U 008 ASNL E; BILS 31; Stiehl A 12; QDNL 012; SILO, pp 78-81; AH 056; D 105
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient North Arabian » Oasis North Arabian » Dadanitic |
| Alphabet | Ancient North Arabian |
| Script typology | Monumental writing |
| Writing technique | Relief |
| Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
GENERAL NOTES
| Line 4-5. In the compound numeral the ten is place before the unit, and they are connected by w-, see Sima (pp 108-109) and Macdonald. |
TEXT
1 ʾbgr bn Nfʿ S¹m—
2 rbʿl w-ʾbʿl ḏ—
3 ʿmr bnyw hn-ʾrb—
4 ʿw f-rḍ-hm s¹nt ʿ(s²)—
5 r w-s¹bʿ b-rʾy S¹lḥn
| 1 | Altheim and Stiehl followed by van den Branden read the name Nfʿ as Nʿm. This was erroneously corrected to Nfy by Stiehl followed by al-Qudra, Scagliarini, Abū l-Ḥasan, who also reads the name S¹mrbʿl as S¹grbʿl, and Farès-Drappeau. |
| 3 | Abū l-Ḥasan does not read the y in the verb bnyw. |
| 4 | Altheim and Stiehl followed by van den Branden read ʿrḍ-hm for f-rḍ-hm. |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 ʾgbr son of Nfʿ S¹m- 2 rbʿl and ʾbʿl of the linage of 3 ʿmr built this sanctuary of 4 worship and so favour them. In the year 5 seventeen of the government of S¹lḥn. |
| 1-2 | Sima treats the second name in the double name as a lineage name. Thus, he translates 'of the family of N'. |
| 3-4 | Altheim and Stiehl followed by van den Branden and Abū l-Ḥasan consider the word hn-ʾrbʿw as a number. Stiehl followed by al-Qudra and Scagliarini translate it as 'Temple', and Sima thinks that this word means 'canals of water'. Due the geographical context of the inscriptions, most of these translations of the word hn-ʾrbʿw would not seem appropriate. Following the opinion of Farès-Drappeau, who interprets the word as 'cultural building', one could translate it as 'place of worship' or perhaps 'sanctuary. |
| For commentaries see Farès and Macdonald. | |
| Although the text gives the date of the seventeenth year of the government of S¹lḥn, it is impossible to give the inscription an absolute date. |
| Altheim and Stiehl 1968: 25-26 (E), pls 3, 4, 5 and 6 | Altheim, Franz and Stiehl, Ruth 1968. Neue liḥyānische Inschriften. Mit einem Beitrag Gonzague Ryckmans. Die Araber in der alten Welt, 5/1: 24-33. |
| van den Branden 1969: 68-70 (no. 31) | Van den Branden, Albert 1969. Les inscriptions Liḥyanites de R. Stiehl. Al-Machriq, 63: 67-79. |
| Stiehl 1971: 19-21 (A 12), pl. 18 | Stiehl, Ruth 1971. Neue liḥyānische Inschriften aus al-‛Uḏaib. Pages 3-40 in Altheim, Franz and Stiehl, Ruth (ed.). Christentum am Roten Meer I. Berlin, New York: de Gruyter. |
| al-Qudra 1993: 18 (L 012) | al-Qudra, Ḥusayn M. 1993. Dirāsa muʿǧamīya li-ʾalfāẓ an-nuqūš al-liḥyānīya fī ʾiṭār al-luġāt as-sāmīya al-ǧanūbīya. (MA). |
| Scagliarini 1994: 78-81 | Scagliarini, Fiorella 1994. Le iscrizioni liḥyānitiche dellʼoasi di al-ʿUlā. (PhD). |
| Abū l-Ḥasan 1418/1997: 170-173 (AH 056), pl. 8 (facsimile) | Abū l-Ḥasan, Ḥusayn 1418/1997. Qirāʾa li-kitābāt liḥyānīya min ǧabal ʿIkma bi-minṭaqat al-ʿUlā. ar-Riyāḍ: maktabat al-malik Fahd al-waṭanīya. |
| Sima 1999c: 7 (U 008), pls 2b, 3a and 4a. | Sima, Alexander 1999. Die lihyanischen Inschriften von al-ʿUḏayb (Saudi-Arabien). (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, 1). Rahden/Westf.: Leidorf. |
| Macdonald 2004: 512, 522 | Macdonald, Michael C.A. 2004. Ancient North Arabian. Pages 488-533 in Roger D. Woodard (ed.). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World’s Ancient Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. |
| Farès-Drappeau 2005: 197-198 (D 105), pl. XXVI | Farès-Drappeau, Saba 2005. Dédan et Liḥyân. Histoire des Arabes aux confins des pouvoirs perse et hellénistique (IVe-IIe s. avant l'ère chrétienne). (Travaux de la Maison de l'Orient et de la Mediterranée, 42). Lyon: Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée; J. Pouilloux. |
| Farès 2009: 189 | Farès, Saba 2009. Les femmes prêtresses dans les religions arabes préislamiques. Le cas des Liḥyanites. Pages 183-195 in Françoise Briquel-Chatonnet (ed.). Femmes, cultures et sociétés dans les civilisations méditerranéennes et proche-orientales de l'antiquité. (Topoi Orient-Occident. Supplément, 10). Lyon: Maison de l'orient méditerranéen-Jean Pouilloux. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Support type | Rock inscription |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | al-ʿUlā |
| Ancient site | Ddn |
| Geographical area | Ḥijāz |
| Country | Saudi Arabia |
| Notes | Found in Al-ʿUḏayb (Ǧabal ʿIkmah). The inscription is carved amongst a mass of others on one side of the huge rock, which Stiehl called ‘Block A’. It is below U 007, to the left of U 003 and to the right of U 014. |
| Link to site record |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Altheim and Stiehl 1968: 25-26 (E), pls 3, 4, 5 and 6 | Altheim, Franz and Stiehl, Ruth 1968. Neue liḥyānische Inschriften. Mit einem Beitrag Gonzague Ryckmans. Die Araber in der alten Welt, 5/1: 24-33. |
| van den Branden 1969: 68-70 (no. 31) | Van den Branden, Albert 1969. Les inscriptions Liḥyanites de R. Stiehl. Al-Machriq, 63: 67-79. |
| Stiehl 1971: 19-21 (A 12), pl. 18 | Stiehl, Ruth 1971. Neue liḥyānische Inschriften aus al-‛Uḏaib. Pages 3-40 in Altheim, Franz and Stiehl, Ruth (ed.). Christentum am Roten Meer I. Berlin, New York: de Gruyter. |
| al-Qudra 1993: 18 (L 012) | al-Qudra, Ḥusayn M. 1993. Dirāsa muʿǧamīya li-ʾalfāẓ an-nuqūš al-liḥyānīya fī ʾiṭār al-luġāt as-sāmīya al-ǧanūbīya. (MA). |
| Scagliarini 1994: 78-81 | Scagliarini, Fiorella 1994. Le iscrizioni liḥyānitiche dellʼoasi di al-ʿUlā. (PhD). |
| Abū l-Ḥasan 1418/1997: 170-173 (AH 056), pl. 8 (facsimile) | Abū l-Ḥasan, Ḥusayn 1418/1997. Qirāʾa li-kitābāt liḥyānīya min ǧabal ʿIkma bi-minṭaqat al-ʿUlā. ar-Riyāḍ: maktabat al-malik Fahd al-waṭanīya. |
| Sima 1999c: 7 (U 008), pls 2b, 3a and 4a | Sima, Alexander 1999. Die lihyanischen Inschriften von al-ʿUḏayb (Saudi-Arabien). (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, 1). Rahden/Westf.: Leidorf. |
| Macdonald 2004: 512, 522, § 4-5 | Macdonald, Michael C.A. 2004. Ancient North Arabian. Pages 488-533 in Roger D. Woodard (ed.). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World’s Ancient Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. |
| Farès-Drappeau 2005: 197-198 (D 105), pl. XXVI | Farès-Drappeau, Saba 2005. Dédan et Liḥyân. Histoire des Arabes aux confins des pouvoirs perse et hellénistique (IVe-IIe s. avant l'ère chrétienne). (Travaux de la Maison de l'Orient et de la Mediterranée, 42). Lyon: Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée; J. Pouilloux. |
| Farès 2009: 189 | Farès, Saba 2009. Les femmes prêtresses dans les religions arabes préislamiques. Le cas des Liḥyanites. Pages 183-195 in Françoise Briquel-Chatonnet (ed.). Femmes, cultures et sociétés dans les civilisations méditerranéennes et proche-orientales de l'antiquité. (Topoi Orient-Occident. Supplément, 10). Lyon: Maison de l'orient méditerranéen-Jean Pouilloux. |
| Macdonald (in press) | Macdonald, Michael C.A.. Towards a re-assessment of the Ancient North Arabian alphabets used in the oasis of al-ʿUlā. Arabian Epigraphic Notes. |