ʿAlaqān Tham 1

Text Information

Siglum
ʿAlaqān Tham 1
Transliteration
ʾn klbw bn ks¹yr
Tokunaga & Altarib 2024
Translation
I am Klbw son of Ks¹yr
Tokunaga & Altarib 2024
Language and Script
Thamudic D

Interpretation

Commentary

This text confirms the identification of the trident glyph 🝑 as having the phonemic value /k/ rather than /ḥ/ as previously assumed (Al-Jallad 2025). The inscription forms a bilingual text with ʿAlaqān NabAr 1; it was re-used as the headstone of a modern grave in the ʿAlaqān cemetery. Its original provenance is unknown and is now housed at the Tabūk Museum (Tokunaga & Altarib 2024).

Editio Princeps
Tokunaga & Altarib 2024

Technique
Carved
Direction of Script
Right to left

Associated Inscriptions

  • [ʿAlaqān Tham] Thamudic inscriptions documented in the survey of the Saudi Heritage Commission in July 2023 in the ʿAlaqān cemetery
  • Al-Jallad, A. Towards the decipherment of Thamudic D: an identification of new phoneme-glyph values and letter shapes. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 2025: 1–29
  • Tokunaga, R. & Altarib, A. A Pre-Islamic Bilingual Inscription of ʿAlaqān, Northwest Saudi Arabia. A poster presented at The 57th Seminar for Arabian Studies Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art, Paris June 27-29, 2024: https://www.academia.edu/121611333/A_Pre_Islamic_Bilingual_Inscription_of_%CA%BFAlaq%C4%81n_Northwest_Saudi_Arabia
Site
ʿAlaqān, Tabūk Province, Saudi Arabia
Date Found
June 2023
Current Location
Tabūk Museum
Subjects
Bilingual, Genealogy
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Updated 16 Jan, 2025 by Ahmad Al-Jallad