AH 236

Siglum
AH 236
Transliteration
----nh / ʾl ---- bnwd ---- [h-] nq / w {h}- ġn ----hm / w {ʾ}{ẓ}l ---- h- mṣd / ----ġ ---- [ʾ]ḫrt -h ---- [s¹]ʿd ----w---- ----{b}n / b----ʾb / ml ----ḥ / b----tm / ḏ ʿbḍḍ ---- [ʿ][r][r][ / ]ḏġbt / ʿrr / h- s¹fr / ḏh
OCIANA
Translation
----nh ʾl ---- Bnwd ---- of the top of the mountain and {the} ġn ---- hm and {performed} ---- on the top of the red mountain and ----ġ ---- {posterity} ---- {s¹ʿd} ----w---- ---- {son of} B----ʾb ml ----ḥ b----tm of the lineage of ʿbḍḍ ---- may Ḏġbt {dishonour} the dishonourer of this inscription
OCIANA
Language and Script
Dadanitic

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus
TEXT Line 1. Abū l-Ḥasan: s¹l for ʾl. Line 4. Abū l-Ḥasan: {ʾ}{ṭ}l for {ʾ}{ẓ}l. Line 5. Abū l-Ḥasan: [l- ḏ]ġ rather than ----ġ. Line 6. Abū l-Ḥasan: [bt f rḍ -hm w ʾ] at the beginning of this line. Line 7. Abū l-Ḥasan: [hm] at the beginning of this line. Line 9. Abū l-Ḥasan: bntm for b----tm. Line 10. Abū l-Ḥasan: ---- ḏġbt for ---- [ʿ][r][r][/]ḏġbt. TRANSLATION Line 3. [h-] nq w {h}- ġn, Abū l-Ḥasan: 'the female camels and one hundred of the cattle'. DISCUSSION Hidalgo-Chacón Díez 2016: 128, for the divine name Ḏġbt.
Commentary
The inscription is very damaged. It is broken on the right side and at the top. Several letters of lines 2–9 cannot be read clearly. Given that all the inscriptions mentioning h-nq are located on the way up Jabal ʿIkmah or at the top of Jabal Umm Daraǧ, this interpretation 'the top of the mountain' (see Lisān under NYQ: nīq "The highest point on the mountain", "one of the summits of the mountain", "the nīq is the highest of the mountains") seems appropriate and it seems unlikely that nq in these cases would refer to female camels (nūq), as suggested by Abū l-Ḥasan. Indeed, his translation raises the question of how one would have got the female camels, let alone the 'one hundred cattle', to the top of Jabal Umm Daraǧ. 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.

Editio Princeps
OCIANA

Technique
In relief
Direction of Script
Horizontal line right to left

  • [AH] Abū ʾl-Ḥasan, Ḥ.ʿA.D. Nuqūš liḥyānīyah min minṭaqat al-ʿulā. (Dirāsah taḥlīliyyah muqāranah). al-Riyāḍ: Wizārat al-maʿārif, 2002. pp 138–142
  • 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
  • [Lane] 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.
Site
The oasis of al-ʿUlā, Al-Madīnah Province, Saudi Arabia
Current Location
In situ
Subjects
Curse, Deity, Genealogy, Isolated Prayer, Lineage, Religion, Topographic features
Old OCIANA ID
#0033243
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Updated 08 Jan, 2025 by OCIANA