OCIANA
Online Corpus of the Inscriptions of Ancient North Arabia

Al-Saʿīd 1420/1999: 26–36, no. 3

Siglum
Al-Saʿīd 1420/1999: 26–36, no. 3
Alternative Sigla
Sima 2000: 258–259; D 166
Transliteration
[----] ----h/bn/ʿbdtrg ----/h- mqdr/hn- ʾkbr ---- h- drt/b- mṯb– [r]---- lyw/w bnyw ----{t}h/w ṯlṯ ----l/w bnyw ---- hn- ʾrbʿ ----rzʾ----
Translation
[----] ----h son of ʿbdtrg ---- the greatest power ---- the chamber in the {tomb} ---- lyw and they built ----{t}h and three ----l and they built ---- the sanctuary ----rzʾ----

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus
TEXT Line 1. Al-Saʿīd followed by Farès-Drappeau: ʿbdtrm for ʿbdtrg. Line 4. Al-Saʿīd followed by Sima and Farès-Drappeau: ----lyw for [r]----lyw. Line 7. Sima: {ṯ}nʾrbʿ for hn- ʾrbʿ. Line 8. Farès-Drappeau: ----rḏʾ for ----rzʾ----. TRANSLATION Line 2. mqdr, Al-Saʿīd: a word related to the building'; Sima: 'the big dimensions'. Line 3. h- drt, Al-Saʿīd: 'the plateau'; mṯb, Al-Saʿīd: place name; Sima does not translate this word. Farès-Drappeau does not translate this inscription.
Commentary
Only the copy is available. Line 2. h- mqdr is also attested in JSLih 054. We have interpreted it in the light of Arabic maqdar or muqaddar both of which mean "possessing power, ability" (Lane 2596 a–c). We would interpret drt on the basis of Arabic dārah, meaning "any space that is surrounded or confined by a thing" (Lane 931c), in this case "a tomb-chamber", as is made clear by the word mṯb[r] which follows it (see Jaussen & Savignac 1909–1922: ii, 377. For a discussion of the word ʾrbʿ see Nehmé 2003: 23.

Provenance
Al-Ḫuraybah
Original Reading Credit
OCIANA
Original Translation Credit
OCIANA

Technique
Copy only

  • 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 230–231 Plate XXXII
  • 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 377
  • Sima, A. Die lihyanischen Inschriften von al-ʿUḏayb (Saudi-Arabien). (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, 1). Rahden/Westf.: Leidorf, 1999. pp 258–259
  • 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.
  • Sima, A. Neue Beiträge zur lihyanischen Epigraphik I. Arabian archaeology and epigraphy 11, 2000: 252-260.
  • Nehmé, L. Rbʿt et ʾrbʿnʾ en nabatéen: essai de clarification. Journal of Semitic Studies 48, 2003: 1-28.
  • Al-Saʿīd, S.F. Nuqūš liḥyāniyyah ġayr manšūrah min al-matḥaf al-waṭanī al-ǝiyāḍ — al-mamlakah al-ʿarabiyyah al-Saʿūdiyyah. (Našrah baḥṯiyyah, 14). Al-Riyadh: ǧāmiʿat al-malik saʿūd, 1420/1999.
Site
The oasis of al-ʿUlā, Al-Madīnah Province, Saudi Arabia
Current Location
In situ
Subjects
Building, Funerary, Structure
Script
Dadanitic
Old OCIANA ID
#0036434
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