A New Reading of the Petra Temple Inscription

Author(s): Richard N. Jones

Source: Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 275 (Aug., 1989), pp. 41-46
Published by: The American Schools of Oriental Research
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New

of
the
Petra
Reading
Temple
Inscription
RICHARD N. JONES
Middle East Center
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah 84112

The importantfragmentary Nabataean inscriptionfrom the Temple of the

WingedLions at Petra was editedpreviouslyby Hammond,Johnson, and Jones
(1986: 77-80). Thepresentpaper provides a correctedreadingof the Nabataean
text with a new translationand notes. A line drawing of the inscriptionand
correctedchart of lettersis also included.Theseimprovementsclarifyour understandingof the text, whichdeals with the misappropriationof templeincomeand
theformal allotmentof variousdonations to templepriests. The inscriptionalso
providesa partiallist of itemsthat constitutedthe templeincome.
INTRODUCTION
xcavations at Petra in southern Jordan
during the 1981 season recovered a substantial fragment of a Nabataean inscription 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. However, subsequent researchon the inscription showed
the present writer that the earlier reading contained errors that directly affected our understanding 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.'
E

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.
Line 2.
Line 3.
Line 4.

Line 1:

"Whatever comes to him of silver, or

gold, or offerings, or provisions, altogether [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 completed before this (time), then shall
they allot..."
"Concerning the one who did other
than all of that which is written above,
then shall he repay that which was
discovered ['neglected/forgotten'] ..."

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,

Line 3:

41

mh dy y't' Ih mn ksp wdhb wqrbwn

wzwn klh wmn ksp' wnh[5]...
wlkmry' plg' 'hrn'3 m 'klt 'kryz Cwn
qdm dnh pythlqwn...
l'why dy Cbdkyr kl dy 'I ktyb pyprc
mh dy ystkh...
bywm 'rbch b'b snt tltyn wsbc Ihrtt
mlk nbtw rhm 'mh wtw...

42

RICHARD N. JONES
I

------

BASOR 275

ir~~~~~uTd~~~~~i~~~o~~~9~~~d~~~i6~~~~~~h1
~~~
~~d~~~3jp~~~~~d
~~
6

$ T3fl fl 1,S4
V>ik

a.

---

Fig. 1. Line drawing of the fragmentaryinscriptionfrom 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.

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 1 can be accepted with little change as read Line 2.

and translated in the earlier report. The earlier
article sees Ih as referring to any individual in a As it stands, line 2 is very difficult as read in the
broad sense, but it is likely that here, Ih "to him," earlier article, especially the portion 'klt 'kryz
'wn. This sequence is illegible and the proposed
actually refers to a specific temple official-perhaps a chief priest-who receives the various translation is impossible. However, we can prodonations and offerings itemized in this line. That pose a slight change in the reading and division of
person probably was identified on one of the the Nabataean letters, which greatly improves the
preceding panels. The sense of qrbwn seems very text. This is clearly a text whose palaeography is
close to the Jewish qorban, known from sources unique in some respects. Some letters are notable
contemporary with that inscription to mean "pious for their exuberance and length. One of them, the
donations, gifts to god" (Fitzmyer 1959 = Fitz- tail of a final nun in line 1, descends to and
myer 1974: 93-100; Fitzmyer 1979: 11). The perhaps through line 2 near the previously proearlier article appears correct to see here a distinc- posed word 'wn, specifically the presumed 'ayin,
tion between silver and gold bullion associated which is the source of the difficulty. Taken as an
with the use of the absolute state, and bronze and 'ayin, the letter is peculiar and not at all charactersilver coinage associated with the emphatic state.2 istic of other examples in this inscription (see
Further support for that view comes from the fact Hammond, Johnson, and Jones 1986: 79, fig. 2,
that Nabataean coins of bronze and silver (and reproduced here as column 1 in fig. 2; the letter in
sometimes lead) are typical, whereas no Nabataean question is the second from the left in the row of
gold coins are known (Meshorer 1975). However, 'ayins). Here, instead of reading an Cayin,a he is
the distinction between bullion and coinage is still preferable. Indeed, note that the "Cayin"is actually
only contextual. The earlier report takes zwn to the left half of a he, which is dissected from top to
be "provisions," (following Jean and Hoftijzer bottom, a point that is particularly obvious when
1965: 73). Zwn is a rare word and to my knowl- the two other nonfinal hes in this inscription are
edge, it is found in only one other place, Papyrus compared to it. These letters at this point are

1989

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' apparently 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 meaning 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 possessions of various kinds are formally decreed, assigned, 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 demonstrative 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 1with 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

43

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/regarding 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.
Line 2.
Line 3.

mh dy y't' Ih mn ksp wdhb wqrbwn

wzwn klh wmn ksp' wnh[s' w] //
wlkmry' plg' 'hrn' m 'klt' kryz hww
qdm dnh pythlqwn ///
Iwhy dy Cbdk'yr kl dy q' ktyb prpr'
mh dy ygtkh '[lwhy] ///

RICHARD N. JONES

BASOR 275

_)J J__))I

l171Un l

jt

.ji,

II
11

J jr

1.5 ..il__

51)

.\.

t30^
U1
<'jldJii

t'

Jii

bl

?,r

1n

y^^ ^^"^"
I

*l'T, 111
v

>

^~

irl'l

yy'"

Fig. 2. Columns of Nabataean letters. The left-hand chart is reproduced from Hammond, Johnson, and Jones 1986:
79. A corrected chart of Nabataean letters reflecting the research in the present article appears on the right for
comparison.

1989

A NEW READING OF THE PETRA TEMPLE INSCRIPTION

Line 4.

bywm 'rbCh b'b snt tltyn wsbc lhrtt

mlk nbtw rhw 'mh wtw ///

Line 1.

"Whatever comes to him, from silver,

and gold, and offerings, and all of the
food, and from silver (money) and
bronze (money) [and?]. ..."4
"and to the priests the other/last portion with the foods are assigned in the
presence of this one (masc.), then they
shall be divided up/then they shall
divide (among themselves)..."
"regarding him who does other than
all that which is written above, he shall
pay that which is found ag[ainst him]/
wi[th him]..."
"(Written/decreed) on day 4 of Ab,
year 37 of Aretas, King of the Nabataeans, who loves his people. And...."

Line 2.

Line 3.

Line 4

DISCUSSION
This is clearly a very important inscription,
which provides the first direct evidence of the
cultic legislation that governed aspects of worship
within the Nabataean temple. It appears that freewill offerings and other revenue, received undoubtedly from religious and state taxations, and
various tithes,5 were brought to the temple and
distributed. A portion of the temple wealth was
set aside for the maintenance of the priests, apparently under the supervision of a certain official,

45

probably a chief priest. That practice was common

to many religious systems in the ancient world.
Other items, such as silver and gold bullion
brought to the temple (if this interpretation is
correct), suggest that a considerable income was
received at the temple. The inscription also is
concerned with the misappropriation of temple
income by priests and other temple and cultic
personnel. That issue is known elsewhere in the
ancient world from a variety of sources such as
the Hittite Instructions for Temple Officials (Milgrom 1976: 27-35). Also, for example, the Egyptian Book of the Dead, chapter 125, presents the
dead person at judgment pronouncing the series
of statements known as the "Negative Confessions" in which it must be affirmed that "I have
not diminished the food offerings in the temples,
nor have I damaged the bread offerings of the
gods" (Spencer 1982: 145). The inscription therefore probably was displayed in a location where it
could be read by temple personnel rather than the
general public. It is unfortunate that this panel is
damaged and that the other three (more?) panels
are entirely lost. The presence of a dated regnal
formula makes it probable that this panel is the
last panel of text or that it contains text found
toward the end of the total inscription. Even
though fragmentary, the inscription provides us
with our first substantial glimpse of Nabataean
religious performances and law at Petra during
the first half of the first century A.D.

NC)TES
'I thank ProfessorFrankM. Cross,HarvardUniversity, for observationsand suggestionsof importancefor
this paper. I also thank colleaguesZbigniewT. Fiema
and Shlomo Lederman,Universityof Utah;and David
P. Wright, Brigham Young University, for reading
earlierdraftsof this paperand offeringsuggestionsfor
improvingit. Fiema, a specialistin Nabataeanarchaeology, also checked my drawing of the inscription
againstthe originalartifactin the Petra museumwhile
he was employedduring an epigraphicsurvey by the
JordanianDepartmentof Antiquitiesin July 1986. A
plastercast of the inscriptionwas the kindgift of Philip
C. Hammondin 1983duringworkon the initialreport.
2Asimilaruse of the emphaticstateto denotecoinage
can probablybe seen in the Aramaicpapyrusno. 42,
line 6, as editedby Cowley(1923:142-43).
3Inthis inscriptionthe conjunctionp functionsmuch
likef in Arabicto connectclausesindicatingcause and
effect, result, condition, etc. Elsewherein Nabataean,

this function of p is not so apparentand p often has

only the force of the simple conjunction waw (see
Gabrini1957;Cantineau1:103,2:135).That particleis
found in certain other Aramaicdialects and Ugaritic,
and thereforeNabataeandoes not necessarilyderiveit
fromArabic.
4It seemsclearthat the presentinscriptionrepresents
the last portion of a largertext, and probablyat least
three other panels of similar size containingtext are
lost. It thereforeis possible that the first line of this
inscriptiondoes not begin a sentence,in whichcase the
sense of line 1 may be slightly different: " . . . whatever

comes to him of silver, and gold, and all of the food.

And the silver and the bronze. ..." Still other divisions

of this line are possible.

5Therestill is no evidencefor the collectionof tithes
amongthe Nabataeanscomparableto theJewishma'aser
or the pre-Islamicand Islamic 'ushr, unless a passage
from Malik'sal-Muwatta'5:49, an early Muslimlegal

46

BASOR 275

RICHARD N. JONES

text, can be read as evidence for it: "Malik asked

Ibn Shihab why 'Umru ibn al-Khattab took tithing
(al-'ushr) from the Nabataeans. Ibn Shihab said: "This
was taken from them in the Time of Ignorance (aljahiliyya), and so he required it of them in his own
time," i.e., he continued the practice (al-Muwatta' 1981:
227). While it is well known that payment of various
tithes was common in pre-Islamic societies (see the
article 'Ushr in Shorter EI, 1974: 610-11), I am uncertain at this point regarding the interpretation of this report. First, it is questionable whether a continuity of
Nabataean society can be demonstrated through the time
of early Islam. Second, many Islamic-period writers use
the designation "Nabataean"to mean the countryfolk of
Syria. In the Arabic papyri, nabat and nabati are clearly
used to mean "farmer."By A.D. 1000 Muslim traditional

and religious literature associated the term Nabataean

with "Babylon," for example, the chronology of alBTrunT
(edited by Sachau 1969). The same use is reflected
in Christian Arabic texts. For example, the tenth century
Codex Sinai Arabic 539, fol. 224b lines 2-3 (= Daniel
2:4) reads: "And the Chaldaeans spoke before the king
in the Nabataean language regarding their concerns,"
where the Hebrew and LXX have "Aramaic language."
A similar reading is found in Codex Sinai Arabic 9 fol.
332b lines 9-10 (13th century). Thus I tend to see this
passage from al-Muwatta' regarding the tithe of the
Nabataeans as a reference to Syrian speakers of late
Aramaic under Muslim domination rather than specifically to the Nabataeans or their post-Classical descendants. The problem of this designation in late Arabic,
Syriac, and Hebrew texts surely deserves more study.

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