South Arabian inscriptions from domestic buildings from Tamnaʿ and the archaeological evidence

Abstract

In this work we analyse the so-called ‘construction inscriptions’ from domestic buildings. In particular we deal with the inscriptions from domestic buildings from Tamnaʿ, the ancient capital of the Qatabān Kingdom, dated between the fourth century BC and the first century AD, a building located in the site of Darb aṣ-Ṣābi, near Barāqish, dated around the second century BC and a private house in Qaniya dated around the third–second centuries BC. We offer explanations of the lexical differences in the nouns used to indicate parts of buildings, not in terms of chronology, dialect or linguistic variations and influences, but on the basis of the architectonic and structural data available. Starting from the architectonic features (typologies of domestic buildings, different construction techniques, different uses of materials, etc.) we try to explain the differences in terminology concerning the inscriptions found in buildings known to us.