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Last Updated on 23 Mar 2017

Author: Benedikt Eckhardt

CAPInv. 603: mrzḥ dwšr’

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area The Near East and Beyond
ii. Region Arabia
iii. Site Oboda

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) מרזח דושרא (IEJ 13 (1963): 113-17 no. 10, l. 2-3)
ii. Full name (transliterated) mrzḥ dwšr’

III. DATE

i. Date(s) 70 - 106 AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Theophoric:dwšr’: Dushara
iii. Descriptive terms מרזחא, mrzḥ’
Note mrzḥ’: IEJ 13 (1963): 113-17 no. 10, l. 2

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) IEJ 13 (1963): 113-17 no. 10 (AD 70-106)
Online Resources AGRW ID 9549
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Aramaic dedicatory inscription
i.c. Physical format(s) Broken trough made of chalk (according to Negev: a libation altar)
ii. Source(s) provenance 2 km south of Oboda

VI. BUILT AND VISUAL SPACE

ii. References to buildings/objects mdr’ (mrd’? mdd’?) (l. 1). This may be a structure that has to do with the water system (Alpass 2011: 190; Negev read skw’, "dam", which was corrected by Naveh; Hackl et al. suggest "Spende[behälter]"). In all probability, the reference is to the object that carries the inscription.

VII. ORGANIZATION

iii. Members בני מרזחא, bny mrzḥ’

X. ACTIVITIES

iv. Honours/Other activities The dedication is dated according to the regnal years of Rabbel II, who also receives praise in l. 4.

XII. NOTES

i. Comments Diushara, which appears in the name of the group, is qualified as "the god of Gaia" (’lh g’y’), a small settlement outside Petra.
iii. Bibliography Alpass, P.J. (2011), The Religious Life of Nabataea. Diss. Durham (189-91).
Hackl, U., Jenni, H., and Schneider, Chr. (2003), Quellen zur Geschichte der Nabatäer. Textsammlung mit Übersetzung und Kommentar. Fribourg/Göttingen (404).
McLaughlin, J.L. (2001), The marzēaḥ in the Prophetic Literature. References and Allusions in Light of the Extra-Biblical Evidence. Leiden/Boston (45-8).
Millares Maciá, M. (2007), Marzeah y thíasos: una institución convival en el Oriente Próximo Antiguo y el Mediterráneo. Madrid (169-71).
Naveh, J. (1967), 'Some Notes on Nabatean Inscriptions from ‘Avdat', IEJ 17: 187-89.
Negev, A. (1963), 'Nabatean Inscriptions from ‘Avdat (Oboda) II', IEJ 13: 113-24.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Probable
Note The terminology used suggests a private association