OCIANA
Online Corpus of the Inscriptions of Ancient North Arabia

AH 197

Siglum
AH 197
Alternative Sigla
D 160; Hidalgo-Chacón Díez 2009b
Transliteration
zdʾl/w bnwd/w ʾlh---- ʿ/ḏ- ḫ{ṣ}br/w ʾm -hm/ṯbrh/bn[t] ---- ----ms¹/w {n}ẓʿ/w ʾws¹/w zd{l}[h] ---- [s¹]– {ʿ}dʾl/w hnʾhʿzy/bnw/zd---- nwd/ḥggw/h- nq/w hġnyw/b- bt -hm/l- ---- tn/l- ḫrg/w ʾẓlw/b- h- mṣd/ẓll/h- [nq] l- ḏġbt/f rḍy -hm/w ʾḫrt -hm/w s¹ʿd -hm s¹nt/ʿs²r/w ṯlṯ/13/ymn/ḫlf/ṭʿn/ḏ ----l{ʿ}{b}/[t]lmy/bn/[l]ḏ{n}/ml{k}/{l}{ḥ}yn
Translation
Zdʾl and Bnwd and ʾlh---- of the lineage of {Ḫṣbr} and their mother Ṯbrh {daughter of} ---- ----ms¹ and {Nẓʿ} and ʾws¹ and {Zdlh}---- {S¹– ʿdʾl} and Hnʾhʿzy sons of Zd---- nwd performed the pilgrimage of the top of the mountain and provided sufficient in their house ---- tn for [the god] Ḫrg and they performed on the high [red] mountain the ẓll-ceremony of the {top of the mountain} for Ḏġbt. And so may he favour them and their posterity and may he help them year thirteen /13/ two days after the departure of [?] Ḏ ---- l{ʿ}{b} {Tlmy} son of {Lḏn} {king of} {Lḥyn}

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus
TEXT Line 1. Abū l-Ḥasan followed by Farès-Drappeau: ʾbh---- for ʾlh----. Line 2. Abū l-Ḥasan: [ʿbd] at the end of this line. Line 3. Abū l-Ḥasan followed by Farès-Drappeau: s²ms¹ for ----ms¹, zd rather than zd{l}[h] and {w s¹} for [s¹]; Line 4. Abū l-Ḥasan: [ʾl w b] at the end of this line. Line 5. Abū l-Ḥasan: h---- rather than l----; Farès-Drappeau: w ġnyw for w hġnyw and -hmh rather than -hm l----. Line 6. Abū l-Ḥasan: ʾṭlw for ʾẓlw and ẓll rather than ṭll. Line 9. Abū l-Ḥasan: mnʿn for ----l{ʿ}{b}; Farès-Drappeau: mnʿy for ----l{ʿ}{b}. TRANSLATION Line 5. ḥggw h- nq w hġnyw b- bt -hm, Abū l-Ḥasan: '(they) offered these camels and property (a herd of one hundred cattle) in their temple'; Farès-Drappeau: (they) sanctified the she-camel and their cattle in their temple'. Line 6. ʾẓlw b- h- mṣd ẓll h- [nq], Farès-Drappeau: (they) offered [the female camel] in the mountain'. Line 7. ʾḫrt -hm, Farès-Drappeau: 'he has guided them'. Line 8. ḫlf ṭʿn ḏ [mnʿy], Abū l-Ḥasan: 'Ḫlf stabbed to Ḏ[mnʿy]'; Farès-Drappeau: 'after Ḏ[mnʿy] stabbed to'. DISCUSSION Hidalgo-Chacón Díez 2009a: 612. Hidalgo-Chacón Díez 2016: 128, for the divine name Ḏġbt.
Commentary
Line 3. The first letter can not be a s² (cf. the example in line 8). It seems more likely to be an n (cf. the fifth letter of this line). Line 4. Note that in the theophoric name hnʾ-h-ʿzy the definite article is h- rather than the expected hn-. Line 5. Ḥggw h- nq is the equivalent of Arabic ḥajjū al-nīq "they made a pilgrimage to the top of the mountain" (see Lisān s.v. NYQ: nīq "The highest point on the mountain", "one of the summits of the mountain", "the nīq is the highest of the mountains"). This would be most appropriate given the find spot of the text (at the top of Jabal Umm Daraǧ), whereas Abū l-Ḥasan and Farès-Drappeau's interpretation of nq as "female camels(s)" raises the question of how one would have got the she-camels, let alone the 'herd of a hundred cattle', to this place. The verb ḥggw is in the intensive conjugation (faʿʿala, II Form) which is not found in Arabic. Hġnyw must be a verb of the causative stem with the unusual h- preformative rather than the normal ʾ- and in the third person plural of the suffix conjugation. Based on comparison with Arabic, this would mean "and they provided sufficient in their house", possibly referring to sacrifices made in their home as distinct from the public pilgrimage to the mountain top. Alternatively, bt-hm could refer to their [family] temple. Unfortunately the loss of what follows makes it impossible to be sure. Line 6. h- mṣd may be a place name but the meaning, "the high red mountain", seems particularly appropriate here. Of course, the literal meaning may have given rise to a place name. Lines 8-9. Ṭʿn: Following ḫlf the word ṭʿn can only be a noun in construct and, since the next word does not have the definite article, the following word must be a name (or title) consisting of ḏ plus the two lost letters at the beginning of line 9 and the l (ʿ) and b before tlmy, unless the iḍāfah consists of ṭʿn ḏ[..]l(ʿ)b tlmy .... Line 9. This line is incised on the bottom of the stone on the frame which surrounded the inscription. In Classical Arabic (Lane 1863-1893: 2719b), the word maṣad means, among other things "a mountain top", or "a place of refuge". On the other hand, Abū l-Ḥasan (2002: 36–37) translates is as 'the high red mountain'. According to him, this meaning is consistent with the red colour of the Jabal Umm Daraǧ where the inscription has been found.

Provenance
Jabal Umm Daraǧ
Original Reading Credit
OCIANA
Original Translation Credit
OCIANA

Technique
In relief

  • Abū ʾl-Ḥasan, Ḥ.ʿA.D. Nuqūš liḥyānīyah min minṭaqat al-ʿulā. (Dirāsah taḥlīliyyah muqāranah). al-Riyāḍ: Wizārat al-maʿārif, 2002. pp 29–39
  • 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 226–228 Plate XXX
  • 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.
  • Hidalgo-Chacón Díez, M. del C. Neuarbeitung der dadanischen Inschrift Abū l-Ḥasan 197. New Treatment of the Dadanitic Insdription Abū l-Ḥasan 197. Aula Orientalis 27, 2009: 43-56
  • Hidalgo-Chacón Díez, M. del C. [Review of: Abū ʾl-Ḥasan, Ḥ.ʿA.D., Nuqūš liḥyānīya min minṭaqat al-῾Ulā: dirāsa taḥlīlīya muqārana. Al-Riyāḍ: Wizārat al-ma῾ārif wakālat al-wizāra li-l-āṯār wa-ʾl-matāḥif, 1423 h./2002 m]. Journal of Semitic Studies 54, 2009: 611–613
  • 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
Site
The oasis of al-ʿUlā, Al-Madīnah Province, Saudi Arabia
Current Location
In situ
Subjects
Building, Date (s¹nt), Deity, Genealogy, Historical, Isolated Prayer, Lineage, Place-name, Relatives, Religion, Topographic features, Women
Script
Dadanitic
Old OCIANA ID
#0037784
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