DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45608#0013
Umm idj-Djimal.
139
This is the Greek version of a Nabataean inscription found by de Vogue {Syr.
Centr., Inscr. Sem. no. 11 = C.I.S. 11 192) and is an exact translation of the Nabataean text.
The original Nabataean names, included in the translation given above, were rendered
as precisely as possible into Greek. The names and their formation have been discussed
by Littmann op. cit. Σολλεος occurs also in an inscription from Beersheba, R.B. xn (1903),
p. 428, no. 6; but Σολεώς, in our nos. 158 and 212, also in Wad. 1989 = I.G.R. ill 1316,
is probably Sulaih. In Greek authors the name is written Συλλαΐος; see, for example,
Strabo xvi 780 f. where mention is made of a governor of the Nabataeans, a famous
person of this name; see also R.A.O. vii (1906), p. 313 f.
Gadhimat, king of the Tanfikh, has been identified by Littmann, at the suggestion
of Professor Lidzbarski, with Gadhimat al-Abrash, king of al-Hirah, who figures in
Arabic literature as the foe of Zenobia. The language and the forms of the letters of
the Nabataean version accord with this supposition. If this identification be correct,
this inscription may claim the honor of establishing the historical character of King
Gadhimat, as to which doubt has been expressed; see G. Rothstein, Die Dynccstie der
Lahmiden, p. 40. The fact that Gadhimat appears in this inscription as king of the
wide-spread tribe of the Tanukh instead of as king of al-Hirah is explained by Littmann
by the supposition that this people had not yet settled in that locality.
239. Altar. On the fragment of an altar found on a Bedawin grave in the
northern part of the city, a short distance east of the so-called “Church of Claudianus”;
see no. 261. Height of the fragment about 60 cm.; width 59 cm. The lower portion
of the altar was also found on the same grave. It contains a Roman wreath in relief
and traces of a sculptured piece, probably a head, which has been cut away. On
the base is a cross, added by a later hand. The original height of the altar was
about 1.60 m. The inscription is in a raised dovetailed frame. Length of the frame
(inside) 36 cm.; height 18 cm.
Inscr. 239. Scale I : io.
eetucoAz.
WCAPCIAOC
φ]
A
z
[/.,
A°Y€
ΔΟΥΕΥ
Θεώ Σολμ-
ω Σαρείό'ος
Αουειό'ου εύ-
σεβ]ών ανε'θηκεν.
The word Σολμος is found here for the first time in Greek inscriptions. In his
preliminary report {A.J.A. IX (1905), p. 402) Littmann suggested that it might be
identified with the enigmatical found in two Aramaic inscriptions from Teima
in Arabia (Noldeke, Sitzber. d. Berl. Akad. 1884, p. 813 f.). Professor Noldeke inter-
Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria, Div. Ill, Sec. A, Pt. 3. 19
139
This is the Greek version of a Nabataean inscription found by de Vogue {Syr.
Centr., Inscr. Sem. no. 11 = C.I.S. 11 192) and is an exact translation of the Nabataean text.
The original Nabataean names, included in the translation given above, were rendered
as precisely as possible into Greek. The names and their formation have been discussed
by Littmann op. cit. Σολλεος occurs also in an inscription from Beersheba, R.B. xn (1903),
p. 428, no. 6; but Σολεώς, in our nos. 158 and 212, also in Wad. 1989 = I.G.R. ill 1316,
is probably Sulaih. In Greek authors the name is written Συλλαΐος; see, for example,
Strabo xvi 780 f. where mention is made of a governor of the Nabataeans, a famous
person of this name; see also R.A.O. vii (1906), p. 313 f.
Gadhimat, king of the Tanfikh, has been identified by Littmann, at the suggestion
of Professor Lidzbarski, with Gadhimat al-Abrash, king of al-Hirah, who figures in
Arabic literature as the foe of Zenobia. The language and the forms of the letters of
the Nabataean version accord with this supposition. If this identification be correct,
this inscription may claim the honor of establishing the historical character of King
Gadhimat, as to which doubt has been expressed; see G. Rothstein, Die Dynccstie der
Lahmiden, p. 40. The fact that Gadhimat appears in this inscription as king of the
wide-spread tribe of the Tanukh instead of as king of al-Hirah is explained by Littmann
by the supposition that this people had not yet settled in that locality.
239. Altar. On the fragment of an altar found on a Bedawin grave in the
northern part of the city, a short distance east of the so-called “Church of Claudianus”;
see no. 261. Height of the fragment about 60 cm.; width 59 cm. The lower portion
of the altar was also found on the same grave. It contains a Roman wreath in relief
and traces of a sculptured piece, probably a head, which has been cut away. On
the base is a cross, added by a later hand. The original height of the altar was
about 1.60 m. The inscription is in a raised dovetailed frame. Length of the frame
(inside) 36 cm.; height 18 cm.
Inscr. 239. Scale I : io.
eetucoAz.
WCAPCIAOC
φ]
A
z
[/.,
A°Y€
ΔΟΥΕΥ
Θεώ Σολμ-
ω Σαρείό'ος
Αουειό'ου εύ-
σεβ]ών ανε'θηκεν.
The word Σολμος is found here for the first time in Greek inscriptions. In his
preliminary report {A.J.A. IX (1905), p. 402) Littmann suggested that it might be
identified with the enigmatical found in two Aramaic inscriptions from Teima
in Arabia (Noldeke, Sitzber. d. Berl. Akad. 1884, p. 813 f.). Professor Noldeke inter-
Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria, Div. Ill, Sec. A, Pt. 3. 19