OCIANA
Online Corpus of the Inscriptions of Ancient North Arabia

AH 217

Text Information

Siglum
AH 217
Alternative Sigla
D 164
Transliteration
wʾl/w s²nʾh ---- {ʾ}ktb/w ʾm -h ---- bd/ḥggw/h---- l- ḫrg/ymn ---- [b-] [h-] mṣd/f rḍ---- m/w hʾ/h ---- ḏġbt/---- m/ʾ{q}{d} ---- ----
Translation
Wʾl and S²nʾh ---- {ʾktb} and his/her mother ---- bd performed the pilgrimage ---- for Ḫrg {for} two days ---- {on} {the} high [red] mountain and so favour ---- m and he ---- Ḏġbt ---- m ʾ{q}{d} ---- [----]

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus
TEXT Lines 1–2. Abū l-Ḥasan: [h- n]ktb rather than {ʾ}ktb. Line 2. Abū l-Ḥasan: ʾm -h[m] ---- rather than ʾm -h ----. Line 4. Farès-Drappeau does not read ----[b-] [h-] at the end of this line. Line 5. Abū l-Ḥasan: [hm w s¹ʿd -h] at the end of this line; Farès-Drappeau: f rḍ---- rather than f rḍh----. Line 6. Abū l-Ḥasan: hnʾ for hʾ/. He reads h- [ṭ]ll ---- l at the end of this line. Line 8. Abū l-Ḥasan: n ʾqd---- for m ʾ{q}{d}----; Farès-Drappeau ʾqm for ʾ{q}{d}. TRANSLATION Line 3. ḥggw, Farès-Drappeau: '(they) sanctified'. Line 8. Abū l-Ḥasan followed by Farès-Drappeau do not translate this line. DISCUSSION Hidalgo-Chacón Díez 2016: 128, for the divine name Ḏġbt.
Commentary
The inscription is damaged on the left side. The last line is illegible. Line 8. On the photograph both ʾq{d} or ʾk{d} are possible. It is difficult to offer a suitable meaning of the word from the context of the text. In the absence so far of a convincing interpretation, we have left this word untranslated. In Classical Arabic (Lane 1863-1893: 2719b), the word maṣad means, among other things "a mountain top", or "a place of refuge". On the other hand, Abū l-Ḥasan (2002: 36–37) translates is as 'the high red mountain'. According to him, this meaning is consistent with the red colour of the Jabal Umm Daraǧ where the inscription has been found.

Provenance
Jabal Umm Daraǧ
Original Reading Credit
OCIANA
Original Translation Credit
OCIANA

Technique
In relief

  • Abū ʾl-Ḥasan, Ḥ.ʿA.D. Nuqūš liḥyānīyah min minṭaqat al-ʿulā. (Dirāsah taḥlīliyyah muqāranah). al-Riyāḍ: Wizārat al-maʿārif, 2002. pp 85–89
  • Farès-Drappeau, S. Dédan et Liḥyān. Histoire des Arabes aux confins des pouvoirs perse et hellénistique (IVe–IIe s. avant l'ère chrétienne). (Travaux de la maison de l'Orient, 42). Lyon: Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée — Jean Pouilloux, 2005. pp 229–230 Plate XXXII
  • Lane, E.W. An Arabic-English Lexicon, Derived from the Best and Most Copious Eastern Sources. (Volume 1 in 8 parts [all published]). London: Williams & Norgate, 1863-1893.
  • Hidalgo-Chacón Díez. M. del C. The divine names at Dadan: a philological approach. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 46, 2016: 125–136
Site
The oasis of al-ʿUlā, Al-Madīnah Province, Saudi Arabia
Current Location
In situ
Subjects
Deity, Genealogy, Isolated Prayer, Relatives, Religion, Topographic features, Women
Script
Dadanitic
Old OCIANA ID
#0033223
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