KMI 5

Image © G.M.H. King and M.C.A. Macdonald
Siglum
KMI 5
Transliteration
ymgd rb b- ymm
Ahmad Al-Jallad
Translation
The lord who is in Ymm is glorious
Ahmad Al-Jallad
Language and Script
Dhofari 1a

Interpretation

Commentary

This text appears to be an isolated prayer glorifying a deity or important individual. If we do not understand this as a sentence, it is possible to take ymgd as a personal name rbb as a term for 'lord' and ymm as a place or people. The following commentary treats this is as statement, as isolated prayers such as these seem to be frequent in Dhofari 1a. 

ymgd: A prefix conjugated verb cognate with Arabic yamǧudu 'to be glorious' (Lane, 2689c).

rb: Compare with Arabic rabb, ultimately from Aramaic. This term enters Ancient South Arabian in the monotheistic period.

ymm: Probably a toponym, cognate with Yamāmah, a region in Nejd, Saudi Arabia, and Jabal al-Yamām, in the region of Maʿān, Jordan. 

Ahmad Al-Jallad

Editio Princeps
Al-Shaḥrī and King 1993
Field Collector
G.M.H. King and A.A.M. Al-Shaḥrī

Technique
Hammered
Direction of Script
Vertical

Associated Inscriptions

  • Al-Shaḥrī, A.A.M. & King, G.M.H. The Dhofar Epigraphic Project. A Description of the Inscriptions recorded in 1991 and 1992. [Unpublished but available on http://www.ancientarabia.co.uk/ under "Projects"/"Dhofar epigraphic project".] 1993.
  • [Lane] Lane, E.W. An Arabic-English Lexicon, Derived from the Best and Most Copious Eastern Sources. (Volume 1 in 8 parts [all published]). London: Williams & Norgate, 1863-1893.
Site
Area H - the western Jebel (Jabal Qamar), Dhofar Governorate, Oman
Date Found
1991-1992
Current Location
In situ
Subject
Prayer
Download Images
Updated 22 Sep, 2025 by Ahmad Al-Jallad

Cite this Site

Al-Jallad, Ahmad. 'KMI 5.' OCIANA. 22 Sep, 2025. https://ociana.osu.edu/inscriptions/45838. Accessed: 10 Oct, 2025.