JSLih 269

Siglum
JSLih 269
Alternative Sigla
Scagliarini 1994: 331–334, no. 43, Al-Qudrah 1993: 32, no. 76, Jamme 1974: 116–117, note p, van den Branden 1962: 347–368, Grimme 1937: 307
Transliteration
wʾlʾlt
mʿn
ʿrr / b----l
ʿrr / h- nḥs¹
ḏh
OCIANA
Translation
Wʾlʾlt
Mʿn
may B----l dishonour
the dishonourer of this brass [object]
OCIANA
Language and Script
Dadanitic

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus
TEXT Line 1. Al-Qudrah: wʾlt rather than wʾlʾlt. Line 2: Grimme: m----n for mʿn; Jamme: m[gs¹] f for mʿn; Scagliarini: m---- rather than mʿn. Line 3. Grimme followed by Jamme and Al-Qudrah: ḏġbt rather than b----l; Van den Branden: Bbl rather than b----l; Scagliarini: ----ġ---- for b----l. Line 4. Jamme: hnṣ for nḥs¹. TRANSLATION Lines 3–5: Jaussen & Savignac: personal names; van den Branden: '(he) has harassed Babylon, has harassed this calamity'; Jamme: '(the god) revile the reviler of this mark'. Line 4: nḥs¹, Grimme: 'snake', considering it as a symbol of a god; Al-Qudrah: 'amulet, talisman'; Scagliarini does not translate this word, but she considers it refers to the 'inscription' or something related to it. DISCUSSION Déroche 1987: 104. Macdonald 2000: 70, note 92.
Commentary
Line 1. The form of the letter ʾ is Minaic but all the letters have their Dadanitic forms. Line 2. The translation of Mʿn as Maʿīn is based on the Minaic style of the letters. It may be thought that the carver of the inscription was a Minaean. The personal name Mʿn occurs in AH 289 and AH 300. Line 4. The word nḥs¹ could be compared with Arabic nuḥās 'copper, brass' (Lane 1863-1893: 2775b). Arabic nuḥās can also mean 'fire' and 'smoke' and so there may be the inclination that the nḥs¹ was an object associated with religious ritual.

Editio Princeps
OCIANA

Technique
Copy only
Direction of Script
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  • Al-Qudrah, Ḥ.M. Dirāsah muʿǧamiyyah li-ʾlfāẓ al-nuqūš al-liḥyāniyyah fī iṭār al-luġāt al-sāmiyyah al-ǧanūbiyyah. Unpublished MA Thesis, Epigraphy Section, Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, Yarmouk University, Irbid. 1993.
  • Déroche, F. Recherches sur l'oasis de Dedan / al-Ula. Thèse de Doctorat: Études arabo-islamiques, Paris IV, 1987. [Unpublished], 1987.
  • Grimme, H. Neubearbeitung der Wichtigeren Dedanischen und Liḥjanischen Inschriften. Le Muséon 50, 1937: 269-322.
  • [JaL] Jamme, A. Miscellanées d'ancient arabe VII. Washington, DC: [privately produced], 1974. pp 116–117, note p
  • [JSTham] Jaussen, A. & Savignac, M.R. Mission archéologique en Arabie. I. (Mars-Mai 1907) De Jérusalem au Hedjaz, Médain Saleh. II. El-ʿEla, d'Hégra à Teima Harrah de Tebouk. Texte et Atlas. III. Les châteaux arabes de Quṣeir ʿAmra, Ḫarâneh, et Tûba. (5 volumes). (Publications de la Société Française des Fouilles Archéologiques, 2). [Reprinted Cairo: Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, 1997]. Paris: Leroux/Geuthner, 1909–1920. Vol. II pp 502 Plate CXXXV
  • [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.
  • Macdonald, M.C.A. Reflections on the linguistic map of pre-Islamic Arabia. Arabian archaeology and epigraphy 11, 2000: 28-79. [Reprinted with the same pagination, plus addenda and corrigenda, as Article III in Macdonald, M.C.A., Literacy and Identity in Pre-Islamic Arabia. (Variorum Collected Studies, 906). Farnham: Ashgate, 2009.]
  • [NAU] Scagliarini, F. Le iscrizioni liḥyānitiche dell'Oasi di al-ʿUlā. Dottorato di ricerca in semitistica: linguistica semitica, Universita' degli studi di Firenze, anni accademici 1992-1994 . [unpublished thesis]. 1994. No. 43 pp 331–334 Plate XXXV
  • Van den Branden, A. Liḥ. JSA. 269 et la chronologie liḥyanite. Al-Machriq 56, 1962: 347-368.
Site
The oasis of al-ʿUlā, Al-Madīnah Province, Saudi Arabia
Date Found
1909–1910
Current Location
In situ
Subjects
Curse, Deity, Religion, Structure
Old OCIANA ID
#0035125
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Updated 08 Jan, 2025 by OCIANA