DESIGNATION OF THE TEMPLE LINING IN INSCRIPTIONS FROM THE OASIS (INNER HADHRAMAUT)

During the excavations conducted by the Soviet-Yemeni Integrated Expedition (SOIC) in 1983-1991 and the Russian Integrated Expedition in the Republic of Yemen (RCAIR) in 2003-2005 and 2007 , about 4,000 epigraphic monuments in the Hadramaut language 1 were found at the archaeological sites of the ancient oasis, mainly represented by small and minute fragments. Most of them are inscribed on facing slabs covering the external and internal walls of temples, while a smaller part is inscribed on stelae, some of which, judging by the temple of the god Siyan ( VI), excavated in 2004 - 2005, were installed in special galleries adjacent to the plinths of temples (Frantsuzov 2006, p.248). There is almost no doubt that the term used for stelae with text in the Raibun epigraphy was used , which in other ancient South Arabian languages is usually interpreted as "inscription", "votive tablet with text" (Frantsouzoff, 2007, A, p. 41). However, the designation of facing slabs or blocks, many hundreds of which, with or without texts, were found in the ruins of a temples, remained unknown until recently.

Unique in this respect was the inscription Rb VI / 05 n° 61 a - d, which was found in 2005 on the facing slabs that fell from the northern side of the temple plinth and remained in this form until the beginning of excavations. This inscription is palaeographically dated to the late period, i.e., the III-I centuries BC2, and is published here for the first time (fig. 1).

Text

Translation

1., son of Mungav 3, dedicated

2. (i.e. to the owner of / temple / half

1 According to calculations made after the end of the field season in 2004, the total number of Raibun inscriptions was estimated at 3,500 [Frenchmen 2005, p. 4, note 2]. Later, during excavations in November 2005, 243 texts were found, and in November 2007 - another 219.

2 For the relative chronology of inscriptions a, in particular the identification of ancient and late periods in the development of their writing, see, for example: Frantsouzoff 2001, A, p. 32-48; Frantsouzoff 2007, A, p. 28-34.

3 The initiator's personal name is found only in this inscription; the name of his father is found in stk. 1 of another Raibun inscription (Rb I / 89 bld. 4, lev. I n° 267 + 268), originating from the temple of the goddess Himyam.

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Despite careful processing of the plates, the front surface of which was painted red, careful pre-alignment of the lines and even calligraphic ductus, the stone cutter managed to make two "typos" in this relatively small text: in the name of the initiator's father Mngwm (stk. 1) in the second place, he first carved a sign that then had to be corrected in English. and in the stk. 2 before the epithet of god, Siyan missed a particle and only noticed it after he had cut out the lower half as well , so eventually he had to write in a on the two lower "posts" to put it on . These" misprints " were undoubtedly clearly visible even when the inscription decorated the temple plinth. Thus, the opinion of G. M. Bauer, who claimed that the carver was able to reliably hide mistakes with the help of cement [Bauer 1995, p. 123] 5 is not true in all cases.

The text under consideration consists of two formulas: an initiatory and a final one, in which the term rtd'. The term slwt, which occupies a central place in it, is attested for the first time in the Hadhramaut language; in Sabaean, however, its meaning could not be determined with certainty (slwt - " facade, portico?" [Beeston et al. 1982, p. 143]; slwt, pl. slw "face or side of a construction" [Biella 1982, p. 423])7. Nevertheless, the circumstances of finding the inscription and the very expression fqh/slwtn " half

4 It seems that the South Arabian civilization, like a number of other ancient peoples, had an idea of a plurality of souls (Frantsouzoff 2001, A, p. 53).

5 "Erroneous spelling of the sign, as we found out, was easily eliminated with a strong cement mortar, which the master filled in the" extra " traces of the chisel in the stone. Those obvious "typos" and" sloppy " interruptions of signs, which are often found today when working with epigraphic material from Southern Arabia, are often simply a consequence of the fact that this cement mortar has eroded out of the stone over millennia."

6 For such a variant of this formula, see Frantsouzoff, 1995, p. 21-22.

7 However, the contexts in which it is witnessed undoubtedly relate to construction work.

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slwt'a " definitely indicate that this term referred to the lining of the wall or basement of the temple, on the slabs of which the vast majority of dedicatory texts were carved. Most likely, we are talking about half here not in a geometric sense, but in an arithmetic sense, i.e. about 50% of the facing slabs on the north side of the basement, which are not necessarily located next to each other. Probably, the slab found in the neighborhood, in the upper left corner of which is carved the sign Y (Rb VI / 05 n° 62), was also made at the expense of Yakhmy8. However, it is quite obvious that the vast majority of the facing plates dedicated in his name were not specifically marked in any way.

The somewhat unusual votive form with h -, which introduces the standard objects of initiation nfs', wld and qny, which usually act as direct additions to the verb s1qny, allows us to explain the appearance of this preposition in a short dedicatory inscription on the stele Rb VI/03 n° 1 a-k, found during a survey of the temple in 2003 G. (fig. 2) 9.

Text

Translation

1. Hagar, son of Ma'an'-

2. ila dedicated himself to

3. its "soul" of the nafs and its "soul" and

4. [their children and] their property.

In all likelihood, the ms 3 nd(h)n dedication object "stele with text" was omitted, and it is possible that the reason for this was the lack of free space on the front surface of stele 10.

It is interesting to note that if, as a rule, the votive object was indicated in the text during the dedication of stelae, then the dedication of facing slabs, more precisely

8 Three more epigraphic fragments were found on the facing that fell from the north side of the basement, each with a symbol carved on it: K (Rb VI / 05 n° 63); H (Rb VI/05 n° 64) and L (Rb VI/05 n° 65). They also seem to correspond to the first signs in the names of the initiators who ordered the plates.

9 First published in Frantsouzoff, 2005-2006, p. 144-145, 333: fig. 86.

10 Judging by the initiatory formula attested in Rb VI/05 n° 61 a - d, the previously proposed explanation of the use of h - after s qny by the possible influence of the spoken language in which this verb turned into an intransitive (Frantsouzoff, 2005 - 2006, p. 145) seems unlikely.

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In order to reduce the number of signs that needed to be carved on these slabs, and thus save on stone-cutting operations, it was assumed by default that some part of the wall lining or plinth of the temple was intended by default explicitly in order to reduce the number of signs that needed to be carved on these slabs, and thereby save on stone-cutting operations. The inscription Rb VI / 05 n° 61 a-d, in which the term slwt "facing" is found for the first time in the Hadhramaut language, is the only exception in this respect so far.

list of literature

Bauer, G. M., Epigraphy of Reybun (seasons of 1983-1984, general review), in Trudy Sovetsko-yemenskoi kompleksnoy expeditsii, vol. I: Khadramaut. Archaeological, ethnographic, and historical and cultural research. Moscow, 1995.

French, S. A., Ancient Hadramawt and the emergence of the South Arabian civilization: problem statement // Bulletin of Ancient History. 2005. N 4 (Vol. 255).

Frantsuzov S. A. Pervoe izmenenie drevnoi khadramautskoy stolitsy Shabva v raibunskikh napisiyakh [The first mention of the ancient Hadramaut capital of Shabva in Raibun inscriptions]. New Series, vol. II (XXVII), St. Petersburg, 2006.

Beeston A. F. L., Ghul M. A., Muller W. W., Ryckmans J. Sabaic Dictionary (English-French-Arabic) / Dictionnaire sabeen (anglais-français-arabe). Louvain-la-Neuve-Beyrouth, 1982.

Biella J. C. Dictionary of Old South Arabian. Sabaean Dialect. Chico, 1982 (Harvard Semitic Museum, Harvard Semitic Studies, Nr 25).

Frantsouzoff S. A. The inscriptions from the temples of Dhat Himyam at Raybun // Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies. Vol. 25. 1995.

Frantsouzoff S. Raybun. Hadran, temple de la déesse Athtarum / Astarum. Fasc. A: Les documents. Fasc. B: Les planches. Paris - Rome, 2001 (Inventaire des inscriptions sudarabiques, t. 5).

Frantsouzoff S. L'apport des inscriptions de Raybun VI à l'épigraphie sudarabique (campagne des fouilles de 2004) // Arabia. Revue de sabeologie / Rivista di sabeologia. Vol. 3. 2005 - 2006.

Frantsouzoff S. Raybun. Kafas / Na'man, temple de la déesse Dhat Himyam. Fasc. A: Les documents. Fasc. B: Les planches. Paris - Rome, 2007 (Inventaire des inscriptions sudarabiques, t. 6).

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