Sabaean

Also known as Sabaean language

Sabaic, sometimes referred to as Sabaean, was a Sayhadic language that was spoken between c. 1000 BC and the 6th century AD by the Sabaeans. It was used as a written language by some other peoples of the ancient civilization of South Arabia, including the Ḥimyarites, Ḥashidites, Ṣirwāḥites, Humlanites, Ghaymānites, and Radmānites. Sabaic belongs to the South Arabian Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family. Sabaic is distinguished from the other members of the Sayhadic group by its use of h to mark the third person and as a causative prefix; all of the other languages use s1 in those

Key facts

Language.name: Sabaic
Language.states: Yemen
Language.region: Arabian Peninsula
Language.extinct: 6th century
Language.familycolor: Afro-Asiatic
Language.fam2: Semitic
Language.fam3: West Semitic
Language.fam4: South Semitic?
Language.fam5: Southwestern?
Language.fam6: Sayhadic
Language.script: Ancient South Arabian
Language.iso3: xsa
Language.glotto: saba1279
Language.glottorefname: Sabaic
Language.linglist: xsa
Language.era: 1200 BC - 6th century
Language.ethnicity: Sabaeans
Language.imagecaption: Votive stele with Sabaic inscription addressed to the main Sabaean deity Almaqah, mentioning five other South Arabian gods, two reigning sovereigns and two governors: "Ammī'amar son of Ma'dīkarib dedicated to Almaqah Ra'suhumū. With 'Athtar, with Almaqah, with dhāt-Ḥimyam, with dhât-Ba'dân, with Waddum, with Karib'īl, with Sumhu'alī, with 'Ammīrayam and with Yadhrahmalik." Alabaster, c. 700 BC, Yemen, area of Ma'rib (?).