This item has been added to the Database within the Explore Islamic Art Collections project. Information is available in: English, Arabic.

Name of Object:

Ancient South Arabian inscription

Location:

Vienna, Austria

Holding Museum:

Weltmuseum Wien

About Weltmuseum Wien, Vienna

Date of Object:

Ca. 0 to 5th century

Museum Inventory Number:

15.300

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Stone

Dimensions:

L: 37cm, W: 19cm, H: 7.5cm

Provenance:

Yemeni mountainous region, Qa Jahran

Description:

The ancient South Arabian language, which like modern Arabic belongs to the Semitic language group, was written in its own alphabet. The preserved inscriptions, such as irrigation regulations, contracts, legal texts, dedicatory and grave inscriptions, remain important sources for the study of the language and culture of ancient Yemen. In the first half of the 7th century, Yemen adopted Islam and with it the Arabic alphabet. Northern Arabic supersedes the ancient South Arabian language.

How date and origin were established:

Entry in the general inventory and publications by David Heinrich Müller.

How Object was obtained:

Catalog entry: "Estate Sigfried Langer, purchased February 1883."

How provenance was established:

Entry in the general inventory book.

Selected bibliography:

Müller, David Heinrich, "Sabäische Inschriften entdeckt und gesammelt von Siegfried Langer", Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 37 (1883): 319-421.
Müller, David Heinrich, Siegfried Langer’s Reiseberichte aus Syrien und Arabien und die von ihm entdeckten und gesammelten Inschriften. Publicirt und erklärt von Dr. David Heinrich Müller, Leipzig: G. Kreysing, 1883.

Citation of this web page:

 "Ancient South Arabian inscription" in Explore Islamic Art Collections. Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;at;Mus23;4;en

MWNF Working Number: AT3 4