The ‘al‑ʿUqla texts’ revisited
Keywords:
Ancient South Arabian, Hadramitic, al-ʿUqla-texts, royal ceremonies, monogramsAbstract
In the late 1930s a group of closely related Hadramitic rock inscriptions, written around the third century AD on a small boulder near the Jabal al‑ʿUqla on the eastern fringe of the Ramlat as-Sabʿatayn desert, were published. Although obviously related to some kind of royal ceremony, the exact meaning of these texts remained enigmatic, especially since most key expressions are unparalleled in other text corpora. Consequently, the typology of this group of inscriptions is commonly labelled as the ‘al‑ʿUqla texts’, leaving aside all speculation on their eventual content.
The re-evaluation of etymological parallels from Sabaic in the framework of the ongoing Sabaic Online Dictionary project of Friedrich Schiller University Jena has yielded additional clues for a better understanding of the Hadramitic material. The main verbs of these texts deal with the authentication of documents by means of monograms, probably through the application of seals, performed by the entourage of the kings of Ḥaḍramawt on certain, but unspecified, occasions.
References
Avanzini A. 2002. The construction inscriptions on the gate complex. Pages 125–140 in A. Avanzini (ed.), Khor Rori Report 1. Pisa: Edizioni Plus.
Beeston A.F.L. 1939. Appendix on the inscriptions discovered by Mr. Philby. Pages 441–454 in H.St.J.B. Philby, Sheba’s daughters. Being a record of travel in southern Arabia. London: Methuen & Co.
Beeston A.F.L. 1982. Observations on the texts from al‑Uqlah. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 12: 7–13.
Bosworth C.E. 1986. Laḳab. Pages 618–631 in The Encyclopaedia of Islam. v. KHE– MAHI. (New edition). Leiden: Brill.
Drewes A.J. & Ryckmans J. 2016. Les inscriptions sudarabes sur bois dans la collection de l’Oosters Instituut conservée dans la bibliothèque universitaire de Leiden. Texte révisé et adapté par Peter Stein. Edité par Harry Stroomer et Peter Stein. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
Jamme A. 1963. The Al-ʿUqlah texts. (Documentation Sud-Arabe, III). Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press.
Jamme A. 1966. Sabaean and Ḥasaean inscriptions from Saudi Arabia. Rome: Istituto di studi del vicino oriente.
Jamme A. 1979. Miscellanées d’ancient [sic] arabe IX. Washington, DC. [Privately published.]
Kane T.L. 2000. Tigrinya-English dictionary. Springfield, VA: Dunwoody Press.
Kootstra F. 2022. The ẓll of ancient Dadān: Ritual and documentary practice. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 33: 178–187.
Lane E.W. 1863–1885. An Arabic-English lexicon. London/Edinburgh: Williams and Norgate.
Müller W.W. 2010. Sabäische Inschriften nach Ären datiert. Bibliographie, Texte und Glossar. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
Müller W.W. 2013. Eine Votivinschrift auf einer Bronzetafel aus Awsān. Pages 91–104 in F. Briquel-Chatonnet, C. Fauveaud & I. Gajda (eds), Entre Carthage et l’Arabie heureuse. Mélanges offerts à François Bron. (Orient & Méditerranée, 12) Paris: de Boccard.
Pirenne J. 1977. La maîtrise de l’eau en Arabie du sud antique. Six types de monuments techniques. (Mémoires de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres. Nouvelle série, 2). Paris: Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres.
Pirenne J. 1990. Les témoins écrits de la région de Shabwa et l’histoire. Fouilles de Shabwa 1. (Bibliothèque archéologique et historique, 134). Paris: Geuthner.
Robin C.J. 2008. Joseph, dernier roi de Ḥimyar (de 522 à 525, ou une des années suivantes). Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 34: 1–124.
Robin C. 2019: À propos de l’armement des troupes Himyarites au VIe siècle de l’ère chrétienne. Pages 145–173 in J-F. Breton & F. Villeneuve (eds), La guerre en Arabie antique. Actes des 22e Rencontres sabéennes. Paris, 21–23 juin 2018. Paris: Geuthner.
Ryckmans J. 1951. L’institution monarchique en Arabie méridionale avant l’Islam (Ma’in et Saba). (Bibliothèque du Muséon, 28). Louvain: Publications universitaires.
Al-Salami M.A. 2011. Sabäische Inschriften aus dem Ḫawlān. (Jenaer Beiträge zum Vorderen Orient, 7). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
Weimar J. 2021. The Minaeans after Maʿīn? The latest presently dateable Minaic text and the God of Maʿīn. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 32: 376–38.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Archaeopress Publishing, Oxford, UK