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7/26/2019 A New Reading of the Petra Temple Inscription (1989) - Jones
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A New Reading of the Petra Temple InscriptionAuthor(s): Richard N. Jones
Source: Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 275 (Aug., 1989), pp. 41-46Published by: The American Schools of Oriental ResearchStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1356878.
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7/26/2019 A New Reading of the Petra Temple Inscription (1989) - Jones
2/7
N e w
eading
o f
t h
e t r a
T e m p l e
nscription
RICHARDN. JONES
Middle East Center
University
of
Utah
Salt Lake
City,
Utah
84112
The
important
ragmentary
Nabataean
inscription rom
the
Temple of
the
Winged
Lions at Petra was edited
previously
by
Hammond,
Johnson,
and
Jones
(1986:
77-80).
The
present paper provides
a corrected
readingof
the
Nabataean
text
with
a
new
translation
and
notes. A
line
drawing of
the
inscription
and
corrected
chart
of
letters s also included. These
mprovements
larify
our
under-
standingof
the
text,
which deals with the
misappropriation
f
temple
ncome
and
the
formal
allotment
of
various
donations
to
templepriests.
The
inscription
also
provides
a
partial
ist
of
itemsthat constituted he
temple
ncome.
INTRODUCTION
E xcavations at Petra
in
southern
Jordan
during
the
1981 season recovered a
sub-
stantial
fragment
of a Nabataean
inscrip-
tion
from the
Temple
of
the
Winged
Lions;
it
was
first
published
by
Hammond,
Johnson,
and
Jones
(1986: 77-80). At that time, the authors believed
that
the first
edition
of the
inscription represented
an
essentially
correct
treatment of the text.
How-
ever,
subsequent
research
on the
inscription
showed
the
present
writer that the earlier
reading
con-
tained errors that
directly
affected
our
under-
standing
of
the text. While that
edition was
an
important
contribution to
Nabataean studies
as
an
editio
princeps,
it is now
clearly necessary
to
make
corrections
and
improvements
to the
reading,
translation,
and
understanding
of the
text in
this
new edition of the inscription.'
THE
TEXT
The
original
report
contained a
photograph
of
the
inscription
that
is
of
some
use but
which
lacked the
quality
necessary
for a
critical
study
of
the
text and
important
features of the
script.
The
line
drawing
presented
here
will
assist
scholars in
future
studies
of the
text
(fig.
1).
This
drawing
was
prepared
from a
plaster
cast of
the
inscription
made from a latex rubber mold of the
original,
and then
checked
against
the
original,
which
is
now
housed in the Petra
museum.
The
point
of
departure
for
my
discussion
of
the
text
is the
original reading
and translation
of
the
text
proposed
by
Hammond, Johnson,
and
Jones
(1986:
77-80):
Line
1.
mh
dy y't'
Ih
mn
ksp
wdhb
wqrbwn
wzwn
klh wmn
ksp'
wnh[5]...
Line
2.
wlkmry'
plg'
'hrn'3
m
'klt
'kryz
Cwn
qdm
dnh
pythlqwn...
Line
3.
l'why dy
Cbd
kyr
kl
dy
'I
ktyb
pyprc
mh
dy
ystkh...
Line 4.
bywm
'rbch
b'b
snt
tltyn
wsbc
Ihrtt
mlk
nbtw
rhm
'mh
wtw...
Line
1:
Whatever
comes
to him of
silver,
or
gold, or offerings, or provisions, alto-
gether
[all
of
it],
or
of
silver
(coinage)
or bronze
(coinage)...
Line 2:
And
to
the
priests,
the
other
portion
[will
be
allotted];
on
the
condition that
a
proclamation
of
delinquency
be
com-
pleted
before
this
(time),
then
shall
they
allot...
Line
3:
Concerning
the
one
who
did
other
than all of
that
which
is
written
above,
then
shall
he
repay
that
which
was
discovered
['neglected/forgotten']
...
41
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RICHARD N.
JONES
T
V k
1S
~~d~~~3jp~~~~~d
~~
r~~~~~uTd~~~~~i~~~o~~~9~~~d~~~i6~~~~~~h1
~
6
Fig.
1.
Line
drawing
of
the
fragmentary nscription
from
the
Temple
of the
Winged
Lions,
Petra.
Line 4:
On
the
fourth
day
of
'Ab,
the 37th
year
of
Aretas,
king
of
the
Nabataeans,
who loves
his
people.
And ...
A
close
study
of the
reading
and
translation,
especially
line
2,
reveals several difficulties
in
how
the text
was both
read and
interpreted originally.
Line
1.
Line
1 can
be
accepted
with little
change
as read
and
translated
in the earlier
report.
The earlier
article sees
Ih
as
referring
to
any
individual
in
a
broad
sense,
but
it is
likely
that
here,
Ih
to
him,
actually
refers
to a
specific
temple
official-per-
haps
a chief
priest-who
receives
the various
donations
and
offerings
itemized
in
this
line. That
person probably
was identified
on one
of
the
preceding panels.
The
sense of
qrbwn
seems
very
close
to the
Jewish
qorban,
known
from sources
contemporary
with that
inscription
to mean
pious
donations,
gifts
to
god
(Fitzmyer
1959
=
Fitz-
myer
1974:
93-100;
Fitzmyer
1979:
11).
The
earlier
article
appears
correct to see
here
a
distinc-
tion between
silver
and
gold
bullion
associated
with
the
use
of
the absolute
state,
and bronze
and
silver
coinage
associated
with
the
emphatic
state.2
Further
support
for that view
comes
from
the fact
that Nabataean
coins
of bronze
and
silver
(and
sometimes
lead)
are
typical,
whereas
no Nabataean
gold
coins are
known
(Meshorer
1975).
However,
the distinction between
bullion and
coinage
is still
only
contextual.
The
earlier
report
takes
zwn
to
be
provisions,
(following
Jean
and
Hoftijzer
1965:
73).
Zwn
is
a rare word
and
to
my
knowl-
edge,
it is
found
in
only
one
other
place,
Papyrus
10,
lines
10
and
17,
from
Upper
Egypt,
edited
by
Cowley
(1923:
29-32).
Cowley
thinks that zwn
is
to
be
equated
with mzwn
meaning
food
in a
general
sense.
In the
present
inscription,
zwn is
translated food
(compare
the
root ZWN to
nourish ).
Klh all
of
it,
with
the
singular
suffix
goes
with
zwn,
all
of
the food.
I
am
assuming
here
that
klh
does
not
equal
kl'
(see
Fitzmyer
1957;
1979).
Line
2.
As it
stands,
line 2 is
very
difficult
as read
in
the
earlier
article,
especially
the
portion
'klt
'kryz
'wn. This
sequence
is
illegible
and the
proposed
translation is
impossible.
However,
we
can
pro-
pose
a
slight
change
in the
reading
and division
of
the
Nabataean
letters,
which
greatly
improves
the
text.
This
is
clearly
a text
whose
palaeography
is
unique
in some
respects.
Some
letters are
notable
for their exuberance
and
length.
One
of
them,
the
tail of a final
nun
in line
1,
descends
to
and
perhaps
through
line
2
near
the
previously
pro-
posed
word
'wn,
specifically
the
presumed
'ayin,
which
is the
source
of the
difficulty.
Taken
as an
'ayin,
the
letter
is
peculiar
and
not at all character-
istic
of other
examples
in this
inscription
(see
Hammond,
Johnson,
and
Jones
1986:
79,
fig.
2,
reproduced
here as
column
1
in
fig.
2;
the
letter in
question
is
the second
from the
left in the
row of
'ayins).
Here,
instead
of
reading
an
Cayin,
a
he
is
preferable. Indeed,
note
that the
Cayin
s
actually
the
left half
of a
he,
which
is
dissected
from
top
to
bottom,
a
point
that
is
particularly
obvious
when
the
two
other
nonfinal hes
in this
inscription
are
compared
to
it.
These
letters
at this
point
are
I ------ -
a
-
---
- - - -
42
BASOR 275
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A NEW READING OF THE PETRA TEMPLE INSCRIPTION
crowded
and
that
is reflected somewhat in the
shape
of
this
he,
but
the letter is otherwise
very
typical.
The
next letter
is waw and the letter after
that
is also
a waw
and
not a final nun
as read in
the
early
report.
Both waws are of similar size and
shape and are also typical (fig. 2). With these
corrections,
the
reading
of this
portion
of the text
is
now
possible:
Ikmry' plg'
'hrn' 'm 'klt'
kryz
hww
and
to the
priests
are
assigned
the other
portion together
with the
food....
'klt'
appar-
ently plural
emphatic,
is
probably
a
grain
food of
some
kind;
compare
Ugaritic
and
Ammonite
'kl
grain
(and
farther afield
compare
also Akkadian
akalu
bread,
but
also the related
Aramaic
'wkl,
Hebrew
'klh,
Syriac
'wkl',
and Arabic
'kl
mean-
ing
food
in
a
general
sense).
The
'klt'
was
very
probably
part
of the
larger category
of foods
above,
the zwn.
Kryz
is
found
so far
in Nabataean
only
in
legal
documents,
the
only
other instance
being
a Nabataean
papyrus
from Palestine
(Rabinowitz
1955;
Fitzmyer
and
Harrington
1978).
It is
used
in contexts where
properties
or
posses-
sions
of various kinds are
formally
decreed,
as-
signed,
or allotted
to
specific
individuals. The
reading
kryz
hww,
while
clearly
a
participle
with
the
perfect plural
of the verb HWY
to be
(that
form
of
the
verb
is also found for the first
time in
Nabataean in this
inscription)
is here translated
more
simply
are
decreed,
assigned,
allotted,
as
is
common with
this
type
of construction
in
Aramaic.
The maintenance
of
temple
priests by
giving
them a
portion
of the
temple
offerings,
often
food,
is
an almost
universal cultic
practice
in
the ancient
Near East.
Qdm
dnh
is
understood
in
the earlier
article to mean before this
(time).
However,
to
understand
the
phrase temporally,
seems
unlikely
in
this context and
is built
upon
the earlier
misreading
of the first
part
of
the line.
A
better
reading
would be
before/in
the
presence
of
this
(one,
individual),
the masculine demon-
strative
pronoun
referring
to
a
priest
or
some
official mentioned
in
a
missing
portion
of
the
inscription,
or
possibly
the
Ih
mentioned
in line
1.
Before this
(one),
i.e.,
before
him,
seems
to
mean
that the
offerings
are
placed
under
the
individual's
supervision.
Hence the
preposition
1-
with
kmry',
priests,
may
be better
understood
as
for rather than
to. The verb
ythlqwn,
to
divide
up, suggests
that what followed had
to
do
with further
distribution
or
assignments
of
the
temple
wealth.
The
subject
of
this
verb is
not
clear. It
probably
means
here
they [i.e.,
the
donations]
will be divided
up,
unless
it
should
be
translated
they
shall divide
up
among
themselves,
with
priests
as
subjects
(somewhat
comparable
to
the Hebrew
Hithpa'el
of the same root as it is
generally
understood in Josh
18:5;
see also Koeller
and
Baumgartner
2:
310a).
Line
3.
At the
beginning
of
this
line,
the text is
already
dealing
with
infractions
and
penalties
of
some
sort.
Therefore,
the
sense seems
to be
against/re-
garding
him
who
did
other
than
that which is
written above.
This translation
gains support
from
the
next clause
(here
note
again
the
particle
p introducing
a
consequence
or
condition),3
pyprc
mh
dy ystkh
he shall
pay
for that
which was
found,
or he shall
repay
that
which was
found.
Compare
the verb
pr'
in
Mishnaic
Hebrew,
where
it
means
to
pay
a
debt.
Following
the
verb
ystkh
is
found
an
cayin
and a
portion
of
another
letter in
shape
and
hang
compatible
with a
lamed
(compare
the
shape
of the
same
letters in the
word
'I'
earlier in the
line)
so that the lost
word
might
be
'/why,
against
him. For
this verb
in
Aramaic
with a
following
'Iwhy,
compare
Dan
6:5,
wkl
slw
wshyth
1'
hstkht
'Iwhy
and
no error
or fault
could be found against him. It also is possible
that
the
partially
lost
word
is
'mwhy
with
him,
which
may
be
appropriate
if
the text here
actually
is
dealing
with the
misappropriation
of
temple
income.
Line
4.
Year
37
of
Aretas is
better
placed
at
A.D.
28/29
than the
previously
proposed
A.D.
27/28.
The
remnant of a
final
word wtw
... is
clear,
along
with a
portion
of one additional letter. It
may
be
another name
beginning
with the
letters
tw///
following
the
conjunction
waw
(compare
entries
in
Kornfeld
1978;
Harding 1971),
perhaps
a
priest.
My
reading
and
translation of the
Petra
Temple
Inscription
is
as follows. The
sigla
are:
brackets
=
restorations
and
parentheses
=
elaborations of
the
translation.
Line
1.
mh
dy y't'
Ih mn
ksp
wdhb
wqrbwn
wzwn
klh wmn
ksp' wnh[s' w]
//
Line
2.
wlkmry'
plg'
'hrn'
m
'klt'
kryz
hww
qdm
dnh
pythlqwn
///
Line
3.
Iwhy dy
Cbd
k'yr
kl
dy
q'
ktyb
prpr'
mh
dy
ygtkh
'[lwhy]
///
43
989
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RICHARD
N. JONES
I I
jt
.ji,
.
\
51)
1.5
..il__
t 3 ^