St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg University Press, 2009, 216 p. (in Russian)

Tombs, mummies and bones are silent -
Only the word is given life:
From the ancient darkness, on the world's graveyard,
Only Writing sounds...

I. A. Bunin (Collected Works, vol. 3, 1956, p. 336)

Russian semitology as a complex scientific field has been supplemented with a significant contribution and expanded its boundaries, covering such an important area as the ancient civilization of Southern Arabia. The second half of the XX century and the beginning of the XXI century were marked by many researches and discoveries in the field of archeology, epigraphy, history, and ethnography made by Russian scientists in the field and in the field. Special works are devoted to the study and description of the languages of ancient South Arabian epigraphy. The book in question could be called an "Introduction to South Arabian Epigraphy", but its content goes beyond just philological analysis of epigraphic texts: based on their content, the spiritual and social world of the ancient inhabitants of Hadramaut is reconstructed. It is in this eastern province of Yemen that a comprehensive scientific expedition of Russian scientists has been working and continues to work for several decades. 1 Among them, the author of this book, S. A. Abdrakhmanov, has worked for several years. A. Frenchman, a well-known Sabean historian, researcher of ancient epigraphic texts discovered by Russian expeditions in one of the centers of ancient Hadramaut-Raibun. His works are widely known in Russia and abroad, including in Yemen. Two volumes of his edition of the Raibun texts with translation, commentary, and research were published in 2001 and 2007 in Paris and Rome. The author is also known for his research on written monuments of Ethiopia and the Arab-Christian tradition.

The main part of the book consists of a preface, an introduction, six chapters, and a conclusion.

The book is provided with illustrative material: the tabs contain photos of scientists participating in expeditions, archaeological sites and epigraphic texts (8 sheets). The bibliography includes the bulk of works on this topic, a list of abbreviations, and the sigla of cited inscriptions. In addition, indexes of toponyms and names of buildings, names of deities, personal and generic names and ethnonyms are attached. The appendix contains maps of Hadhramaut and areas of archaeological work, a table of anthroponyms from the studied texts, places of their finds and their correspondence in epigraphy from other areas of pre-Islamic Arabia.

The book opens with a dedication to the memory of Sevir Borisovich Chernetsov (1943-2005), an outstanding Russian expert on Ethiopia and its languages. The preface reveals the idea of the work - a historical and philological analysis of the epigraphic monuments of Raibun, discovered as a result of archaeological research on the territory of this large complex. The preface also expresses gratitude to the author's teachers and senior colleagues who have already left, as well as gratitude to current colleagues from Russia, Yemen, Western research centers and direct assistants in the work on the book.

Introduction "The Discovery of Raibun and the history of its epigraphic study" is the first consistent and systematic critical account of the history of the study of this ancient agricultural area, both in the Arab historical tradition and in Western science. Much attention is paid to the analytical review of the results of the work of SOIKE-RCAIR. As one of the important achievements of Saba studies, S. A. Frantsuzov considers the use of a comprehensive method of studying material and written monuments of ancient Yemen, introduced by the arabist P. A. Gryaznevich, which consists in studying epigraphic monuments in an archaeological and historical-geographical context. Domestic expeditions worked

1 In 1982-1991-the Soviet-Yemeni Integrated Expedition( SOIKE); from 1993 to the present - the Russian integrated expedition in the Republic of Yemen (RCAIR).

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in three areas: archaeological, historical and cultural, and ethno-linguistic, together with Yemeni scientists.

The discovery of multi-layered religious monuments of Raibun as a result of archaeological work conducted under the leadership of A.V. Sedov gave a new important epigraphic material - about 4 thousand inscriptions, which, in turn, provided an opportunity for domestic Sabeists-epigraphists G. M. Bauer, A. G. Lundin, and later their younger colleague, S. A. Frantsuzov, to make a great contribution contribution to the study of texts, to identify the features of the local religious cult, social system and language of the ancient Hadramaut people. A remarkable "material" reason for the richness and preservation of the Raibun epigraphy, which is emphasized by the author of the book: the inhabitants of this peripheral region used for dedicatory inscriptions not expensive bronze, but limestone slabs and stelae, which were not suitable for processing by subsequent conquerors and treasure hunters.

Chapter I "Paleography and Chronology" is devoted to a critical analysis of concepts and hypotheses in the complex field of establishing absolute dating of written monuments based on their graphic and linguistic features, which further makes it possible to establish the historical chronology of the South Arabian civilization. The author develops a panorama of different approaches and principles used by scientists: 1)" content-based " approach-an attempt to correlate written data with already known historical events in neighboring regions; 2) palaeographic changes in monumental writing during the 1st millennium BC ("relative" or "short" chronology); 3) data from radiocarbon dating. As a result of new discoveries and methods, including on the Raibun, most scientists came to the conclusion that the ancient Yemenite civilization was formed already at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC.

Additional criteria introduced by the Sabean scholar G. M. Bauer were of great importance for establishing the relative dating of the Raibun inscriptions: linguistic (changes in grammatical forms) and orthographic (changes and disappearance of certain signs). S. A. Frenchman shows the process of processing the Raibun epigraphy, the results of which are accepted by the majority of Sabean epigraphists. The discovery of inscriptions on ceramics and wood gives a new direction to South Arabian paleography, as the technique of writing on clay and wood has its own characteristics. An important result of all these studies is the establishment of a correlation between the main stages of the paleographic development of the South Arabian script and the absolute dating of the material according to radiocarbon dating.

Thus, this book summarizes the latest achievements of South Arabian epigraphy in the field of constructing relative and absolute chronologies of the historical development of the South Arabian civilization and connects them with the dating of archaeological material.

I will focus on a philological analysis of the epigraphic material and the etymology of key words and terms in the texts (chapters II, III, V). A detailed analysis of the vocabulary and terminology in the Raibun epigraphy can make a great contribution to expanding our knowledge of the languages of the ancient script of the South Arabian people. The limited genres and formula structure of known texts, the repeatability of identical syntactic constructions and vocabulary leave many blank spots in the study of these languages and do not allow us to get a sufficiently complete picture of their grammatical structure, inflection system and word formation. The consonant character of the letter makes it difficult to establish the syllabic and vocalic structure of the word, which is usually reconstructed by indirect signs or by analogy with correspondences in Arabic or Ephiosemitic languages.

That is why the careful philological analysis carried out by the author of the book attracts special attention of the linguist.

Chapter II, "Inscription carvers and their Craft" provides an example of how the interpretation of a single word-term makes it possible to establish the existence of a special social and professional category of stonemasons in ancient South Arabian society.

A controversial question about the meaning of the grby noun form, which appears in a number of texts as an appendix to a person's proper name, is that: 1) the ending -y is interpreted as an indicator of the name of a relative patronymic formation (nisba) using the suffix * - iyy -, which is also noted in other Semitic languages [Kogan, 2009, p. 98]; 2) the formation of this form is also found in the languages of South Arabian epigraphy, for example, "Hadramian, Hadramian", etc.e. related to Hadhramaut (p. 61); or qyly - "related to the Qayl (local rulers)" (Bauer, 1966, p.45). However, there are two interpretations of this word grby: "traditional", i.e. it is a relative name associated with na-

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or it is the name of the profession "bricklayer, stonemason", since in the texts the author notes the same root words: grb (nominal form) "hewn stones", grb (verb) "to carve, carve on stone" (p. 57-61). S. A. Frantsuzov carefully analyzes It also shows that grby is a term-the name of the bricklayer's profession, which is important in the social structure of South Arabian society.

In my opinion, the author could confirm the solution of this question in favor of the term "stonemason, mason" even more convincingly if he used the text of the "Great Abadan Inscription" (p. 60), where the term grby occurs not only in combination with a proper name and patronymic, but also in an independent position: qdm/grby/dn/ ms3nd" " [he] supervised both carvers (dv. h.) of this inscription." In other words, in this context, two master stonecutters are mentioned in their professional function.

I will add further: if the meaning and function of the term grby is sufficiently well defined in this book, then establishing the grammatical structure of the term as a relative name is questionable; for this statement, the ending-y is not enough. It is necessary to consider this form in the word-formation paradigm of the ancient South Arabian languages, to draw on a broader comparative material of other Semitic languages. The fact is that if the term grby is defined as a relative name, i.e. * gVrVb-iyy -, then the question arises: are there similar profession terms in epigraphic or other Semitic languages according to this "model"? If you have any doubts about this issue, you could pay attention to the spelling of the well-known term ngs2y "negus/king of Aksum" [SD, p. 91]. In the Geez language, this term has the structure of a "doer's name" - nagāshi "king, ruler" [Leslau, 1987, p. 392] in accordance with the word-formation paradigm of this language. Since the syllabic and vocalic structure of the word in the consonant graph of epigraphic texts remains "behind the scenes", we can make a different assumption: word formation in epigraphic languages could be similar to the ancient Ethiopian system. Cf. in the Geez language: (verb) "carving a stone" > (name of the actor) "stonemason", (name of the action) "cutting a stone" [Leslau, 1987, p. 563].

With regard to the original root base of grb "hewn stone", its local origin should be noted, using Yemeni lexical material [Al-Selwi, 1987, p. 59-60; Behnstedt, 1992, p. 180; Belova, 2008, p.49-52].

An important section of the book is chapter III "The language and form of the Raibun texts, their material carriers", devoted to the analysis of the composition of the Raibun texts and the establishment of the meanings of new vocabulary and terms found in these inscriptions. From the point of view of the content of the Raibun inscriptions, their purpose and composition, S. A. Frantsuzov distinguishes: commemorative texts on the facing slabs of temples with the names of donors; votive (dedicatory) texts with a more complex structure: the name of the initiator - the name of the deity - the object of dedication. A detailed analysis of the content of the second genre helps the author to establish the goals of these initiations and how to implement them. There are two types of methods: an offering of a material object (its sculptural image) or a stele with an inscription that is itself a material object. Main goals: to receive the protection and protection of the deity, to observe the instructions of the oracle, to repent of sin and receive forgiveness. From this section, it becomes obvious that the stable formulas of epigraphic texts and their similar content are the result of the ancient tradition of this genre, which developed during the 1st millennium BC. in the ancient Hadramaut, and allow us to compare them with epigraphic texts of a later period found in the territories of Central and Northern Arabia.

The presented analysis of the Hadhramaut epigraphy reveals similar compositional elements in the epigraphy of the southern and northern regions of Arabia, as well as some content differences due to different types of civilizations (in particular, sedentary or nomadic).

Of great importance for semitology are the author's observations on the linguistic features of Hadhramaut epigraphy, namely: reduction in the system of sibilants and interdental. In this area, it would be possible to expand the boundaries of the topic: the tendency to reduce interdental is indeed characteristic of a number of Semitic languages and Arabic dialects. However, it (reduction) is not typical for the languages of South Arabia: interdental ones are preserved in the non-written languages of South Arabia (with the exception of Socotri) and in most Arabic dialects of Yemen.

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S. A. Frantsuzov discovers in new texts still unknown grammatical features in the system of personal pronouns, as well as new vocabulary. The author determines the meaning of new lexemes of Raibun texts based on the use of comparative lexical material of Semitic languages, on the basis of context, as well as on comparison with similar known texts. This approach allows him to significantly expand the vocabulary of epigraphic languages and note the isolation of some meanings of single-root lexemes in Hadhramaut texts. These include the term 'dn "will, power of the deity", "remission of sins", s3wr "liberation, purification from the offense committed".

In order to clarify the semantics of some cult terms, I would like to touch upon the term bhl, which S. A. Frenchman interprets as "unfavorable oracle" based on the meaning of this verb root in Arabic. However, the comparative material of other Semitic languages suggests a more "neutral" meaning of this root (cf., for example, the Afrasian reconstruction " ritual speech; conjure, pray "(HCVA, N 3, 1994, p. 14, N 110). The neutral meaning of this word is also indicated by the transfer and translation of this verb (as Himyaritic) in the work of al-Hamdani.: bhl-k "I said, ordered" (Al-Selwi, 1987, p. 46-47). In modern Yemeni dialects, the derived verb stem from bhl (breed II) is also used in the sense of "welcome" [Piamenta, 1990, p. 42]; in Mehri Jibbali languages, behlét "word" [Johnstone, 1987, p. 45].

An essential part of this book is chapter IV, " The Pantheon of Raibun. Pagan cult and Everyday life", devoted to problems related to the establishment of the Raibun pantheon, the hierarchy of deities, their functions and etymologies of their names. According to S. A. Frantsuzov, new epigraphic and archaeological data allow us to abandon the previous traditional hypotheses about the astral nature of most South Arabian deities. Large archaeological material also indicates the absence of material images of deities. At the same time, the limited content of written monuments allows us to establish only some of the functions attributed to the main deities: healing from diseases (Siyan) and the local goddess Astar(um); regulating family and marriage relations (Zat Himyam). A careful analysis of some texts, however, allows the author to identify a certain hierarchy: subordinate and secondary deities of local significance.

Of particular interest to semitologists of various fields is chapter V, "Names of Raibun Residents", about the proper names of Raibun residents and their neighbors. Since the bulk of South Arabian texts necessarily include the name and patronymic of the author of the inscription, and in some cases-the names of his relatives and other persons, a large amount of material has been accumulated to date.

S. A. Frantsuzov is developing a multidimensional classification of the registered fund based on a number of characteristics: 1) according to the place of finding the inscription, 2) according to the gender of the name bearer; in a separate table, he gives the quantitative distribution of names relative to various temples of the Raibun. Further, the author establishes the ratio of the number of names that have parallels in the North and South Arabian onomastics. A special analysis of the structure and components of proper names reveals, in turn, interesting analogies with West Semitic anthroponyms. In general, this section of the book opens up great prospects for studying the ethno-cultural contacts of ancient Semitic civilizations, for clarifying and clarifying the genealogy of Arabian tribes and dynasties. The use of anthroponyms from late Yemeni sources, as well as from Ephiosemitic materials (p.133), despite the large time gap, is of considerable interest from the point of view of preserving ancient traditions in Yemen and traces of ancient contacts with East Africa.

In chapter VI, "Raibun Society: Structure and institutions", S. A. Frantsuzov manages, despite the limited information content of the Raibun texts, to partially recreate the picture of social and administrative relations in Raibun and, more broadly, in Hadhramaut of the 1st millennium BC. Based on a philological analysis of the discovered terms and their contextual environment, the author comes to the conclusion on the transformation of a tribal community into a territorial one s2rk. For the settlement of Raibun itself, it establishes the status of an hgr city, which had a cultural and religious isolation, but resolved socio - economic disputes in the capital of Hadramaut-Shabwa. As a result of etymological research of such terms as 'b'l "owners", "outsiders", bkl " clients-settlers "(resettled from different communities), the paper elucidates the features of the social stratification of Raibun society (in addition to the already known terms for high posts, such as kbr, qyn).

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The identification of a certain system of dating local events by eponyms allows the author to assume that the eponymate in ancient Hadramaut was multi - year (at least four-year). The results of the study of the new lexical material of the Raibun epigraphy are of interest not only for historians of Southern Arabia, but also for semitologists-linguists: new words and grammatical forms, new terms of one of the little-known languages of ancient Southern Arabia are introduced into scientific circulation. Regarding the term "displaced persons, immigrants" and its etymology, the analysis could, in my opinion, be supplemented with data from later Yemeni sources. These include the verb base from the Himyarite proverb quoted in al-Hamdani's work "who owns Zafar-returns to Himyar" (Belova 1996, p. 69). One should also pay attention to the verb "to turn; to return; to turn to; to come" (Behnstedt, 1992, p. 296), which still retains its ancient meaning in modern Yemen. The same source also records the verbs bkl "to leave" [Behnstedt, 1992, p. 103]; "to allow, to allow" [ib., p. 275].

According to S. A. Frantsuzov, it is precisely the large number of written monuments discovered by the SOIKE-RKAIR expeditions during all the years of their work that makes it possible to continue the historical and philological study of Khadramaut epigraphy, to start special studies of the features of its graphics, writing styles and handwriting of master carvers, as well as to turn to deciphering texts on wood.

In general, S. A. Frantsuzov's book about Raibun indicates that a solid Russian school of scientists has developed in the field of history and culture of the Ancient East, aimed at a comprehensive, comprehensive study of the ancient South Arabian civilization. This school has its own scientific traditions and methods. Its representatives rely on the results of archaeological discoveries both in the field of material culture and in the field of written heritage of an ancient civilization.

The author's analysis of written monuments takes into account the latest achievements of world science in deciphering epigraphic materials and draws on comparative material from other Semitic languages of both the ancient and modern periods, which makes it possible to clarify and resolve a number of controversial issues. It was as a result of a deep philological and etymological analysis of the Hadramaut vocabulary that the author managed to recreate fragments of the lifestyle and spiritual world of the ancient Hadramaut people. I think that a wider use of comparative lexical and grammatical material not only from classical Arabic, but also from the writings of Yemeni authors, some remnants of the Himyaritic language and Arabic dialects of Yemen, which preserve traces of ancient South Arabian substrates, will also benefit etymological and grammatical studies of epigraphy. This direction seems to me to be one of the most promising and relevant for Semitic linguistics. The introduction of new data on the ancient Khadramaut language into scientific circulation eliminates the blank spots in the history of the languages of Southern Arabia and opens up space for new hypotheses.

I believe that this book by S. A. Frantsuzov will mark the beginning of a further comprehensive study of the history and culture of one of the most important centers of human civilization, which emerged between Africa and Asia, developed a sedentary agricultural culture and laid down original building traditions.

list of literature

Bauer G. M. Yazyk yuzhnoaraviyskoy pis'mosti [The language of South Arabian Writing]. Moscow: GRVL, 1966.

Belova A. G. Khimyaritskiy yazyk [Himyaritic language]. Lreal'nye issledovaniya k istorii arabskogo yazyka [Real research on the history of the Arabic language].
Belova A. G. Kul'turnaya leksika Yuzhnoi Araby v sravnitel'no-istoricheskogo aspekte (terminii material'noi kul'tury - nami stroimaterialov) [Cultural vocabulary of Southern Arabia in the comparative historical aspect (terms of material culture-names of building materials)].
Kogan L. E. Semitic languages / / Languages of the world. Semitic languages. Akkadian language. Severo-Zapadnosemitskiye yazyki [Northwestern Semitic Languages], Moscow: TLY RAN Publ., 2009.
Al-Selwi, Ibrahim. Jemenitische Worter in den Werken von al-Hamdānї und Našwān und ihre Parallelen in den semitischen Sprachen. Berlin: Verlag von Dietrich Reimer, 1987.

Behnstedt P. Die nordjemenitischen Dialekte. Glossar. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Beichert. Bd. 2, 1992; Bd. 3, 1996.

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HCVA - Diakonoff I., A. Belova, A. Chetverukhin, A. Militarev, V. Porkhomovsky V., Stolbova O. Historical Comparative Vocabulary of Afrasian // St. Petersburg Journal of African Studies. No. 3, 1994 ("Ed. European House").

Johnstone T.M. Mehri Lexicon and English-Mehri Word-List // Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. L., 1987.

Leslau W. Comparative Dictionary of Ge'ez (Classical Ethiopic). Wiesbaden, Otto Harrassowitz, 1987.

Piamenta Moche. Dictionary of Post-Classical Yemeni Arabic. Leiden-New York-Köbenhavn-Köln: E.J. Brill, 1990.

SD - Beeston A.F.L., Ghul M.A., Müller W.W., Ryckmans J. Sabaic Dictionary (English-French-Arabic). Louvain-la-Neuve: Ed. Peeters, 1982.

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