AH 081

Siglum
AH 081
Alternative Sigla
Sima 1999: 41
Transliteration
ʿyḏh / w ʾmth{n}ʾktb / bnt / qn-
y / w ʾm -hm / s²nʾh / w bʿlhzd / nm----
h / w bn[t] -h / ʾmtyṯʿn / ʾẓlw / b- kh-
l / ẓll / h- nq / l- ḏġbt / f rḍy
-hm / w ʾḫrt -hm / w s¹ʿ{d} -h{m} / s¹nt
ʿs²r / w {ṯ}tn ----ʿ----bhnʾ---- t[l]my
bn ---- mlk / lḥyn
OCIANA
Translation
By / son of / ʿyḏh and {ʾmthnʾktb} daughters of Qn-
y and their mother S²nʾh and Bʿlhzd Nm----
h and his {daughter} ʾmtyṯʿn performed at Kh-
l the ẓll-ceremony on the top of the mountain for Ḏġbt and so may he favour
them and their posterity and {help} {them} in the year
{twelve} ----ʿ----bhnʾ---- {Tlmy}
bn ---- king of Lḥyn
OCIANA
Language and Script
Dadanitic

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus
TEXT Line 1. Abū l-Ḥasan: ʾmth ʾktb for ʾmth{n}ʾktb. Lines 1–2. Abū l-Ḥasan followed by Sima: qn---- rather than qny. Line 2. Abū l-Ḥasan: nm[r] for nm----; Sima: nm[l] rather than nm----. Line 3. Abū l-Ḥasan: bn -h for bnt -h and ʾṭl[w] for ʾẓlw. Line 6. Abū l-Ḥasan: w [s¹] t ---- bhnʾ[s¹]t rather than {ṯ}tn----ʿ----bhnʾ----t; Sima: w [l]t[l]ʿ[l]bhnʾ[l]t for {ṯ}tn----ʿ----bhnʾ----t. Line 7. Abū l-Ḥasan: bn[hnʾs¹] rather than bn----. TRANSLATION Line 2. Sima: 'Bʿlhzd of the family of Nm[l]'. Lines 3–4. ʾẓlw ẓll, Sima: '(they) covered (the subterranean water-channel)'. Lines 3–4. b- khl, Abū l-Ḥasan: 'in the month Khl'; Sima: 'by their abilities'. Line 4. h- nq, Abū l-Ḥasan: 'the females camels'; Sima does not translate this expression. DISCUSSION Hidalgo-Chacón Díez 2014: 20–22, for the place name Khl. Hidalgo-Chacón Díez 2016: 128, for the divine name Ḏġbt.
Commentary
Line 2: Since personal names beginning with bʿl are usually borne by men hence we have translated the clitic pronoun on bn[t]-h as "his". Line 4: Since personal names formed with ʾmt (maid-servant) are usually borne by women, we have restored a [t] after bn. There are, however, a few rare instances of names formed with ʾmt- being apparently born by men (see Al-Najem & Macdonald 2015, TM.IA.021/2–3, TM.IA.026/2), and so this restoration may not be correct. ẓl[l] h- nq literally "the ẓll-ceremony of the mountain top" could either mean "the ẓll-ceremony performed on the mountain top" (as we have translated it) or "the ẓll-ceremony of the mountain top" implying that there was a special form of the ceremony for performance on the mountain top. 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 ('on the top of the mountain') seems appropriate and it seems unlikely that nq in these cases would refer to female camels (nūq), as suggested by Abū l-Ḥasan. Line 7. The end of this line cannot be read on the photograph and so we have relied on Abū l-Ḥasan's copy (1997: 469, pl. 11).

Editio Princeps
OCIANA

Technique
Incised
Direction of Script
Horizontal line right to left

Associated Inscriptions
It is to the right of AH 080 and to the left of AH 091

  • [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 221–224 Plate 11
  • Hidalgo-Chacón Díez, M. del C. Place names in the Dadanitic inscriptions of al-ʿUḏayb. Adumatu 30, 2014: 15-30
  • 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
  • [U] Sima, A. Die lihyanischen Inschriften von al-ʿUḏayb (Saudi-Arabien). (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, 1). Rahden/Westf.: Leidorf, 1999. pp 41
Site
Al-ʿUlā, Al-Madīnah Province, Saudi Arabia
Current Location
In situ
Subjects
Date (s¹nt), Deity, Genealogy, Isolated Prayer, Place-name, Relatives, Religion, Women
Old OCIANA ID
#0037757
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Updated 08 Jan, 2025 by OCIANA

Cite this Site

OCIANA,. 'AH 081.' OCIANA. 08 Jan, 2025. https://ociana.osu.edu/inscriptions/15241. Accessed: 06 Feb, 2026.