U.T.002

Siglum: U.T.002
Alternative Sigla: Abu Duruk & Murad 1986: 30, pl. 47; Abu Duruk 1986: 168, fig. 31; Al-Sanānī 1430/2009: pl. 41
Transliteration: ----
Translation: ----

Interpretation

Commentary: Illegible. A rectangular stone incense burner with two-line Taymanitic inscriptions carved in a vertical axis on the two sides visible in Abu Duruk and Murad’s photograph (1986: 30, pl. 47) which show it in situ next to a pillar (TM.T.020). It was found in Square O1 of Qaṣr Hamrā during the 1985 excavations. Unfortunately, the photographs are not clear enough to permit a reading of the texts and the ‘facsimile’ of ‘Inscription no. 1’ (in Abu-Duruk 1986: 168, fig 31, and see p. 67) is so bad as to b e of little help. Abu Duruk and Murad claim that the same text is carved on both faces and that it can be translated ‘god of the gods or goddess of the gods’ (1986: 30), but this cannot be confirmed. At the top of one face, there is a short vertical line with a crescent below it. The altar also appears in a photograph of the trench by William Facey on his visit to Taymāʾ in 1985, but it does not seem to be in the Taymāʾ Museum collection now.

Provenance: Square O1 of Qaṣr Ḥamrā during the Saudi excavations of 1985. Its present whereabouts are unknown, possibly in the National Museum, Riyāḍ

Abu-Duruk, H.I. Introduction to the Archaeology of Taymāʾ. Thesis presented for the degreee of Doctor of Philosophy at the Department of Semitic Studies, University of Leeds 1981, entitled "A Critical and Comparative Discussion of Certain Ancient Monuments (part of the city wall, Qasr ar-Radm, and Qasr al Hamrāʾ). Riyadh: Department of Antiquities and Museums, 1986.
Abu-Duruk, H.I. & Murad, A. Preliminary Report on Qasr Al-Hamra Excavations, Tayma, Third Season 1405/1985. Atlal 10, 1986: 29-35, pls 29-56.
Al-Sanānī, R.ʿA.A. Taymāʾ taḥt al-malik al-kaldānī fī ʿaṣr al-malik nābonīd. Risālah muqaddimah ilā qism al-tārīḫ li-istikmāl mutaṭallabāt al-ḥuṣūl ʿalā daraǧat al-duktūrāh fī ʾl-tārīḫ al-qadīm. Al-Madīnah al-munawwarah: [no publisher], 1430/2009.
Macdonald, M.C.A. & Al-Naǧem [Al-Najem], M. Catalogue of the Inscriptions in the Taymāʾ Museum and other collections, with contributions from F. Imbert, J. Norris & P. Stein. Oxford, 2023