JSNab 17 or the epitaph of Raqosh is a funerary inscription from Mada'in Salih, Saudi Arabia. It is dated to 267 AD and written in a mix of Nabataean Aramaic and Arabic. Besides the language, it is notable for the use of the possibly monotheistic epithet mry ʕlmʔ 'the Lord of the World'.
Text and translation[edit]
The inscription is read by Cantineau as follows:[1]
- th qbrw ṣnʕh kʕbw br
- ḥrtt lrqwš brt
- ʕbdmnwtw ʔmh why
- hlkt py ʔlḥgrw
- šnt mʔh wštyn
- wtryn byrḥ tmwz wlʕn
- mry ʕlmʔ mn yšnʔ ʔlqbrw
- dʔ wmn yptḥh ḥšy w
- wldh wlʕn mn yʕyr dʔ ʕly mnh
Cantineau gives the following translation (translated here from French):
- This is a tomb which Kaʿabô, son
- of Aretas made for Raqôš daughter of
- ʿAbdmanôtô, his mother. She
- died in Hegra,
- in the year one-hundred-and-sixty-
- two, in the month of Tammuz. And may
- the Lord of the World curse whoever alters this tomb,
- and whoever opens it, other than
- her offspring, and may He curse whoever alters what is on it.
O'Connor reads dnh instead of th (1), dy instead of w (8), and yqbr wʔʕly instead of yʕyr dʔ ʕly (9).[2] This yields:
- As for this grave/This is a grave, which Kaʿb
- bar Haritat made for Raqāsh berat
- ʿAbd-Manāt, his mother. And she
- died in al-Hijr
- (in the) year one-hundred-sixty-
- two in the month of Tammuz. And may
- Marē ʿAlma curse him who alters this tomb
- or open it, save for
- him whom he (Kaʿb) has begotten/his progeny. And may he curse anyone who buries (anyone else in it) or exhumes (anyone) from it."
Language[edit]
Referring to the mixing of Aramaic and Arabic, O'Connor states that "the Raqāsh Epitaph is closer to being a polyglot puzzle than Nabatean plain text".[3]
References[edit]
- ^ Cantineau, J. Le Nabatéen. Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, 1930–1932: 38.
- ^ M. O'Connor, "The Arabic Loanwords in Nabatean Aramaic". Journal of Near Eastern Studies 45.3 (1986), 213-229.
- ^ M. O'Connor, "The Arabic Loanwords in Nabatean Aramaic". Journal of Near Eastern Studies 45.3 (1986), 213-229: 227.