Die theophoren Personennamen in den dadanischen Inschriften

The pursuit of this thesis is to analyse all theophoric personal names in the up to now published Dadanitic inscriptions as well as the graffiti, which were accessible. A detailed overview is compiled and composed, which is to present the primary result of the research. For this intention, the present thesis deals explicitly with a lexical as well as etymological investigation of the Dadanitic theophoric personal names, which are identified und picked out as a central theme within the scope of the Semitic languages. It was tested as far as this was possible to determine the meaning of the root of the respective personal names by means of the Semitic lexicon and the onomastic works. In addition, the personal names are interpreted according to their morphology. The first phase within the scope of the research project was the compilation of all Dadanitic inscriptions as well as graffiti, which were extracted from different publications. After this intensive search and examination of the whole text material the theophoric personal names were extracted and cataloged. Concerning the investigations of the personal names, it must be explained that with some personal names different possibilities of the interpretation had to be given as possible alternatives. This is explained by the fact that the vocalization of some personal names is doubtful and that there exists more than one meaning of the homonym root, which appears in the same name. In this context, it must be pointed out that the relevance of the investigation of the theophoric personal names refers not only to the linguistic field. They also contain important knowledge about the religious-historical environment. Thus, it must be highlighted that Dadanitic theophoric names are exceedingly interesting as well as a valuable testimony to the personal and private religious state of the people Dadan and Liḥyān. All of this should be considered a clear documentation of the formal aspects of the religiousness of these people. Some Gods, who occur frequently in the compound theophoric personal names, are not relevant in the Dadanitic pantheon, which are known through the inscriptions. On the other hand, many God’s names, which are common in the Dadanitic inscriptions and so important for the Dadanitic pantheon, hardly appear in the Dadanitic compound names. Due to the fact that the birth of a child was significant for the family, it is only understandable that the personal and private belief is of significance by choosing a theophoric name. The intention of which, was to ensure that God assists the so-named child in his life and protects him or her throughout life - hence, the possibility of identifying the personal names attributes, which are ascribed to God. Not only that, but it is about a specific mission, which he or she achieved, or about a relationship, which the God should show to the name bearer.