KPR_MV_Dad 1
Text Information
- Siglum
- KPR_MV_Dad 1
- Alternative Sigla
- DDN_S_00250_001
- Transliteration
-
whblh / bn / zdqny / w ʾmtlh
bn / lṯmh / w gdm / bn / hẓll / w s¹ʿdʾl
bn / zds²bʿn / qymy / nʿm / ḏġbt / bnyw
w / ḥdṯw / qds¹t w bnyw / bt / ḏs²rh / w bt / wd
w h- mḥrh w ʾfs¹w / mṯb / w rṣ{f} / h- mqdr / l- h- ḥḍ[r]
w s²ryw / ʾ[r]bʿ / ʾqdr / l- h- ḥḍr / w s²ryw / ml / s¹m{r}h
bʿ / {k\s¹}b / rʾy / w bnyw / l- ḏmʿlh / hn- ʾrbʿwn / f- rḍ -hm
ḏġbt / w ḫzn -hm {s¹}{l}{m}{n}{h}th / ḏġbt / w ʿmrlh
mdʿh / s¹nt / ʿs²rn / w ṯtn / b- rʾy / h- nʿy
l- tlmy / bn / hnʾs¹ / mlk l=
ḥyn / w mn / nʿm ḏġ-
bt / h- rzʾ / kll -h /
ʿbny / s¹lḥ / ḏ{ġ}b{t}
h- m{f}ʿl h- {r}{z}[ʾ]Fokelien Kootstra-Ford - Translation
-
Whblh son of Zdqny and ʾmtlh son of Lṯmh and Gdm son of Hẓll and S¹ʿdʾl son of Zds²bʿn, custodians of the property of Ḏġbt, built and renovated [the] sanctuary, and they constructed the temple of Ḏs²rh and the temple of Wd and the incense burner, and they expanded the platform and pavement of the mqdr for the courtyard (?), and they bought (?) {four} ʾqdr for the courtyard (?), and they bought (?) {the property of} s¹m{r}h {which he sold} {kb rʾy}, and they built for Ḏmʿlh the sanctuaries; so may Ḏġbt favour them and may he preserve them … Ḏġbt and ʿmrlh mdʿh. Year twenty-two during the rʾy of h-nʿy of [the reign of] tlmy son of hnʾs¹ king of Liḥyān. And all the expenses were covered by the property of Ḏġbt. ʿbny priest of Ḏġbt ([is] the maker of the expense)?
Fokelien Kootstra-Ford
- Language and Script
- Dadanitic
Interpretation
- Commentary
-
This is a building inscription by four custodians (qymy, interpreted as a broken plural faʿālay, /qiyāmay/) of the property (nʿm) of Ḏūġābat. They record building and renovating the sanctuary (qds¹t, treated as a proper noun), temples of Ḏūšarā (spelled ḏs²rh, final -ā) and of the Minaean god Wadd, an incense burner (mḥrh; cf. mḥrw, mḥry), a platform (mṯb) and pavement (rṣf) of the mqdr, and sanctuaries (hn-ʾrbʿwn, dual or plural) for the mountain deity ḏmʿlh (elsewhere ḏmʿly, “the one of the heights / the most high”).
The blessing invokes only ḏġbt.
The dating formula b-rʾy h-nʿy names king Tlmy son of Hnʾs¹. The final clause states that the whole expense (rzʾ, cf. Sabaic rzʾ) came from the property of Ḏġbt.
Dating: The mention of Ḏūšarā and Wadd under a Lihyanite king, and a probable synchronism with JSLih 077 (Whblh son of Zdqny, radiocarbon-dated 171–106 cal BC), point to the second half of the 2nd century BC (range mid-2nd century BC to 20/19 BC).
OCIANA
- Editio Princeps
- Kootstra-Ford et al. 2026
- Field Collector
- Dadan Archaeological Project (DAP) survey team
- Technique
- Relief
- Direction of Script
- Right to left
- Associated Inscriptions
- [KPR_MV_Dad] Kootstra-Ford, F., Pinot, J. & Rohmer, J. Up on the mountain, down in the valley: New clues to the spatial and social organization of religion at ancient Dadan, and to the political-economic context of the late Lihyanite period. Pages 195-219 in J.M. Tebes & M.C.A. Macdonald (eds), Crossing Sacred Landscapes: Contacts and Continuities in the Desert Cults and Beliefs of Ancient Northern Arabia and the Arid Southern Levant. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2026.
- Site
- Jabal al-Khuraybah, Al-Madīnah Province, Saudi Arabia
- Date Found
- March 2020
- Current Location
- In situ
- Subjects
- Genealogy, Building, Religion, Date (s¹nt), Deity, Prayer, Time