JNISh 1

id: 633

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In 1965 or slightly earlier, the inscription is said to have been removed from the site of Tell al-Shuqāfiyah located near, and partially under the present-day hamlet of ʿEzbit Sukkar. It was noticed in 1982 by R.N. Jones in the small museum Matḥaf Hariyyat Raznah in Zagāzīg, See Fiema 1990, FNKL, p. 245–246.
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dʾ rbʿtʾ dy ʿbd whbʾlh[y]
br ʿbdʾlgʾ br ʾwšʾlhy
ldwšrʾ ʾlhʾ dy bdpnʾ
mṣryt šnt 18 lmlkt
qlptrw dy šnt 26
[l-] {m}nkw mlk nbṭw dy hy šnt
2 lʾṭlh byrḥ nysn
Word list - JNISh 1
  • 2 – Number in numerals 1
  • 18 – Number in numerals 1
  • 26 – Number in numerals 1
  • ʾwšʾlhy – Man’s personal name 1
  • ʾṭlh – Man’s personal name 1
  • ʾlhʾ – Subst. sg. emphatic 1
  • b- – Preposition 2
  • dʾ – Demonstrative pronoun fem. sg. 1
  • dwšrʾ – Divine name 1
  • dy – Determinative relative pronoun 4
  • dpnʾ – Place name 1
  • hy – Suffix conjugation pʿl (G-stem) 1
  • whbʾlh[y] – Man’s personal name 1
  • yrḥ – Subst. sg. construct 1
  • l- – Preposition 4
  • mlk – Subst. sg. construct 1
  • mlkt – Subst. sg. construct 1
  • {m}nkw – Nabataean king’s name 1
  • mṣryt – Gentilic adjective sg. 1
  • nbṭw – Non gentilic group name 1
  • nysn – Month name 1
  • ʿbd – Suffix conjugation pʿl (G-stem) 1
  • ʿbdʾlgʾ – Man’s personal name 1
  • qlptrw – Non Nabataean ruler’s name 1
  • rbʿtʾ – Subst. sg. emphatic 1
  • šnt – Subst. sg. construct 3
د ا ر ب ع ت ا د ي ع ب د و ه ب ا ل ه [ي]
ب ر ع ب د ا ل ج ا ب ر ا و ش ا ل ه ي
ل د و ش ر ا ا ل ه ا د ي ب د ف ن ا
م ص ر ي ت ش ن ت 18 ل م ل ك ت
ق ل ف ت ر و د ي ش ن ت 26
[ل] {م} ن ك و م ل ك ن ب ط و د ي ه ي ش ن ت
2 ل ا ط ل ه ب ي ر ح ن ي س ن
This is the cultic couch which Whbʾlh[y] son of ʿbdʾlgʾ son of ʾwšʾlhy made for Dūšarā the god who is in Daphne (as it is known) in Egyptian. Dated year 18 of queen Cleopatra, which is year 26 of Malichus, king of the Nabataeans, which are year 2 of ʾṭlh. (Dedicated) in the month of Nisan

Line 1:
rbʿtʾ: JNISh “the (quadrangular) shrine”; HQGN, p. 92, 358: “Heiligtum”; NRRN, p. 24–25: “banqueting couch”; HAID, p. 113–114: “cultic couch”.
Line 4:
JNISH: “14” for ”18”.
GNNS: mlk{tʾ} for mlkt; qlptr w dy for qlptrw dy.
Line 6:
GNNS: ml(n)kw for mnkw.

The inscription is on a small limestone block 21.5 cm high x 23.5 cm wide and 10 cm at its thickest. The script is similar to that of Shuqāfiyah 1.
For a discussion of the word rbʿtʾ in line 1 see Nehmé 2003, NRRN, p. 24–25, and Healey 2009, HAID, p. 114.
Line 3: On dpnʾ ancient Daphne, modern Tell ed-Defenneh see Jones 1988, JNISH, p. 52–54.
Line 4: mṣryt is only found elsewhere in Aramaic in the Elephantine papyri where it is thought to mean “in the Egyptian language” (Jones 1988, JNISh, p. 51). However Healey 2009, HAID, p. 114 suggests that it is instead a feminine adjective of the nisbah (gentilic) form simply meaning ”Egyptian”. Year 18 of Cleopatra was 35/34 BC and as this was year 26 of Malichus I, Fiema 1990, FNKL, p. 242–245,  argue that this is evidence that Obodas II must have reigned in the years 62/61 to 59 BC between Aretas III and Malichus I.
1 photo links
JNISh 1 photo
1 facsimile links
JNISh 1 facsimile

7 editions or commentaries found

reference reading category translation category page photograph copy squeeze card status
DiCoNab
Digital Corpus of the Nabataean and Developing Arabic Inscriptions 		Correct reading Correct translation Checked
FNKL
Fiema 1990, ADAJ 34 		Correct reading Other translation p. 242 p. 240 p. 240 Checked
GNNS
Ġānim 2016, Nuqūš nabaṭiyyah 		Other reading Other translation 42–47 p. 42 p. 42 Checked
HAID
Healey 2009, Aramaic Inscriptions & Documents 		Correct reading Correct translation 113–115 Checked
HQGN
Hackl 2003, Quellen 		Correct reading Correct translation 358–361 Checked
JNISh
Jones 1988, BASOR 269 		Editio Princeps Editio Princeps 47–57 p. 48 p. 48 Checked
NRRN
Nehmé 2003, JSS 48 		Correct reading Correct translation 9–10 p. 10 Checked
last change: 09/04/2025 - 10:25:22 (Laïla Nehmé)
created on: 18/03/2025 - 17:27:52 (Laïla Nehmé)