HU 789 d

Siglum: HU 789 d
Alternative Sigla: WHI 203 d, Eut 226 (3 copies pls 9, 10, 11), HuIR 1, Hub pp 136, 221, 222, 626
Transliteration: bḏ{m} bn {n}ḏ wdd ks²ʾ
b----{l}
OCIANA
Translation: {Bḏm} son of Nḏ loved Ks²ʾ
{b----l}
OCIANA
Language and Script: Thamudic B

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus: TEXT Van den Branden: bḏr rḏḏ wdd ks²ʾ bḏl for bḏ{m} bn {n}ḏ wdd ks²ʾb----{l}; WHI 203 d: bz mṭṭ wdd ks²ʾ bz(l) "Here Mṭṭ loved [and] lay with Bz{l}" for bḏ{m} bn {n}ḏ wdd ks²ʾ b----{l} "{Bḏm} son of Nḏ loved Ks²ʾ {b----l}"; Jamme: bḏl rather than bzl.
Commentary: The identification of the script of this inscription is complicated. The forms of the last three letters of line 1 suggest that it must be Thamudic B, in which case the second letter cannot be z since in Thamudic B z has the same shape as in Safaitic, and this letter would have to be one of the forms of ḏ (see the script table in Macdonald 2004: 496). A close examination of the photograph suggest that what was formerly read as the fourth letter and assumed to have the shape of a Safaitic ṭ, is in fact two letters, b n, and that the right-hand vertical of the fifth letter is not joined to the other two and is in fact a separate letter, which we would suggest is another n, though the small horizontal stroke on its right side makes this uncertain. This would produces the somewhat unlikely patronym nḏ. Finally the second letter in line 2 is too damaged to allow a secure reading.

[HuIR] Huber, C. Inscriptions recueillies dans l'Arabie centrale, 1878-1882. Bulletin de la Société de géographie 7th. series, 5, 1884: 289-303.
[Hub] Huber, C. Journal d'un voyage en Arabie (1883 -1884). Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1891. pp 136, 221, 222, 626
[Eut] Jamme, A. Miscellanées d'ancient arabe V. Washington, DC: [privately produced], 1974. pp 87 [as Hu 789 d] Plate 10 A
Macdonald, M.C.A. Ancient North Arabian. Pages 488-533 in R.D. Woodard (ed.), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
[HU] The inscriptions recorded by Charles Huber as renumbered in Van den Branden, A. Les inscriptions thamoudéennes. (Bibliothèque du Muséon, 25). Louvain: Institut Orientaliste de l'Université de Louvain, 1950. No. 1.3 pp 113–116 Plate III
[WHI] Winnett, F.V & Reed, W.L. An Archaeological-Epigraphical Survey of the Ḥāʾil Area of Northern Saʿudi Arabia. Berytus 22, 1973: 53-113 and 13 plates.

Updated 16 Sep, 2024 by OCIANA