§134 Nabataeans and Jews Battle

Nabataeans and Jews Battle

(0134) Text: l ’s¹lh bn s¹‘dlh bn gdy w ‘lf s¹nt ḥrb nbṭ yhd

Translation: By ’slh son of S‘dlh son of Gdy and he fed the animals the year of the war the Nabataeans and the Jews.

Commentary: This battle could be Herod vs. Malichus I (32/31 BCE) or Antipas vs. Aretas IV (37 CE). The inscription is in Safaitic and so the text is rendered here in transliteration instead of transcription, given difficulties in reproducing the latter (e.g., use of boustrephedon, non-standard characters).

Provenience: stateless desert region (Wādī Al-Ḥashād, Jordan) 31 BCE, 4 BCE, or 37 CE

Bibliography: OCIANA #0030556*