Haram, cité antique du Jawf (Yémen): quelques bribes de dix siècles d'histoire et nouveaux textes amirites

The purpose of this contribution is to retrace the history of Haram - one of the city-states of the Jawf (Yemen) - in the light of the epigraphic sources, which have considerably multiplied in the last two decades. Through their historical content, but also their linguistic and formulary features, inscriptions witness of political and cultural changes. The history of Haram, discussed here by Mounir Arbach, is marked from its beginnings (8th century bc) by a political autonomy, in the context of a shared culture with the neighboring city-states of the Jawf. However, Haram's destiny seems to be closely related to the Sabaean presence in the region, between alliance and allegiance, until, from the 5th to the 3rd century bc, Haram seems to disappear from the South Arabian political scene, probably under the influence of the near kingdom of Ma'in. After some attempts to regain its autonomy, the city becomes part of the territories of the Amir tribe, which introduces its own deities and language, and whose last inscriptions date from the 1st/2nd centuries ad. From the sanctuary of Amir's god dhu-Samawi of the wadi Shudayf, located between the Jawf and Nagran, come three new inscriptions, edited here by Irene Rossi. Their study sheds new light on the phraseology of the Amiritic texts, suggesting a history of contamination of textual models and formulae, the origin of which should be traced in the international context of the caravan cities which flourished between the Jawf and central Arabia.