A Sabaic inscription from Wādī al‐Jawf during the Era of Yadaʿʾil Bayyin, son of Yaṯaʿʾamar, King of Sabaʾ

Abstract

This is an analytical study of a new Sabaic inscription probably coming from the town of Naššān in Wādī al‐Jawf in northern Yemen. The text of this inscription, which is of a construction/dedicatory and a legal nature at the same time, bans the violation of the properties of Yaqdumʾil son of Ṯawrān, by the people of Ḫawlān and their vassals who had attacked that man's properties by cutting his trees and scattering his crops. The inscription is dated by the name of the Sabaean king Yadaʿʾil Bayyin son of Yaṯaʿʾamar, who reigned about the end of the fifth and the beginning of the fourth century BC. What distinguishes the inscription is that it contains new historical and linguistic material. Along with other Sabaic inscriptions found in the region, the text refers to the extent of settlement of Sabaean families from Mārib, Ṣirwāḥ, and Ḫawlān in the cities of al‐Jawf, specifically in Naššān and Našq, to control the roads of incense.