U 013

Siglum
U 013
Alternative Sigla
D 121, AH 027, Al-Qudrah 1993: 23, no. 28, Stiehl A 28
Transliteration
ʾmtrfʿ / bnt
rbḥ / ʾẓlt
h- ẓlt / b- khl / l- ḏġ-
bt / bʿd / ṯbrt -h / {b-}
ḏʾḏn / f rḍ -h / w ʾḫ[r][t] [-h]
OCIANA
Translation
By / son of ʾmrtfʿ daughter of
Rbḥ performed
the ẓll-ceremonies at Khl for Ḏġ-
bt for the sake of her grain {in}
Ḏʾḏn and so favour her and {her} {posterity}
OCIANA
Language and Script
Dadanitic

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus
TEXT Line 1. Stiehl, followed by Al-Qudrah, does not read the second part of the woman's name; Sima: ʾmtrbʿ rather than ʾmtrfʿ; Farès-Drappeau: ʾmtrbʿ rather than ʾmtrfʿin her reading, but ʾmtrfʿ in the translation. Lines 2-3. Abū l-Ḥasan: ʾṭlt h- ṭlt for ʾẓlt h- ẓlt. TRANSLATION Lines 2–3. ʾẓlt h- ẓlt, '(she) took care of the awning'; Al-Qudrah: '(she) constructed the awning'; Sima: '(she) covered the subterranean water-channels'; Farès-Drappeau: '(she) offered the sacrifice'. Line 3. b- khl, Stiehl: followed by Sima: 'by her abilities'; Al-Qudrah: 'professionally'; Abū l-Ḥasan: 'in the month Khl'. Line 4. ṯbrt -h, Stiehl, followed by al-Qudra: 'her property'; Abū l-Ḥasan: 'her agricultural field'; bʿd ṯbrt -h, Sima: 'in the direction of her fallow field'; Farès-Drappeau: 'on behalf of her cereal harvest'. Line 5. ʾḫrt -h, Farès-Drappeau: 'he has guided her'. DISCUSSION Déroche 1987: 104, 239. Hidalgo-Chacón Díez 2014: 18–19, 20–22, for the place names Ḏʾḏn and Khl. Macdonald 2004: 504.
Commentary
The inscription is in relief. Line 3. It has been suggested that ẓlt is a plural of ẓll, but this is not certain. See Sima 1999: 95. Line 4–5. On Abū l-Ḥasan's copy the b at the end of line 4 and the r of ʾḫr[th] are shown. Line 4. We follow Farès-Drappeau in taking ṯbrt as a possible cognate of Hebrew šeber "grain". Although this is by no means certain it fits the context well. See also the discussion in Sima 1999: 104.

Editio Princeps
Sima 1999: 9

Technique
In relief
Direction of Script
Horizontal line right to left

Associated Inscriptions
It is below U 011, to the left of U 01 2 and above u 014

  • [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 111–113 Plate 4
  • Al-Qudrah, Ḥ.M. Dirāsah muʿǧamiyyah li-ʾalfāẓ al-nuqūš al-liḥyāniyyah fī ʾiṭār 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 Unpublished MA Thesis, Epigraphy Section, Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, Yarmouk University, Irbid. 1993.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.
  • [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 206
  • Hidalgo-Chacón Díez, M. del C. Place names in the Dadanitic inscriptions of al-ʿUḏayb. Adumatu 30, 2014: 15-30
  • Macdonald, M.C.A. Ancient North Arabian. Pages 488-533 in R.D. Woodard (ed.), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
  • [U] Sima, A. Die lihyanischen Inschriften von al-ʿUḏayb (Saudi-Arabien). (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, 1). Rahden/Westf.: Leidorf, 1999. p 9
  • [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, 29 Plate 31
Site
The oasis of al-ʿUlā, Al-Madīnah Province, Saudi Arabia
Current Location
In situ
Subjects
Agriculture, Deity, Genealogy, Isolated Prayer, Place-name, Women
Old OCIANA ID
#0037691
Download Images
Updated 08 Jan, 2025 by OCIANA

Cite this Site

OCIANA. 'U 013.' OCIANA. 08 Jan, 2025. https://ociana.osu.edu/inscriptions/15177. Accessed: 17 Jun, 2025.