Palestine Exploration Quarterly, ,  (), –

AN INSCRIBED NABATAEAN BRONZE OBJECT

DEDICATED TO OBODAS THE GOD FROM WĀDĪ MŪSĀ,
SOUTHERN JORDAN
Z -S  H F

A part of a Nabataean bronze inscribed object has been found recently in Wad̄ ı ̄ Mus̄ a,̄ near Petra, Jordan. The
text, which is dated to the reign of the last Nabataean king, Rabbel II (AD 70–106), is of great interest since it
contains words that occur for the first time in Nabataean. It mentions a dedication made by a priest and his son to
‘Obodas the God’ in Gaia. In sum, it adds significant new data to our knowledge of the Nabataean kingdom and
its religion.

Keywords: Nabataean inscriptions, Nabataean religion, Wad̄ ı ̄ Mus̄ a,̄ Gaia, dedications, burners, Obodas the
God

. 
The Nabataean text published here is inscribed on a bronze disc that was found accidentally in
June  in Wādı̄ Mūsā. According to the discoverers, who were ‘treasure hunters’, this arte-
fact was found in Kh. al-Falāḥāt (see Fig. ) with other important artefacts. The present authors
were able to investigate only the inscribed part of this object.
Kh. al-Falāḥ āt traditional village is located in the middle of Wādı̄ Mūsā, near Petra (Fig. ,
WM ). Unfortunately, most of the village has collapsed due to rural expansion in the area
and the few remaining houses are totally abandoned. In the light of the authors’ frequent
visits to the traditional villages that were constructed in Wādı̄ Mūsā during the Late
Ottoman period, it is clear that most of them were built over older structures. Informants
from the region mentioned that the traditional villages in Wādı̄ Mūsā1 were built over older
settlements whose stones were used to construct them. ʿAmshā an-Nashı̄t,̣ for example, who
was born in , said (in ) that during the construction of al-Falāḥāt village, the
workers and builders used to excavate to search for dressed stones from older abandoned build-
ings to be used in the construction of new houses. Canaan in his visit to Wādı̄ Mūsā saw
examples of this practice which included ‘columns beautifully cut and decorated stones of
Roman design, and stones with Arabic and one with a Nabataean inscription’ (, ).
Near Kh. al-Falāḥ āt lies el-J ı̄ (Nabataean Gaia) which was one of the major Nabataean
archaeological sites within Wādı̄ Mūsā. This small village, which was most likely fortified, pros-
pered during the Nabataean period as evidenced by the discovery of the remains of more than
twenty structures, during the conducting of the Waste Water Project, which were identified as
villas. These are characterized by their elaborate building techniques, plastered walls, flagstone
pavements, wall paintings, mosaics, and opus sectile pavements. In addition, one of these qasrs is
furnished with a private bathhouse (Twaissi , ).
Additionally, hydrological installations including cisterns, reservoirs, water-pipes, and the
remains of a Nabataean olive oil press were uncovered. Archaeological work within the village
revealed the wall of a huge structure which might have been a temple, in addition to remains of

Address correspondence to: Zeyad al-Salameen, Department of History and Archaeology, United Arab Emirates
University, P.O. Box , Al-Ain, zeyad.mahdi@gmail.com

© Palestine Exploration Fund  : ./Z.

   , , , 

Fig. . Showing the location of el-Jı̄ (WM ) and Kh. al-Falāḥ āt (red color) (ʿAmr and al-Momani ).

a huge wall surrounding Gaia whose remains were found in different parts of the modern town
(‘Amr and al-Momani , ).
The Nabataean artefacts discovered in el-J ı̄ were mostly uncovered by the team conduct-
ing the Wādı̄ Mūsā Waste Water Project. These include pottery objects, coins, and Nabataean
carved stones (for more details, see ‘Amr and al-Momani ; Twaissi , , –). All
of these hint at a prosperous Nabataean settlement.

.  
The dedication being dealt with here is important because no similar Nabataean dedication
was known previously. The object under discussion is a part of an oil burner or an oil lamp,
but unfortunately Nabataean parallels do not exist. The text refers specifically to burning
oil mgmr dhnʾ ‘oil burner’.
The object of which the disc forms a part was offered to a religious installation in Gaia.
Dedications were normally offered inside temples, and cult statues, cultic figurines, and ded-
ications were found in various Nabataean temples. In the Temple of the Winged Lions, for
example, niches between the engaged columns in the cella may have been used for votive offer-
ings (Healey , ).
                             
In this case the inscription was written on the outside edge of a disc that belonged to a
missing object which may also have been inscribed. The last words of the inscription ʿl ḥyy,
‘for the life of’, suggests that there is a continuation somewhere else on the missing parts of
the object.
The majority of surviving Nabataean texts was written on stones, and texts written on
metals, apart from coins, are rare. One of the rare examples is a fragmentary bronze
plaque with a Nabataean text that was uncovered at the Petra Great Temple in . It
carries an eight-letter inscription which may have included a reference to a king or a queen
(Joukowsky , ).
The text published here is  cm long and – mm high. It consists of one line, with 
characters, carved around the bronze disc.

.  
The text (Figs.  and ) reads as follows:

. Transliteration
dnh mgmr dhnʾ wkpt kyṣʾ dy qrbw zwyls ptwrʾ wʿbdʿbdt brh lʿbdt ʾlhʾ dy byt nyšyʾ bgʾyʾ ʿl ḥyy rbʾl mlkʾ mlk nbt ̣w
dy ʾḥyy wšyzb ʿmh wʿl ḥyy …

. Translation
This is the oil burner (or oil lamp?) and the summer vessel (?) which Zwyls the priest and his son
‘Abd‘obodat dedicated to Obodas the God in the temple of cult reliefs (?) in Gaia for the life of
Rabbel the king, king of the Nabataeans who gives life and saves his people and for the life …

. 
The inscription was skilfully fashioned. It is incomplete, but nearly all the letters are well-presented.
In its general sense the inscription is understandable, but there are some obscure terms whose
precise meanings are not clear.
It was impossible to photograph the whole text in one photograph since the text is
inscribed on a circular object, and therefore the authors decided to take a series of photographs
that show all the words and phrases attested within the text (Fig. ).
Most of the letters are clear and can be read with certainty. The letters, generally speak-
ing, are elegantly and sharply incised and are reasonably well executed, but the characters are
uneven in size. Some of the forms of the letters resemble the form of the letters of late Naba-
taean inscriptions (see Table ). The letter ʾaleph appears many times in the text, and it reflects
the characteristics of late st century  inscriptions.
The forms of the letter y are not the same throughout the text. The medial y, and when it is
joined on the right (in: nyšyʾ) is a straight vertical line, and the form of this letter is a bit strange
here as it is uncommon in this form in Nabataean. At the same time, there are parallels to the

Fig. . Drawing of the inscription (drawn by Z. al-Salameen).

   , , , 

Fig. . Photographs of the ring of the oil-burner (or oil-burning lamp?) described, showing the edge
where the text is inscribed (photographed by Hani Falahat).

form in some Nabataean inscriptions (Nehmé , figs. , ; al-Theeb , ). The medial
y in a Nabataean text from Taymāʾ, dated to  , is a bit longer (see the words: tymy, byrḥ)
(Al-Najem and MacDonald , ). The final y may be compared with other Nabataean
dated texts where the end of the tail runs diagonally towards the left (see Nehmé ). The
letter lām appears here as a long upright vertical stroke with a horizontal base. The right
stroke of the ʿayn is curved and continues as a semicircle with a left stroke.

. 
The text starts with dnh, ‘this’, which is common in Nabataean (Hoftijzer and Jongeling ,
).
                             

Fig. . Arrangement of the parts of the text.

The second word is to be read as mgmr, ‘burner’. A word of this form occurs in the Naba-
taean tomb inscriptions of Ḥ egra with a different meaning ‘totality, full price’ (Hoftijzer and
Jongeling , ). It also occurs in a Nabataean inscription engraved on a sandstone
incense-burner discovered in Taymāʾ in northern Arabia (al-Theeb , n. ).
The Akkadian noun gumāru means ‘charcoal’ and is linked with ‘burning’ and ‘heating’ in
other Semitic languages (Hoftijzer and Jongeling , ). In Phoenician the same root
appears to mean ‘to be intoxicated by burnt incense’ (Hoftijzer and Jongeling , ).
The words ‫ מגמר‬and ‫ מוגמר‬appear in the Targumic Aramaic meaning ‘spices put on coals’
(Jastrow , ). We have similar examples in Syriac where the words ‘burning
coals’ and ‘burnt-offering’ are also common (Payne Smith , , ).
The word, therefore, may be linked with ‘burning’ etymologically speaking, and may be
closely compared to the Arabic word majmarah which is used to mean ‘incense burner, a vessel
for fumigation, a censer, a vessel in which aloe-wood is burned’ (Lane , Volume , ; Ibn
Manẓūr, gmr).
dhnʾ: This word is suffixed with the grapheme ʾaleph which denotes the emphatic form. The
exact meaning of this word is rather problematic. The word appears in other Semitic languages
to mean ‘fat’ (Jastrow , ; Hoftijzer and Jongeling , ). Words derived from the
root dhn and duhnah are attested in Arabic to describe a particular oil or kind of oil and
they sometimes mean odour (Ibn Manẓūr, dhn) as in the saying ‘he is sweet in respect of
odour’ (see Lane , Vol. , ).
Additionally, words derived from mgmr and dhn are attested together in one of the sayings
of Prophet Mohammad: ‘the pleasing present for the faster is oil (ad-duhn) and aloes-wood
(al-migmar)’ (at-Termiḍ ı̄ , n. ). The usage of the word dhn in
modern Arabic terminology side by side with frankincense indicates that the word is not
modern, even though it does not appear in ancient Pre-Islamic inscriptions.
   , , , 
So, the two words mgmr dhnʾ may be linked with the burning of oils. Nabataean domestic
libation and fumigation residues from some tombs in Petra revealed the use of vegetable oil
and animal fats also but in small amounts. Vegetable oils were also identified as mixed with
diterpeniod resin, from an imported conifer (Garnier et al. ).
The translation of wkpt kyṣʾ is also problematic since these two words do not appear else-
where in Nabataean. In discussing their contextual meaning we may discuss their relevant
occurrences in other Semitic languages since the meaning of a word is determined through
its contextual use.
The first word is obviously kpt and it has different meanings in different Semitic languages.
It may be compared with the Syriac word which means ‘a coffer, the hollow part of a
censer’ (Payne Smith , ). It may be compared also to the Arabic word kift that means
‘vessel, a small cooking-pot’ (Ibn Manẓūr, kift) which is attested in the following Arabic
proverb: ‘a small cooking-pot (put) next to a large one’ (Lane , Volume VII,
).
The Aramaic Hatran kpp apparently denotes an architectural term or vaulted room (Hof-
tijzer and Jongeling , ). Words deriving from this root appear also regularly in Palmyr-
ene, meaning ‘vault, niche’ (Hoftijzer and Jongeling , ). In discussion, John Healey
suggested that a niche for an oil-lamp or a burner would fit here, and the second word
might specify what sort of niche was involved. However, we prefer the first interpretation of
this word, and it seems that a vessel was offered inside the temple alongside the oil-burner/
oil-burning lamp.
The second word kyṣʾ also occurs in Nabataean for the first time. The second letter of this
word is most likely to be read as y, and therefore the word would be kyṣʾ, ‘summer’, but this
reading does involve a complication as the word ‘summer’ should be ‘qyṣʾ’. It is likely to be
dissimilated form for qyṣʾ, as in Zincirli Aramaic (Hoftijzer and Jongeling , ).
kpt kyṣʾ, therefore likely means ‘vessel of the summer’. It may refer to the vessel that formed
part of the offerings which were normally deposited in the temple during the summer. This
issue raises other related questions: why summer in particular? Were there other offerings to
be dedicated in winter and other seasons? Answering these questions is impossible at the
moment due to lack of evidence.
dy: well-known relative pronoun meaning ‘which, that’.
qrbw: Third person masculine plural perfect ‘offered, dedicated’. This word occurs fre-
quently in Nabataean Aramaic (CIS ), Hebrew, Palmyrene and Hatran (Hoftijzer and Jon-
geling , ).
zwyls: A personal name hitherto uncommon in Nabataean. The first letters of the name
are attested in a fragmentary inscription from Sidon and it was reconstructed as Zo[ilos] (CIS
). It corresponds with the Greek name Zωίλου (Cantineau , ).
ptwrʾ: The etymology of this word is problematic. The word occurs in Nabataean inscrip-
tions (Savignac and Starcky ; Starcky and Strugnell ; Healey , –) and it
occurs also in one of the recently published Nabataean papyri (Healey , ) and two
meanings have been suggested for it, ‘a kind of a priest’, and ‘dream-interpreter’ (Healey
, ). The words ‫ פתור‬and ‫ פתורא‬occur in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic and in the Targumic
Aramaic meaning ‘dream interpreter, interpreter’ (Jastrow , ). It seems most likely that
this term refers to one of the Nabataean religious professions within the Nabataean kingdom
and it most likely refers to a kind of priest (Healey , ).
ʿbdʿbdt: A basiliophoric name that is attested elsewhere in Nabataean and may be voca-
lized as ʿAbdʿobodat (Healey , ; Nehmé , –). It is a compound of ʿbd
‘servant’ and ʿbdt: ‘Obodas’, the well-known name of three Nabataean kings. It occurs in Tha-
mudic and Safaitic inscriptions (King , ; Shatnawi , ).
brh: ‘His son’
                             
l ʿbdt ʾlhʾ: ‘for Obodas the God’. ʿbdt ‘ʿObodat’ is the name of one of the Nabataean kings
already mentioned and the word ʾlhʾ means ‘god’ (see discussion below). The name ʿbdt is well
attested in Nabataean (Negev , ), Thamudic (King , ; Shatnawi , ), and
Safaitic inscriptions (Harding , ).
A further difficulty and interest in this inscription lies in the phrase byt nyšyʾ which occur
here for the first time in Nabataean. The first word byt, is a common Semitic word meaning
‘house’ or ‘sanctuary’ (Hoftijzer and Jongeling , –). The first letter of the second
word is to be read as l, n, or b, then comes š followed by y and finally the shape of ʾ.
Because of the ambiguities of the letters, we will list below both plausible possibilities regarding
the readings and meanings of this word.
If we assume that the first letter is l and the second letter is b, then the word would be lbšyʾ
‘the garments’, but it is difficult to know what this ‘house of garments’ could refer to and why
would Obodat be worshipped there?
A preferred alternative may be proposed. The first letter is more likely n followed by y,
which resembles the forms of y in other Nabataean inscriptions (see paleography) and the
reading therefore would be byt nyšyʾ, ‘house /temple of cult reliefs’. The comparison would
be with the Syriac and Hatran nyšʾ (Payne Smith , ; Hoftijzer and Jongeling ,
). The word nyš ʾ occurs in Hatra meaning ‘relief, emblem’ and it is attested there in
texts inscribed near eagle statues (Caquot , n. ; idem , no. ).
The byt nyšyʾ would be some kind of temple in which the cult of reliefs were worshipped,
and zwyls the priest and his son ʿAbdʿobodat would be making a dedication to Obodat in the
temple. This dedication included an oil-burner/oil-burning lamp and another vessel.
It is not entirely clear whether the phrase byt nyšyʾ refers to a temple or another cultic place.
The phrase may fit a structure similar to that large unroofed enclosure that was found in
Bayḍ a. This structure, which may have had a ritual function related to wine, is approached
by elaborate walkways. A total of thirty-one sculpted heads were uncovered inside the structure
which may be considered as a structure of cult reliefs (Bikai, Kanellopoulos, and Saunders
).
Nabataean temples, such as those in Khirbet et-Tannūr and Khirbet edh-Dharih had cult
reliefs inside them (McKenzie, Reyes, and Gibson , –; Linant de Bellefonds and Vil-
leneuve , , fig. ). These temples were also decorated with sets of busts on the outside
of the celestial deities and personifications of the zodiac, respectively (Glueck , ). Khirbet
et-Tannūr had cult statues of the god and his consort in anthropomorphic form (McKenzie,
Gibson, and Reyes ; McKenzie a, b). Additionally, fragments of statues were
found also in the Temple of the Winged Lions (Hammond ).
In the chapel of Obodas the god at En-Nmeir in Petra there is a niche in the back wall
where a statue was placed according to an inscription found within the chapel’s area (CIS
II ). Inside the chapel fragments of a statue were uncovered (Nehmé a, b), but
it is not clear if this statue represents Obodas the god or not.
Thus, the special name byt nyšyʾ ‘temple (house) of the cult reliefs’ mentioned in our text is
unlikely to simply mean a temple with anthropomorphic cult statues or busts decorating it.
Thus, the name must signify something else. The oil burner/oil burning lamp is dedicated
to Obodas the god in this temple. As it does not say in the temple of the god Obodas, but
rather in the temple of the cult reliefs, the question arises as to the other gods worshipped
in this temple.
There was considerable Egyptian influence at Petra (McKenzie , –, a, –
; Zayadine ; Tholbecq ; McKenzie and Reyes ). Egyptian cultic influences
were also obvious (Zayadine ; Meza , –; Tholbecq , –). In Alexandria
the temple of the city’s goddess of good fortune, the Tychaion, had statues inside, not only of
Tyche, but of Alexander, the twelve Greek gods, and Ptolemaic kings (McKenzie and Reyes
   , , , 
). One wonders if Wādı̄ Mūsā had a Nabataean dynastic temple: ‘the temple of the cult
reliefs’ for the Nabataean kings and queens. One wonders also if local Egyptians influenced
the Nabataeans in the establishment of the cult of Obodas the god.
bgʾyʾ: ‘in Gaia’. Gaia is to be identified with modern-day Wādı̄ Mūsā. This toponym goes
back to the Nabataean period and is attested in Nabataean in inscriptions uncovered in
Oboda, al-Jawf, Wādı̄ Rum and Wādı̄ Mūsā (Savignac , –; Savignac and Starcky
, ; Negev , –). It originated from the Semitic word gyʾ, which means ‘valley,
a place where waters flow together, low plain’ (Gesenius , ). This name appears in
different forms in Nabataean theophoric personal names such as ʾmtʾlgʾ and ʿbdʾlgʾ (Littmann
, n. ; CIS II , , ) ʿbdʾlgyʾ (CIS II ), meaning ‘the servant of (the god) of
Eljı̄’ (al-Khraysheh , ; Negev , , ) (for more details about Gaia, see
al-Salameen and Falahat ).
ʿl ḥyy: ‘for the life of’. This formula is common in Nabataean, Palmyrene, Edessan and
Hatran dedicatory inscriptions of the first three centuries  (Healey , –, ,
), and the inscriptions that include this formula are mostly expressions of political loyalty
(Healey , ). The phrase occurs frequently in Palmyrene dedicatory texts inscribed on
incense burners (Dijkstra , –). Dijkstra says that the employment of ʿl ḥyy ‘suggests
that whoever reads the text is invited to pay his respect to the Nabataean royal family. In
arguing such an attitude on this part of the reader, the dedicator shows his allegiance to his
legitimate overlords’ (, ). Anderson (, ) considers that this phrase ‘which
seems to be an honorific akin to the Greek euergetistic terms τιμῆς χάριν and τιμῆς
ἕνεκεν, commemorates the dedicator’s allegiance to the honored’.
rbʾl is the masculine compound personal name of the Nabataean king Rabbel II ( –
) and this name occurs frequently in Nabataean (al-Khraysheh , ; Negev , ). It
occurs also in Safaitic (Littmann , , ), Thamudic (Shatnawi , ), and Palmyr-
ene inscriptions (Stark , ).
mlkʾ mlk nbt ̣w: ‘the king, king of the Nabataeans’.
dy ʾḥyy wšyzb ʿmh: ‘he who gives life and saves his people’ or ‘he who brought life and deli-
verance to his people’, a title given to the Nabataean king Rabbel II2 ( –) who was the
last known Nabataean king. The word ʾḥyy is the apʿel perfect of ḥyʾ/y (Healey , ) and it
means ‘he gives life’ (Cantineau , ). The word šyzb is a loan from Akkadian and common
in Aramaic meaning ‘he who saved’ (Healey , ). This title was granted to Rabbel II (
–).
Kammerer (–, ) linked this title with Rabbel’s success in preventing the annexa-
tion of Nabataea to the Roman empire. Negev, on the other hand, assumes that this title should
be linked with farming and agricultural systems which ‘earned this king this distinguished title,
replacing the loss of the international spice trade’ (Negev , ), and thanks ‘to his efforts to
replace the lost economic resources of the international trade by encouraging the former
nomads to take their last steps towards full rural and urban civilization, and to take up the long-
abhorred practice of agriculture’ (Negev , ). Negev also assumes that the beginning of
the reign of Rabbel saw the abrupt end of prosperity of the Nabataean district of northern
Arabia and intensified activities in the Ḥ awrān (Negev , ). Others argue that Rabbel
was granted this honorific title because of some political achievements. Meshorer regards
the appellation as ‘one of internal significance in the Nabataean royal court’ (, ).
It is worth mentioning that after the accession of Rabbel in  , when he was too young
to assume the throne directly, a certain person named Daması̄, who was not of the royal house
and who was one of the brothers of Malikus, the governor of Ḥ egra, rebelled briefly against
him (Winnett ). Graf thinks that it is possible that the ‘waging of a successful campaign
against the adherents of the rebellion may account partially for Rabbel II’s claim to have
                             
brought life and deliverance to his people’ (, ). Bowersock thinks that it is conceivable that
this phrase may be connected with the suppression of the revolt of Daması̄ (, ).
During the reign of Rabbel II, the construction of new buildings continued in the central
and southern parts of Nabataea as indicated in an inscription found in ʿAyn esh-Shallālah
which mentions the name of Rabbel II and members of his family (Savignac , –)
and by the tomb inscriptions of Ḥ egra.
wʿl ḥyy: This formula means ‘and for the life of’. This formula is normally followed by
names of members of the royal family. The occurrence of this formula here indicates that
the inscription does not come to an end but continued on another part of the object.

. 
Generally speaking, archaeological excavations in Arabia and the Levant suggest the depo-
sition and use of burners and oil lamps as offerings (see, for examples, Derfler , –;
Kehrberg , –; Hassell ; Berlin , –; Bron , –, fig. ).
Archaeological fieldwork conducted in Nabataea, and especially in Petra, has yielded evi-
dence that the Nabataeans used incense-burners. A group of incense-burners/altars was
uncovered in the Temple of the Winged Lions at Petra. They are cuboid blocks, mostly
made of limestone, with cavities on the upper surface. Their sides were decorated with
figures, geometric designs, and bands. Their average measurements are  ×  ×  cm
(Hammond , –).
In the vicinity of Bı̄r Muleiḥ a in the southern central area of Wādı̄ Arabah, a stone burner
was uncovered with other Nabataean remains (Cohen , ). In ʿĒn Raḥel, incense resin
was also found in a small limestone altar decorated at the site (Erickson-Gini , ). A  ×
 ×  cm sandstone fragment of an inscribed Nabataean incense-burner was found in Bayḍa
and was published by al-Salameen (). Additionally, two inscribed Nabataean burners
were unearthed in Taymāʾ in northern Arabia (Mayouf , , ; al-Theeb ,
n. ), one of which has not been published yet.3
It should be emphasized that bronze lamps are uncommon in Nabataean sites and only a
few examples were found in the Temple of the Winged Lions.4 Archaeological excavations at
Khirbat Nawāfla in Wādı̄ Mūsā revealed tens of unidentifiable bronze pieces and fragments,
some of which could have come from lamps or candlesticks but this is not assured.5
There is no doubt that our bronze fragment is a part of a unique cultic dedication.
Archaeological discoveries have revealed that various types of cultic offerings were made in
Nabataea. At Khirbet et-Tannūr Nelson Glueck discovered burnt grains and animal bones
inside a structure within the temple which was a sacrificial altar (, , –; McKenzie,
Reyes, and Gibson , ). In western Sinai there is a Nabataean sanctuary dated to the
second century  where animal bones collected included bones of Gazella docras. These
finds indicate animal sacrifice or dedications to the deity of the sanctuary (Studer , ).
A Nabataean inscription found in Puteoli refers to the sacrificing of two camels by Naba-
taean men to Dushara (CIS II ), but we do not know if this dedication was through actual or
modelled figurines of camels (Healey , ). Various opinions are suggested regarding the
function of the terracotta figurines in Nabataea. el-Khouri (, ) suggested that they were
votive offerings and used in religious ceremonies.
Other dedications and offerings include altars, idols, cult statues, and pottery objects.
Ceramic lamps were presented as offerings in Nabataean tombs as grave goods in addition
to other ceramic artefacts (Perry ).
Frankincense was burnt also by the Nabataeans as mentioned by Strabo (Geography
..). A small altar was found in the  season of excavation at al-Khaznah Courtyard
at Petra. It was full of burnt incense that would have been used as an offering during the
   , , , 
religious ceremonies in the courtyard (Farajat and Nawafleh , ). Additionally, a burnt
layer in the courtyard and three hearths have been found and they contained quantities of fran-
kincense (Nawafleh, personal communication).
The unique inscription uncovered in the Temple of the Winged Lions mentions offerings
to be given to the priests. These include ‘silver and gold and offerings and all provisions, and
from silver and bron(ze … )’. The last word in the first line of the inscription was reconstructed
as nḥ(šʾ) ‘bron(ze)’ (Hammond, Johnson, and Jones ). The publishers of the text concluded
that this refers to ‘bronze coinage’ even though the word ‘coin’ is not mentioned in the text. It
seems more likely that this word refers to bronze objects that were deposited inside the temple
which may include coins or other bronze objects.
The text published here refers to Gaia, which seemingly accommodated a temple. As
stated above, the name Gaia is well attested in Nabataean epigraphy and some Nabataean
gods such as al-Kutbā and Dushara are associated with this site (Healey , , , ,
). Archaeological fieldwork conducted in Wādı̄ Mūsā during the last two decades has
proved that it was a prosperous town at that time. Remains of a considerable ancient settle-
ment can be seen scattered in different areas within present-day Wādı̄ Mūsā, although the
ruins are mostly covered by the modern town. It was one of the most important sites in the
greater Petra area during the Nabataean period, most likely to be identified with Gaia that
is mentioned frequently in Nabataean inscriptions (Healey , –). Milik suggested
that Wādı̄ Mūsā was the administrative centre of the Nabataean kingdom (Milik , ).
The Wādı̄ Mūsā Waste Water Project, conducted in the late s, revealed evidence of a pros-
perous Nabataean town. This is indicated by the discovery of remains of ornamental Naba-
taean villas dated to the st century  (‘Amr et al. ; ‘Amr and al-Momani ;
Twaissi ).
Another interesting fact attested in this inscription is the reference made to Nabataean
king Obodas who is described in the text as ‘God’. It is worth mentioning that there are
several personal names attested in Nabataean inscriptions which were prefixed with ʿbd
‘servant of’ and the second part of the name represents the names of a member of the royal
family, such as ʿbdḥrtt ‘ʿAbd Ḥ aretat’ and sometimes they include names of well-know Naba-
taean queens (Negev ; Healey , ; Nehmé , –).
Ruler cults have a long history in the ancient near east (Anderson , ) but Nabataea
provides us with only one example. One of the three Nabataean kings named Obodas was
deified. It is not confirmed yet which Obodas this was, as there were apparently three Naba-
taean kings with that name: Obodas I (c. – ), Obodas II (– ), and Obodas III (–
 ) (sometimes called Obodas II).
Zayadine (, ) argues that Obodas I was honoured by the title ʾlhʾ ‘god’ after his
death in the Negev. Patrich (, ) and Nehmé (, ) assume that Obodas the god
was Obodas I.
On the other hand, Negev argued that Oboda in the Negev was named either after
Obodas II or III (Negev , no. –b, , , , –) who paid little heed to public
affairs and left everything in the hands of Syllaeus (Strabo, Geography ..). Cantineau
(, ) and Healey (, ) believe that Obodas the god was Obodas III.
As far as historical sources are concerned, the only probable reference to this cult is found
in an account dated to the post-Nabataean period which links the Nabataean king Obodas
with the well-known Nabataean town in the Negev, Oboda. Stephanus of Byzantium from
the fourth century  has the following entry:
Ὄβοδα: χωρίον Ναβαταίων. Οὐράνιος Ἀραβικω̃ν τετάρτῳ ‘ὅπου Ὀβόδης ὁ βασιλεύς, ὃν θεοποιοῦσι,
τέθαπται.’
                             
‘Oboda, a place of the Nabataeans. Uranius in his fourth book on the Arabs [states] ‘where Obodas
the king, whom they deify, is buried’’ (Ethnika , –).
It must be emphasized that the cult of the dead king Obodas is well attested in Nabataean
epigraphy and there are inscriptions in Oboda and Petra that make reference to this cult. In the
relevant inscription from Oboda in the Negev there is a reference to Obodas the god and the
statue erected for him and this text includes two lines of Arabic embedded in the Nabataean
Aramaic (Negev ).
In Petra, there is a Nabataean inscription dedicating a statute to this god in the th year
of Aretas IV (Cantineau , –). The Obodas chapel, which is a rock-cut sanctuary located
in the Nmayr area in Petra has been excavated by a French team since . A head of a sand-
stone statute was discovered there, which might represent a part of the Obodas statue men-
tioned in our text which most probably ‘stood in the niche where the members of the
symposium of Obodas who met in the triclinium could worship it’ (Nehmé a, ).
In one of the Nabataean texts there is a reference to a Nabataean marzeaḥ under the
patronage of Obodas the god. This text reads ‘May ʿObaidu son of Waqihel and his compa-
nions, the marzeaḥ of Obodas the god, be remembered’ (Dalman , –). It is not clear
whether the king was deified before or after his death (Bryan , ; L’Heureux ,
). Lewis (, –) considers Obodas a deceased ancestor.
There is another inscription that refers to this cult from the post-Nabataean period. The
name Zeus Obodas is attested in several inscriptions uncovered in Oboda dated to the third
century  (Negev , –).

.  
. The part of the oil burner/oil burning lamp published here represents the first known
Nabataean inscribed metal burner.
. This new Nabataean text adds new and complex data to the question of Wādı̄ Mūsā and
its relation with Petra during the Nabataean period. It also adds new information to our
knowledge of Gaia, indicating it was at least an important centre that developed into a
predominantly aristocratic residential area during the Nabataean period. Remains of
various residential areas and considerable remains of Nabataean villas were found in
the town while conducting the Waste Water Project between  and . These
are characterized by elaborate building techniques and sometimes have plastered
walls, fresco panels, wall paintings, and mosaic pavements. The available Nabataean
evidence from the town, therefore, attests to the activities of elites. The rich architectural
remains and fragments from Wādı̄ Mūsā villas confirm this.
. The object published here is dedicated to two prominent Nabataean kings: the deified
Obodas and Rabbel II. The Obodas cult existed in Nabataea as indicated by Naba-
taean inscriptions found in Petra and Oboda. Other members of the royal family
were probably deified also but this not proven yet.
. The text presents new words that did not occur previously in Nabataean inscriptions.
These include dhnʾ, kpt, kyṣʾ, and nyšyʾ.


This paper would not have been completed without the help and support received from John Healey,
Michael Macdonald, Judith Mckenzie, David Johnson, Laïla Nehmé, Marie-Jeane Roche, Elias
   , , , 
T : Chart of the forms of Nabataean letters (drawn by Z. al-Salameen)

Khamis and Saba Fares. To those scholars we express our respect and appreciation. All mistakes are
solely ours.

1
These villages which were built during the Late
Ottoman period share common features. They were
constructed in well-secured places where water and
arable land were available. Many of the houses of
these villages are identical as the construction
technique was the same. Doors were built of many
long timber panels nailed together and a wooden lintel
is set directly above the entrance. Roofs, on the other
hand, rest on a series of arches which, in turn, are
supported by walls, and the roofs are equipped with
drainage systems. The walls were built of roughly
dressed stones with a rubble and mortar fill,
approximately . m high and more than one meter
thick. Thick wall construction had many advantages: it
did not require highly skilled masons, it offered better
thermal insulation and accommodated wall niches
(Fuchs , –).
2
Historical chronicles do not provide us with any
details about the political and social development
inside the Nabataean kingdom during the reign of
Rabbel II, who reigned for  years, and all our
information about this king comes from inscriptions
and coins.
3
Reference to this burner is found at http://www.
dainst.org/en/project/tayma?ft=all
4
David Johnson, personal communication.
5
Khairieh ‘Amr, personal communication. Abbreviation:
CIS – Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum, Pars
Secunda, Inscriptiones Aramaicas Continens, Paris:
E. Reipublicae, .
                             


‘Amr, K., and al-Momani, A., . Wadi Musa Water Supply and Wastewater Project (–) (unpublished Report),
Petra Antiquities Office.
‘Amr, K., and al-Momani, A., . ‘Preliminary report on the archaeological component of the Wadi Musa Water
Supply and Wastewater Project (–)’, ADAJ , –.
‘Amr, K. et al., . ‘Archaeological survey of the Wadi Musa Water Supply and Wastewater Project area’, ADAJ
, –.
Anderson, B., . Constructing Nabataea: Identity, Ideology, and Connectivity (unpublished PhD thesis), University of
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