Ḥad Gadya has a place in Seder tables throughout the Jewish world, and in many communities it was read in translation. Probably not this one though, seeing as it was written almost a thousand years after the Sabaic language became extinct. But Sabaic, a South Semitic language somewhere between Arabic and Ge’ez, is worth studying for any Jewish scholar because of the light it sheds on the history of the Semitic languages and the Middle East as a whole. (Not to mention that it was a lingua franca of the Yemenite Jewish kingdom of Himyar!) This is a Sabaic translation, transcription, and hypothetical vocalization of Ḥad Gadya. . . .
Tags: 16th century C.E., 53rd century A.M., alternate timeline, Aramaic, חד גדיא Ḥad Gadya, Himyar, Late Antiquity, פיוטים piyyutim, predation, Sabaic translation, salvation, Yemenite Jewry, זמירות zemirot
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