Abdʿobodat Explained

Abdʿobodat (Nabataean Arabic: عبدعبادة ʿbdʿbdt) son of Wahballahi, was a 1st-century Nabatean Arab stonemason who worked in the city of Hegra, and constructed a number of monumental rock-cut tombs.

He is named by inscriptions on five of the tomb facades Hegra as the executing craftsman. On the basis of the inscriptions, four of the facades can be dated to the reigns of kings Aretas IV and Malichus II.^{[1] [2]} Abd'obodat belonged to a family of professional stonemasons.^[3] He inherited the family business from his father Wahballahi and his uncle Abdharetat and succeeded them in at least one workshop in the second generation of Nabatean architects. Abd'obodat is considered to be the main representative of one of the two main schools of the Nabataean stonemasons, to which his father, his uncle belonged.^[4]

References

• Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum 2, 198; see Répertoire d'Épigraphie sémitique on the site.

Notes and References

1. Negev, A. (1976). THE NABATEAN NECROPOLIS AT EGRA. Revue Biblique (1946-), 83(2), 217.
2. John F. Healey: The Nabataean Tomb Inscriptions of Mada'in Salih. (Journal of Semitic Studies Supplement 1). Oxford University Press, 1994, ISBN 978-0-199221-62-2, S. 154–162.
3. Fiema . Z. T. . Remarks on the Sculptors from Ḥegra. . Journal of Near Eastern Studies . 1987 . 46 . 1 . 52–53 . 10.1086/373216 . 154324507 . ...However, particularly prominent among these craftsmen is the family of ‘Abd’obodat. It would seem that this family had established a flourishing business concern at Hegra..
4. Daniel Keller: Abd’obodat. In: Rainer Vollkommer (Herausgeber): Künstlerlexikon der Antike. Über 3800 Künstler aus drei Jahrtausenden. Nikol, Hamburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-937872-53-7, S. 2.