U 021

Siglum
U 021
Alternative Sigla
D 095, AH 042, Al-Qudrah 1993: 15, no. 2, Déroche 1987: 120–121, Drewes 1983: 428, no. 16, Stiehl A 02, van den Branden 1969: 77-78, no. 39/1–5, Altheim & Stiehl 1968: 31, P/1–5
Transliteration
ʿf / bn / ʿ{y}ḏh / ʾ-
ẓll / h- ẓll / nḏr
bʿd / d{ṯ}ʾ -h / w nfs¹
-h / f rḍ -h / w ʾṯb
-h / w s¹ʿd -h / w ʾṯb -h
OCIANA
Translation
By -h son of ʿf son of {ʿyḏh} per-
formed the ẓll-ceremony [in fulfilment of] a vow
for the sake of his {crops of the later rains} and himself
and so favour him and reward him
and help him and reward him
OCIANA
Language and Script
Dadanitic

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus
TEXT Line 1. Stiehl, followed by Abū l-Ḥasan, Déroche, and Farès-Drappeau: ʿm rather than ʿf. Lines 1–2. Drewes followed by Abū l-Ḥasan: ʾṭll h- ṭll rather than ʾẓll h- ẓll. Line 3. Altheim and Stiehl, followed by van den Branden: dḫn -h for dṯʾ -h; Altheim and Stiehl: nf[y----w----] for nfs¹; van den Branden: nf[y----] for nfs¹. Line 4. Altheim and Stiehl, followed by van den Branden read h bnwh w ʾṯb[t -h wrḍy] rather than h/f rḍ -h/w ʾṯb. The inscription is contained within a shallow recess and it is clear that nothing has been lost on the right or the left. It is therefore difficult to explain the assumption by Altheim and Stiehl, followed by van den Branden, that there is a lacuna of between three to six letters at the end of each line. Their restorations are therefore inappropriate. Altheim and Stiehl, followed by van den Branden, also read U 022 as a continuation of this text. However, U 022 is by a priestess and it is difficult to see what connection it could have with the present text. TRANSLATION Line 2. ʾẓll h- ẓll, Altheim and Stiehl: '(he) constructed the awning'; van den Branden: '(he) repaired the cistern'; Stiehl: '(he) took care of the awning'; Déroche: '(he) constructed a subterranean water-channel as an offering'; Al-Qudrah: '(he) constructed the awning'; Sima: '(he) covered the subterranean water-channel'; Farès-Drappeau: '(he) offered the sacrifice [of the female camel]'. Lines 2–3. nḏr bʿd d{ṯ}ʾ -h w nfs¹, Altheim and Stiehl: 'as a vow for Dḫn and Nfs¹'; van den Branden: 'as a vow, then he filled (it) with smoke and poured ----'; Stiehl: 'and dedicated (it) for the sake of his spring crops and for the sake of his property'; Déroche: 'with the income of his spring harvest and of himself'; Al-Qudrah followed by Abū l-Ḥasan: 'as a vow for the sake of the spring harvest and for the sake of himself'; Sima: 'according to a vow in the direction of his spring field and his irrigated field'; Farès-Drappeau: 'in expiation on behalf of his abundant harvest and on behalf of himself'. DISCUSSION Macdonald 1992: 2–3, 7 for dṯʾ. Macdonald (in press): 10–11, 12–13, 23–24, note 32.
Commentary
Line 2. For the translation of nḏr as an adverbial accusative ‘in fulfilment of a vow’, see Sima 1999: 99. Line 5. It is not clear why ʾṯb -h has been repeated. The final h, is carved beyond the shallow recess containing the inscription and intrudes on line 4 of U 025.

Editio Princeps
OCIANA

Technique
In relief
Direction of Script
Horizontal line right to left

Associated Inscriptions
It is below U 017, to the right of U 025, to the left of U 018 and above U 022

  • [AH] Abū ʾl-Ḥasan, Ḥ.ʿA.D. Qirāʾah li-kitābāt liḥyāniyyah min ǧabal ʿakmah bi-minṭaqat al-ʿulā. Al-Riyāḍ: Maktabat al-malik fahd al-waṭaniyyah, 1997. pp 141–144 Plate 6
  • 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.
  • Altheim, F. & Stiehl, R. Die Araber in der Alten Welt. (5 volumes). Berlin: de Gruyter, 1964-1969.
  • Déroche, F. Recherches sur l'oasis de Dedan / al-Ula. Thèse de Doctorat: Études arabo-islamiques, Paris IV, 1987. [Unpublished], 1987.
  • Drewes, A.J. Liḥyanitische Inscripties. Pages 424-429 in K.R. Veenhof (ed.), Schrijvend Verleden. Documenten uit het Oude Nabije Oosten vertaald en toegelicht. Leiden: Ex Oriente Lux / Zutphen: Terra, 1983.
  • [D] 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 192 Plate XXIV
  • [MST] Macdonald, M.C.A. The Seasons and Transhumance in the Safaitic Inscriptions. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland 3rd. series, 2, 1992: 1-11.
  • Macdonald, M.C.A. Towards a reassessment of the Ancient North Arabian alphabets used in the oasis of al-ʿUlā. Pages 1–19 in M.C.A. Macdonald (ed.), Languages, scripts and their uses in ancient North Arabia. (Supplement to volume 48 of the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies). Oxford: Archaeopress, 2018.
  • [U] Sima, A. Die lihyanischen Inschriften von al-ʿUḏayb (Saudi-Arabien). (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, 1). Rahden/Westf.: Leidorf, 1999. pp 11 Plate 5a
  • [Stiehl A] Stiehl, R. Neue liḥyānische Inschriften aus al-ʿUḏaib I mit einem Nachtrag M. Höfners. Pages 3-40, 565-566, 569-594, pl. 1-45 in F. Altheim and R. Stiehl (eds), Christentum am Roten Meer. 1. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1971. pp 4, 11–12 Plate 11
  • Van den Branden, A. Les inscriptions liḥyanites de R. Stiehl. Al-Machriq 63, 1969: 67-79.
Site
The oasis of al-ʿUlā, Al-Madīnah Province, Saudi Arabia
Current Location
In situ
Subjects
Agriculture, Genealogy, Isolated Prayer, Religion, Season
Old OCIANA ID
#0037683
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Updated 08 Jan, 2025 by OCIANA