File:Ancient Blocks With Sabaean Inscriptions, Yeha, Ethiopia (3146498586).jpg

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The Iqa-bet, a two-story stone storage building next to the Church of Abba Afse in Yeha, Tigray Region, northern Ethiopia, houses ancient artifacts as well as Ethiopian Orthodox Christian religious objects.

This photo shows blocks bearing inscriptions in Sabaean language. I don't know whether all the blocks are stone or whether some are stone and others are fired clay. Arranged atop the blocks are other ancient artifacts that were no doubt found nearby and brought to the Iqa-bet for safekeeping and display. The one on the far right, with two vertical holes, looks like a piece of engineered masonry.

According to Wikipedia:

"The Sabaean (or, to be more exact, rather Sabaic) languagewas an Old South Arabian language spoken in Yemen from c. 1000 BC to the 6th century AD, by the Sabaeans; it was used as a written language by some other peoples . . . It was written in the South Arabian alphabet." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabaean_language

Wikipedia also states:

"The Sabaeans (Arabic: السبأيين‎) were an ancient people speaking an Old South Arabian language who lived in what is today Yemen, in south west Arabian Peninsula; from 2000 BC to the 8th century BC. Some Sabaeans also lived in D'mt, located in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea, due to their hegemony over the Red Sea." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabaeans

This explains the presence of Sabaean inscriptions in Yeha, Ethiopia. There is disagreement on Yeha's role and significance during the D'mt Kingdom in what is now northern Ethiopia and Eritrea. However, it is certain Yeha, with its imposing Temple of the Moon, was an important center in the D'mt Kingdom 2,500 years ago.

I wish I knew what these inscriptions say. Anyone?
Date
Source Ancient Blocks With Sabaean Inscriptions, Yeha, Ethiopia
Author A. Davey from Where I Live Now: Pacific Northwest

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This image, originally posted to Flickr, was reviewed on 5 October 2012 by the administrator or reviewer File Upload Bot (Magnus Manske), who confirmed that it was available on Flickr under the stated license on that date.

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31 October 2007

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