M 287 JSMin 32; RES 3272; Ja 2329
Jaussen and Savignac 1914: pls 34 (photo of the tomb), 77/32 (photo of the inscription), 103/32 (facsimile of the inscription)
Image free from copyright
Image free from copyright
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Minaic » Marginal Minaic | ||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Writing technique | Incision | ||
| Measure of letters | 3 | ||
| Chronology |
|
GENERAL NOTES
| Facsimiles of the text (though not clear) also in Müller, David H. 1889: pl. IX/858; Euting 1896 (or second edition of 1914: 242); Mordtmann 1897: 57, no. XXXVI. For an exhaustive biliography of the text since its first publication see Müller, Walter W. 1988 b: 624. |
TEXT
1 Hnʾ bn Whbʾl
2 ḏ-Mlḥ hn b-ḫṭʾt-N—
3 krḥ w-Wd ʾḥl{ḏy}((ʾḥl{ḏ}y))
4 ḏ-ynql qbrn ʿmr
5 ḫrfn w-ʾrḫn
| 2 | aberrant writing of the last letters ʾ and n. |
| 3 | all the editors consider ʾḥlḏy as a dittography for ʾḥly (but note that also ʾḥl is well attested in Minaic), while Jamme as ʾḥd-lḏy, with an assimilation of d to l. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 Hnʾ, son of Whbʾl 2 ḏ-Mlḥ, as (?) they are under the sin of 3 Nkrḥ and Wd the goods 4 of the one who digs the tomb, for the duration 5 of the years and the months. |
| Two different interpretations of the text are possible. One is the traditional curse against the profanation of the tomb: "may be struck by the sin of the gods the properties of anyone who damages the tomb"; in this case, NQL would have the common Semitic meaning "remove". The other one is a sort of "protection formula" for the tomb: "they are protected by the sin of the gods the properties of the one (Hnʾ) who dug the tomb"; in this case, NQL has the typical South Arabian meaning "excavate". |
| German | |
1 Haniʾ, der Sohn des Wahabʾil, 2 von der Sippe Malich. Siehe zum Sündopfer an 3 Nakraḥ und Wadd (verfallen) die Güter 4 dessen, der das Grab verändert, für die Dauer 5 der Jahre und Monate. |
| 1-2 | "hn wie hebräisch hēn 'siehe' ", "ḫṭʾt wie hebräisch ḫaṭāʾāh bzw. ḫaṭṭāʾt 'Sündopfer'" (Müller, Walter W. 1988 b). |
| Müller, Walter W. 1988 b: 625 | Müller, Walter W. 1988. Altsüdarabische und frühnordarabische Grab-, Sarkophag-, Votiv- und Bauinschriften. Pages 621-640 in Christel Butterweck (ed.). Grab-, Sarg-, Votiv- und Bauinschriften. Religiöse Texte. 4. Otto Kaiser (ed.), Texte aus der Umwelt des Alten Testaments. 2. Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus Gerd Mohn. |
| English | |
1 Haniʾ, son of Wahabʾl, 2 he of (the group) Mulâḥ. May be abject among the offenders of Na- 3 kraḥ and Wadd anyone 4 who would smash the tomb to pieces during the duration of 5 the years and the months. |
| Jamme 1974 b: 100 | Jamme, Albert W.F. 1974. Miscellanées d'ancient arabe VII. Washington. 2019/07/22; https://cuislandora.wrlc.org/islandora/object/cuislandora%3A205580#page/1/mode/1up. [Privately printed] |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Support type | Rock inscription |
| Material | Rock |
| Measures | h. 18, w. 33 (written field) |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | al-ʿUlā (Engraved on the cliff of the Jabal Khuraybah.) |
| Ancient site | Ddn |
| Geographical area | Ḥijāz |
| Country | Saudi Arabia |
| Found | In situ |
| Archaeological context | Funerary context: Tomb A-2 |
| Notes | The inscription is written above the entrance of the tomb. |
| Link to site record |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Jaussen and Savignac 1914: 304-307, pls LXXVII/32, CIII/32 (facsimile) | Jaussen, Antonin J. and Savignac, M. Raphael 1914. Mission archéologique en Arabie. II. El-ʿEla, d'Hégra à Teima, Harrah de Tebouk. (Publications de la Société française des fouilles archéologiques, 2). Paris: Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner. |
| Jamme 1974 b: 100-101, pl. 25 (facsimile) | Jamme, Albert W.F. 1974. Miscellanées d'ancient arabe VII. Washington. 2019/07/22; https://cuislandora.wrlc.org/islandora/object/cuislandora%3A205580#page/1/mode/1up. [Privately printed] |
| al-Anṣārī 1984 a: 14 | al-Anṣārī, ʿAbdul Rahman T. 1984. Muwāqiʿ aṯariyya wa ṣuwur min ḥaḍārat al-ʿArab fi l-Mamlaka al-ʿArabiyya as-Saʿūdiyya. Al-ʿUlā (Dedan), al-Ḥiǧr (Madāʾin Ṣāliḥ). Riyāḍ: Qism al-ʾāṯār wa al-matāḥif, ǧāmiʿat al-malik Suʿūd. |
| Euting 1896 | Euting, Julius 1896. Tagebuch einer Reise in Inner-Arabien. Leiden: Brill. [2nd edition: 1914] |
| Müller, David H. 1899 | Müller, David H. (ed.) 1899. Südarabische Altertümer im Kunsthistorischen Hofmuseum. Vienna: Alfred Hölder. [Im Auftrage und mit Unterstützung des Oberstlämmerer-Amtes seiner K. und K. Apost. Majestät] |
| Mordtmann 1897 | Mordtmann, Johannes H. 1897. Beiträge zur minäischen Epigrafik. (Ergänzungshefte zur Zeitschrift für Assyriologie, 12. Semitistische Studien). Weimar: E. Felber. |
| Müller, Walter W. 1988 b | Müller, Walter W. 1988. Altsüdarabische und frühnordarabische Grab-, Sarkophag-, Votiv- und Bauinschriften. Pages 621-640 in Christel Butterweck (ed.). Grab-, Sarg-, Votiv- und Bauinschriften. Religiöse Texte. 4. Otto Kaiser (ed.), Texte aus der Umwelt des Alten Testaments. 2. Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus Gerd Mohn. |