M 369 JSMin 148; RES 3809
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Minaic » Marginal Minaic | ||
| Alphabet | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Writing technique | Incision | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Abecedary |
TEXT
1 h-(l)-ḥ-m-q-(w)-s²-(g)-(b)-t-s¹-(b)-[... ...]
2 h-(l)-ḥ-m-q-w-s²-(ʿ)-(b)-t-s¹-(s¹)-ḫ
3 f-ʾ-ʿ-ḍ-g-d-(b)-ṭ-(s²)
4 ḏ-y-ṯ-ṣ
| Above the inscription, Jaussen and Savignac read three letters: qs¹s¹. | |
| 1-2 | the g is probably an error of writing for r (or it is simply an error in the letters' sequence, as the corresponding ʿ in l.2); it is unsure whether the following sign in both lines has to be interpreted as b or ġ (the sign above the letter in l.1, which was interpreted as an added l by the editors, could be instead an oblique trait of the ġ). The letter following the s¹, which resembles a b or s¹, should be a k. The following, in l.1, could be a dextrograde n. |
| 3 | the last sign, which seems a dextrograde s², is probably to be interpreted as a z. |
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 |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
This text is one of the few alphabetic South Arabian lists. It is almost complete, although with some errors and a "false start". It was recognized as a list of letters only at the end of the 1970s by Ghul (Beeston 1979 a: 87-88). For further information on the South Arabian alphabetic order, see Ryckmans, Jacques 1985.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Jaussen and Savignac 1914: 341-342, pl. CXXVI/148 (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. |
| Ryckmans, Jacques 1985: 343-359, fig. 1 (facsimile) | Ryckmans, Jacques 1985. L'ordre alphabétique sud-sémitique et ses origines. Pages 343-359 in Christian J. Robin (ed.). Mélanges linguistiques offerts à Maxime Rodinson par ses élèves, ses collègues et ses amis. (Comptes rendus du Groupe linguistique d'études chamito-sémitiques. Supplément, 12). Paris: Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner. |
| Beeston 1979 a | Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1979. South Arabian alphabetic letter order. Raydān, 2: 87-88. |