SNNI 1

id: 775

Click on the arrow and choose a value.
Cite
Choose “Public” only if the inscription can appear on the public version of the database.
Letter(s) of the siglum, e.g. JSNab. Only the sigla recorded in the REFERENCES are allowed.
Inscription number. Dots are allowed, e.g. “4.1”.
Use the abbreviations provided in the REFERENCES. Sigla should be separated by a semicolon followed by a space (; ), e.g. “CIS 314A; JSNab 270”.
Select the site in the list or create a new one. If a new one is created, additional information should be entered in SITES.
Add a date and name to “Significant revision” only if the reading and/or major part(s) of the translation are modified. If so add a comment in the field “Apparatus criticus”

The inscription was found in Madāʾin Ṣāliḥ (al-Ḥijr) by Mr H.Y. Yassin who removed it to Jeddah where he allowed Helen Keiser to photograph it in 1964. In 1966, he also allowed Ruth Stiehl to photograph it. See AAAW(a) p. 305 and SNNI p. 87.

If the inscription was found during an official survey/project, select the source of the data. If you entered a value by mistake, select the empty value at the top of the list and save.
If the text is a bilingual, click on the box to make the relevant fields enterable.
Enter the reference of the bilingual as it appears in OCIANA, DASI, other databases, or publications.
Stable URL of the bilingual if recorded in an online database.
If the date is an interval, indicate the starting and ending dates, e.g. -9/40. If a date is a terminus post quem, add "+" after the number, e.g. "308+".  Note the “/” in -9/40 and the presence of "-" for dates before CE.
If the text shows special features, click on “+” and choose from the list. You can choose several special features successively.
If the text is associated to a motif or a structure, click on “+” and choose from the list. You can choose several structures successively.
Enter here the number of lines in the text.
Cite
dnh ----wt{ʾ} {dy} ----
ʿdy[wn] br ḥny br šmwʾl ry{š}
ḥgrʾ ʿl mwyh ʾtth brt
ʿmr{w} br ʿdywn br šmwʾl
ryš tymʾ dy mytt byrḥ
ʾb šnt mʾtyn w ḥmšyn
w ʾḥdy brt šnyn tltyn
w tmny
Word list - SNNI 1
  • ʾb – Month name 1
  • ʾḥdy – Number in letters 1
  • ʾtt – Subst. sg. suffixed 1
  • b- – Preposition 1
  • brt – Subst. sg. construct 2
  • dy – Determinative relative pronoun 2
  • dnh – Demonstrative pronoun masc. sg. 1
  • -h – Enclitic personal pronoun sg. 1
  • w – Conjunction 3
  • ḥgrʾ – Place name 1
  • ḥmšyn – Number in letters 1
  • ḥny – Man’s personal name 1
  • yrḥ – Subst. sg. construct 1
  • mʾtyn – Number in letters 1
  • mwyh – Woman’s personal name 1
  • mytt – Suffix conjugation pʿl (G-stem or D-stem) 1
  • ʿdy[wn] – Man’s personal name 2
  • ʿl – Preposition 1
  • ʿmr{w} – Man’s personal name 1
  • ry{š} – Subst. sg. construct 2
  • šmwʾl – Man’s personal name 2
  • šnyn – Subst. pl. absolute 1
  • šnt – Subst. sg. construct 1
  • tymʾ – Place name 1
  • tltyn – Number in letters 1
  • tmny – Number in letters 1
د ن ه ----و ت {ا} {د ي} ----
ع د ي [و ن] ب ر ح ن ي ب ر ش م و ا ل ر ي {ش}
ح ج ر ا ع ل م و ي ه ا ت ت ه ب ر ت
ع م ر {و} ب ر ع د ي و ن ب ر ش م و ا ل
ر ي ش ت ي م ا د ي م ي ت ت ب ي ر ح
ا ب ش ن ت م ا ت ي ن و ح م ش ي ن
و ا ح د ي ب ر ت ش ن ي ن ت ل ت ي ن
و ت م ن ي
This is ---- which ---- ʿdy[wn] son of Ḥny son of Šmwʾl chief citizen of Ḥgrʾ [made] for Mwyʾ his wife, daughter of ʿmrw son of ʿdywn son of Šmwʾl chief citizen of Tymʾ, who died in the month of ʾb in the year two hundred and fifty-one at the age of thirty-eight
Line 1: AAAW(a) p. 306 read as dnh n[p]š [w]qbrtʾ dy [ʿbd lh], but these restorations are not visible on the only published photograph.
Line 2: AAAW(a), SNNI p. 87, HQGN p. 339 read ʿdnwn, but NTEGAS p. 291 correctly read ʿdywn followed by NNNIT p. 214, HAID p. 111.
Line 3: AAWA(a), SNNI, HQGN p. 339 and HAID read mwnh for mwyh, despite the clear curve at the top of the y, but RCD(b) p. 47 read mwyh followed by NTEGAS and NNNIT.
Line 4: AAAW(a) read ʿdnwn again despite the clear y, but NTEGAS, NNNIT and HAID read  ʿdywn.
The inscription is carved in a developed form of the Nabataean script and is the most recent Nabataean formal inscription so far discovered.
AAAW(a) p. 306 –307 and SNNI p. 89 suggest that the same Šmwʾl was the grandfather of both ʿdywn and Mwyh but, while perfectly possible this is unprovable. The name ʿdywn is probably the same name as ʿdyn which is found in more than 14 Safaitic inscriptions (in which no vowels are shown). Mwyh is also an Arab name made famous by the Arab queen, transliterated as “Mavia” by Roman historians, who defeated the Byzantine armies in AD 378.
Ḥny is almost certainly the Arabian name Ḥunayy, which, in the form ḥny, is extremely common in Safaitic. It is unlikely to be the Jewish name Ḥônî since this would have been spelt *ḥwny in Nabataean (see NNNT n. 39).
AAAW(a) and SNNI regard the people mentioned in this inscription as Jews, but, while this is possible since many Jews in Arabia had Arab names, the only Jewish name in it is Šmwʾl, but this was also used by Christians in Late Antiquity. See NNNIT p. 213–214 for a discussion of this text and comparison with an earlier one (AD 203) which records the burial of a Jewish chief citizen of Taymāʾ.
1 photo links
SNNI 1 photo
2 facsimile links
SNNI 1 facsimile
SNNI 1 fs Noja

7 editions or commentaries found

reference reading category translation category page photograph copy squeeze card status
AAAW(a)
Altheim 1968, Die Araber 		Editio Princeps Editio Princeps 305–309 fig. 54 Checked
HAID
Healey 2009, Aramaic Inscriptions & Documents 		Other reading Commentary 111–113 Checked
HQGN
Hackl 2003, Quellen 		Same as editio princeps Same as editio princeps 338–340 Checked
NNNIT
al-Najem 2009, AAE 20 		Correct reading Correct translation 208–217 fig. 2 Checked
NTEGAS
Noja 1979, BOr 122 		First correct reading First correct translation 291–293 p. 292, III Checked
RCD(b)
Starcky n.d. [1978-1979], Langue, écriture et inscriptions 		Reading in the commentary Not translated 47 Checked
SNNI
Stiehl 1970, New Nabatean Inscription 		Same as editio princeps Same as editio princeps 87–88 fig. 16 Checked
last change: 18/04/2025 - 12:22:53 (Laïla Nehmé)
created on: 01/04/2025 - 18:01:26 (Laïla Nehmé)