CIH 541 is a pre-Islamic Arabian inscription dated to 548 CE and written in Sabaic. It was commissioned by Abraha, the ruler of the Himyarite Kingdom, to symbolize the consolidation of his power. It is the last of Abraha's known inscriptions, and also the longest, running up to 136 lines.[1]

CIH 541 describes a plague that struck the Himyarite Kingdom, which some have interpreted as evidence for the spread of the Plague of Justinian into pre-Islamic Arabia.[2] The inscription contains the final archaeological reference to the Marib dam before its ultimate demise, describing the lengthy efforts Abraha went to in order to commission its repair including by: supplying 50,806 measures of flour, 26,000 measures of dates, 3,000 cattle worth of meat, 7,200 small stock, 300 camel loads of wine, and 11,000 measures of date wine.[3] The inscription is also known for being the last extant inscription to refer to the family that once ruled Sheba.[4]

Content

The chronological contents of the inscription are as follows:[5]

  • A Trinitarian thanksgiving formula (lines 1–3)
  • A reference to Abraha (4), his titles (4–6) and dominions (6–8)
  • A rebellion that Abraha subdued (9–55)
  • Repair of the Marib dam (55–61)
  • Celebration of a mass in a church (65–67)
  • Description of a plague (72–75)
  • Some of Abraha's military campaigns (76–80) after which he describes returning to Marib (80–87)
  • A delegation that involved the assembly of diplomats from Ethiopia, Byzantium, Persia, and the Arab kingdoms at a conference (87–92)
  • More about the plague, rebuilding of the Marib dam, the mass celebration (92–117)
  • A detailed list of provisions (118–136)

CIH 541 has also been linked with a closely related inscription found in the same building, DAI GDN 2002–20, which is another 41 lines long.[5]

See also

References

Sources

  1. ^ Robin 2015, p. 292.
  2. ^ Haldon, John; Fleitmann, Dominik (2024). "A Sixth-Century CE Drought in Arabia New Palaeoclimate Data and Some Historical Implications". Journal of Late Antique, Islamic and Byzantine Studies. 3 (1–2): 1–45. doi:10.3366/jlaibs.2023.0024. ISSN 2634-2367.
  3. ^ Harrower 2016, p. 129.
  4. ^ Schiettecatte 2024.
  5. ^ a b Segovia 2018, p. 92–93.

Citations

  • Harrower, Michael (2016). Water Histories and Spatial Archaeology: Ancient Yemen and the American West. Cambridge University Press.
  • Robin, Christian Julien (2015). "Abraha and Ethiopia". In Johnson, Scott Fitzgerald (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity. Oxford University Press. pp. 247–332.
  • Segovia, Carlos (2018). The Quranic Jesus: A New Interpretation. De Gruyter.
  • Schiettecatte, Jérémie (2024). "Sabaʾ". Thematic Dictionary of Ancient Arabia.
  • CIH 541 (Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions)
Allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIH_541
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