A SOUTH ARABIAN BRONZE INSCRIPTIONAL PLAQUE

CIRCA 4TH-3RD CENTURY B.C.

Details

A SOUTH ARABIAN BRONZE INSCRIPTIONAL PLAQUE
CIRCA 4TH-3RD CENTURY B.C.
Framed on all four sides, a row of dentils above, with eight lines of Qatabanian script in raised relief, reading: "Ammidhakar son of Lahaya'amm ibn Abaran has dedicated to Hawkum his person and his faculties and his possessions and his son Hawfa'athat and his brothers Abi'anas and Nabata'amm and Hawtar'athat and Abi'ali and 'Ammi'anas and all their children when 'Ammidhakar saw to [an endowment] for Hawkum from his lands because Hawkum fulfilled for 'Ammidhakar all that he undertook and because She fulfilled it in war and peace. With 'Amm and with Anbi and with Hawkum and with dhât-Sanatum and with dhât-Rahban and with dhât-Zahran and with dhât-Himyam and with Yada'ab Dhubyan king of Qatabân and with his tribe and his 'qwl, inhabitants of dhu-Maryamatum, 'Ammidhakar entrusted to Hawkum his dedication in the event that anyone move it from its place," with several perforations for attachment
46½ in. (118.1 cm.) wide

Provenance

European Private Collection, 1970s.

Literature

C. Robin, "Documents Epigraphiques de Diverses Origines," Arabia 3 (forthcoming).

Lot Essay

The kingdom of Qatabân became a separate entity from the other South Arabian kingdoms in the fourth century B.C. and developed its own dialect, Qatabanian. The national deity of Qatabân was 'Amm. Other deities included Hawkam (or Hawkum), dhât-Himyam and dhât-Zahran, all invoked in this inscription.
The prefix dhât indicates a female deity.

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