Sigla: JSLih 049; Jaussen & Savignac 1911; Lidzbarski 1915: 271–272; Grimme 1937: 299–300; CLL 009; JaL 077; Drewes 1983: 428, no. 14; Déroche 1987: 115–117; Winnett 1989: 173–174; Al-Qudrah 1993: 32–33, no. 79; Scagliarini 1994: 198–209, no. 15; D 045  Script: Dadanitic

/–
/ -
/ –
/–
/- –
//-
[]/-

-
----

Transliteration
1: ʿbdwd
2: ʾfkl/w–
3: d/w bn -h
4: s¹lm/w z–
5: dwd/hw–
6: dqw/h- ġ–
7: lm/s¹lm/h-
8: [m]ṯlt/l-
9: ḏġbt
10: f rḍy -h
11: m----

Translation
1: ʿbdwd
2: priest of W–
3: d and his two sons
4: S¹lm and Z–
5: dwd offered
6: the slave-
7: boy S¹lm {as
8: the substitute} to
9: Ḏġbt
10: and so may he favour
11: them ----

Apparatus Criticus
TEXT
Line 8. Jaussen & Savignac: [m]ṣlt for [m]ṯlt; Lidzbarski: ṣlt rather than [m]ṯlt; Déroche: [m]ṭlt rather than [m]ṯlt.
Line 9. Jaussen & Savignac followed by Lidzbarski and Grimme: rṭy for rḍy.
Line 11. Grimme followed by Caskel and Al-Qudrah: [m] s¹ʿd hm rather than m----.

Winnett followed by Jamme reads two more line (11-13): [m w s¹ʿd -hm w ʾḫrt -hm].

TRANSLATION
Lines 6–7. h- ġlm, Jaussen & Savignac: 'the young man'; Jamme: 'Haġulām'; Winnett followed by Scagliarini: 'the boy'.
Line 8. [m]ṯlt, Grimme: 'to punishment (death)'; Caskel: 'the slave for they three'; Jamme: 'as the advanced payment for the representations'; Winnett does not translate this word; Al-Qudrah: 'the triple (with immolation)'; Scagliarini 'as symbol (image)'; Farès-Drappeau: '(in the shape) of a statue'.
Line 9. Caskel: 'two life-spans'.

DISCUSSION
Déroche 1987: 238.
Macdonald 2004: 512 (10), 515.
Farès 2009: 187-188.
Macdonald 2018: 13, n. 22.
Hidalgo-Chacón Díez 2016: 128, for the divine name Ḏġbt.

Commentary
The inscription is carved on a sandstone stela.

This is a very interesting text which records that a priest of the Minaean god Wd and his two sons made an offering to Ḏġbt, the chief god of the kingdom of Liḥyān at al-ʿUlā. See AH 199 for an example of a priestess of Wd and her husband performing the ẓll-ceremony for Ḏġbt.

The fact that the young slave boy who is offered here has the same name as the first-mentioned (and so presumably the elder) son of the priest, suggests that there may have been a custom of offering the first-born (or a substitute) to the deity. For another example of the offering of a substitute see Al-Ḫuraybah 14.

Subjects
Deity Religion Relatives Prayer

Country: Saudi Arabia
Region: Al-Madīnah
Site: Oasis of al-ʿUlā
Latitude: 26.616667
Longitude: 37.916667
Present Location: In situ
Find date: 1909–1910
Field collector: Jaussen & Savignac
Survey: Mission archéologique en Arabie
Notes: Former village of Al-ʿUlā: reused in buildings. It was used as lintel of the door in an house (see Farès-Drappeau, p. 158). Currently it is at the museum of Al-ʿUlā

References:
Al-Qudrah, Ḥ.M. Dirāsah muʿǧamiyyah li-ʾlfāẓ al-nuqūš al-liḥyāniyyah fī iṭār al-luġāt al-sāmiyyah al-ǧanūbiyyah. Unpublished MA Thesis, Epigraphy Section, Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, Yarmouk University, Irbid. 1993. Pages: 32–33 Number: 79

[CLL] Caskel, W. Lihyan und Lihyanisch. (Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Forschung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, Geisteswissenschaften, 4). Köln: Westdeutscher Verlag, 1954. Pages: 80–81

Déroche, F. Recherches sur l'oasis de Dedan / al-Ula. Thèse de Doctorat: Études arabo-islamiques, Paris IV, 1987. [Unpublished], 1987. Pages: 115–117, 238

Drewes, A.J. Liḥyanitische Inscripties. Pages 424-429 in K.R. Veenhof (ed.), Schrijvend Verleden. Documenten uit het Oude Nabije Oosten vertaald en toegelicht. Leiden: Ex Oriente Lux / Zutphen: Terra, 1983. Pages: 428 Number: 14

[D] 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. Pages: 158–159 Plates: XII

Farès, S. Les femmes prêtresses dans les religions arabes préislamiques. Le cas des Liḥyanites. Pages 183-195 in F. Briquel-Chatonnet, S. Farès, B. Lion & C. Michel (eds), Femmes, cultures et sociétés dans les civilisations méditeranéennes et proche-orientales de l'Antiquité. (Topoi Supplément, 10). Paris: Gabalda. Lyon: Maison de l'Orient Meditérranée, 2009. Pages: 187–188

Grimme, H. Neubearbeitung der Wichtigeren Dedanischen und Liḥjanischen Inschriften. Le Muséon 50, 1937: 269-322. Pages: 299–300

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

[JaL] Jamme, A. Miscellanées d'ancient arabe VII. Washington, DC: [privately produced], 1974. Pages: 69–70 Plates: 18

Jaussen, A. & Savignac, M.R. Inscription liḥyanite d'el-ʿEla. Revue biblique 8, 1911: 534-561.

[JSLih] Jaussen, A. & Savignac, M.R. Mission archéologique en Arabie. I. (Mars-Mai 1907) De Jérusalem au Hedjaz, Médain Saleh. II. El-ʿEla, d'Hégra à Teima Harrah de Tebouk. Texte et Atlas. III. Les châteaux arabes de Quṣeir ʿAmra, Ḫarâneh, et Tûba. (5 volumes). (Publications de la Société Française des Fouilles Archéologiques, 2). [Reprinted Cairo: Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, 1997]. Paris: Leroux/Geuthner, 1909–1920. Volume: II Pages: 379–386 Plates: LXXXII

Lidzbarski, M. Ephemeris für semitische Epigraphik. (3 volumes). Giessen: Ricker &Töpelmann, 1902-1915. Volume: III Pages: 271–272

Macdonald, M.C.A. Ancient North Arabian. Pages 488-533 in R.D. Woodard (ed.), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Volume: III Pages: 512 (10), 515

Macdonald, M.C.A. Towards a reassessment of the Ancient North Arabian alphabets used in the oasis of al-ʿUlā. Pages 1–19 in M.C.A. Macdonald (ed.), Languages, scripts and their uses in ancient North Arabia. (Supplement to volume 48 of the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies). Oxford: Archaeopress, 2018. Pages: 13, n. 22

Scagliarini, F. Le iscrizioni liḥyānitiche dell'Oasi di al-ʿUlā. Dottorato di ricerca in semitistica: linguistica semitica, Universita' degli studi di Firenze, anni accademici 1992-1994 . [unpublished thesis]. 1994. Pages: 198–209 Plates: XIII Number: 15

Winnett, F.V. The Early Lihyanite Inscription Jaussen-Savignac 49. Pages 173-174 in M.M. Ibrahim (ed.), Arabian Studies in Honour of Mahmoud Ghal. Symposium at Yarmouk University, 8th-11th december 1984. (Yarmouk University Publications: Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology Series, 2). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1989. Pages: 173–174

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