Sigla: AH 023; U 042 (lines 3–10)  Script: Dadanitic

----
{}----
/- /----
[] -/- ----
// {-} ----
- /----
[] - –
-[]

Transliteration
1: ʾmtʿ----
2: bnt ʿt{k}----
3: t/h- ẓll/----
4: dṯ[ʾ] -h/b- ṯr----
5: ḏ/nḏr/ʾb {-h} ----
6: l- ḏġbt/ʾ----
7: [f] rḍ -hm w ʾḫ–
8: rt -[h]m

Translation
1: ʾmtʿ----
2: daughter of {ʿtk----}
3: the ẓll-ceremony ----
4: her {crops of the season of the later rains} at Ṯr ----
5: in fulfilment of a vow by {her} father
6: to Ḏġbt ----
7: {and so} favour them and {their}
8: posterity

Apparatus Criticus
TEXT
Line 3. Abū l-Ḥasan: h- ṭll rather than h- ẓll; Sima (his line 5): hẓll{h} (interpreted as a dual verb)
Line 4. Abū l-Ḥasan: dṯh for dṯ[ʾ] -h.

TRANSLATION
Line 2. Abū l-Ḥasan thinks that the t of the word bnt belongs to the following name, see commentary.
Line 3. h- ẓll, Sima (his lines 5–6): 'the subterranean water-channel'.
Line 4. dṯ[ʾ] -h, Abū l-Ḥasan: 'his spring harvest'; Sima: 'his spring field'.
Line 5. Sima (his line 7) restores a [m] to make the enclitic personal pronoun plural.
Line 7. Sima (his line 9): 'and may he be pleased with him'.

DISCUSSION
Hidalgo-Chacón Díez 2014: 18, for the place name Ṯr.
Hidalgo-Chacón Díez 2016: 128, for the divine name Ḏġbt.

Commentary
We have followed Abū l-Ḥasan (followed by Farès-Drappeau D 150) in regarding the two lines above ʾmtʿ as a separate inscription, AH 022. This is because it is difficult to make sense of the text if AH 022 and 023 are combined, as in U 042. If AH 023 is taken on its own, its subject is clearly a woman, which would explain the final t at the beginning of line 3 as the final letter of the 3rd person feminine singular of a verb in the suffix conjugation which is needed to govern the substantive h-ẓll. It would also explain the 3rd person singular (rather than plural) enclitic pronouns on dṯ[ʾ] and ʾb. The 3rd person plural suffixes in lines 7 and 8 would then refer to ʾmtʿ---- and her father.

In line 4, Abū l-Ḥasan reads ʾmtʿ---- bn tʿtk---- making ʾmtʿ---- a man. While there are 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), it is normally an element in theophoric names born by women. We therefore prefer to read bnt tk----.

On the photograph a clear ʾ can be seen following the word-divider after ḏ-ġbt.

In line 8, the final letter is clearly a m on the photograph, which suggests that the h of -hm was accidentally omitted.

Subjects
Deity Genealogy Agriculture Place-name Relatives Religion Prayer Season Women

Country: Saudi Arabia
Region: Al-Madīnah
Site: Oasis of al-ʿUlā
Latitude: 26.616667
Longitude: 37.916667
Present Location: In situ
Notes: Al-ʿUḏayb (Ǧabal ʿIkmah). The inscription is incised on a rock, which Stiehl 1971: 4 called 'Block B'
Associated Inscriptions: It is to the right of U 041

References:
[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. Pages: 104–106 Plates: 3

Hidalgo-Chacón Díez, M. del C. Place names in the Dadanitic inscriptions of al-ʿUḏayb. Adumatu 30, 2014: 15-30 Pages: 18

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 Pages: 128

[U] Sima, A. Die lihyanischen Inschriften von al-ʿUḏayb (Saudi-Arabien). (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, 1). Rahden/Westf.: Leidorf, 1999. Pages: 17 Plates: 9a, 10b, 11a

URL of this record (for citation): http://krc.orient.ox.ac.uk/ociana/corpus/pages/OCIANA_0033110.html