymology.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Tokhonda, engraved on a stone · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Preferred identification within an uncertain text. Drewes prefers a personal-name interpretation of ḤYWT over Littmann’s tentative ‘for the life of ʾAgʷabat’; the exact form and etymology of the other names remain doubtful.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Tokhonda, engraved on a stone · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Alternative readings of a personal name. Both readings are offered; the root is secure but the final consonant is not.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Kelette Afa, engraved on a stone · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Published translation. GʿSY may be a local name; its etymology is uncertain.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Laʿlay ʿAddi, engraved on a stone · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Preserved personal name. The same name occurs in RIÉ 91 and 124–126.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Laʿlay ʿAddi, engraved on a stone · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Two preserved personal names. The etymology of ḤDBR remains uncertain.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Laʿlay ʿAddi · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Two partly legible names from four texts. Only the names in Texts II and III are more or less legible; the reading and derivation of both remain doubtful.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Laʿlay ʿAddi · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Two surviving words. Only the kinship phrase and name remain legible.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Laʿlay ʿAddi · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Preserved personal name. The same name occurs in RIÉ 97 and has South Arabian parallels.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Laʿlay ʿAddi · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Published translation. WDGLY is considered a local name of uncertain etymology; MʿDʾL is well attested in South Arabia.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Laʿlay ʿAddi · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Alternative readings of a personal name. Both readings are possible; the inscription does not decide between them.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Laʿlay ʿAddi · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Preserved personal name. The same name occurs in RIÉ 94.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Laʿlay ʿAddi · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Preserved personal name. Its grammatical form and interpretation remain uncertain.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Laʿlay ʿAddi · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Surviving first line and proposed name gloss. The patronymic is lost after the kinship term.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Laʿlay ʿAddi · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Alternative readings of a personal name. Neither reading is otherwise attested as a South Arabian personal name.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Laʿlay ʿAddi · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Preserved personal name. The edition compares related names in RIÉ 9, 12, and 79.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Laʿlay ʿAddi · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Probable local personal name. Drewes rejects Jamme’s reading and the translation ‘ʾAbih has slept [here].’
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Laʿlay ʿAddi · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Uninterpreted fragment. The fragmentary text does not permit an interpretation.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Laʿlay ʿAddi · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Partly legible personal name. A personal name is probable, but it is only partly readable and is not transcribed securely.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Laʿlay ʿAddi · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Uninterpreted text. The edition offers no interpretation.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Laʿlay ʿAddi · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Published translation. The verb is interpreted from the root wdd, ‘love’; the linguistic classification remains discussed in the commentary.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Laʿlay ʿAddi · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Two probable personal names. Both etymologies remain uncertain.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Ruba Kodo · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Published formula with abbreviated divine name. The preserved letters DḤ are understood as an abbreviation of the goddess DṮ ḤMN.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Ruba Kodo · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
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.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Ruba Kodo · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Probable personal name and lexical gloss. The related Arabic root can also mean ‘be indulgent.’
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Ruba Kodo · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Alternative readings of a personal name. Neither reading is otherwise attested in South Arabia; QṢRY has a different possible derivation.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Ruba Kodo · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Uncertain possible personal name. If the word is read ḥwʾr, it may share a root with WʿRN, but the reading itself is uncertain.
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Ruba Kodo · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
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.’
Pre-Aksumite period; precise date uncertain · Ruba Kodo · Early highland inscription; Old South Arabian alphabet
Probable personal name. The final r is not certain and the exact meaning of the underlying verb remains unresolved.
