HU 789 e

Text Information

Siglum
HU 789 e
Alternative Sigla
WHI 203 e, Eut 226 (3 copies pls 9 C, 10 A, 11A), HuIR 1, Hub pp 136, 221, 222, 626
Transliteration
h nhy s¹ʿd -n ʾlh ṯʿt
b- nhy tʿzy nm whbnhy
b- -k hs¹{r}{r} s²ms¹
mtʿly
h rḍw nqm whbnhy
OCIANA 1
Translation
O Nhy help me god of salvation
May Tʿzy be with Nhy; from Whbnhy
Through you comes joy, O divine Sun
ever exalted
O Rḍw avenge Whbnhy
Al-Jallad 2021d, modified on OCIANA
Language and Script
Thamudic B

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus

Van den Branden 1950, line 2: bnh(y) tʿl l lmyh bnhy 

Jamme 1974, line 2: bnhy tʿhy rm ṣh brhn; Line 5: whb nhn 

Translation Line 1: "O Nahī! S¹aʿad has envied Haṯaʿʿat". 

Winnett and Reed 1973, lines 2-4 (WHI 203e): "By NHY (comes) comfort. By Wahb-NHY. By thee (comes) joy, rising sun. Mtʿly. O Rḍw avenge Wahb-nhy".

OCIANA 1, translation: "O Nhy help me god of deliverance
In Nhy is mercy By Whbnhy
In you is happiness Sun
exalted one
O Rḍw revenge Whbnhy"

Commentary

ṯʿt: Likely the abstract noun of the root wṯʿ 'to save', /ṯiʿat/.

tʿzy: Established Thamudic B formula suggests this is a personal name. OCIANA 1 understood it as an abstract noun, comparing it with Classical Arabic taʿzā (= ʿazwā) "Have mercy!" see Lane p.2039 a and c.

hs¹rr: This is best understood as a C-stem infinitive, with an h-causative morpheme, of the root s¹rr 'to be happy,' or 'to conceal.' The meaning I would suggest is 'causing happiness' or 'joy'. 

s²ms¹: The Pan-Semitic deity Shams/Shamash 'the sun'. The deity appears to be male in Thamudic B, agreeing with its gender in Mesopotamia and the Levant rather than South Arabia, where the sun is female. 

mtʿly: Perhaps an L-stem participle, mutaʿāliy-, compare with Classical Arabic, mutaʿālin 'exalted'. The Thamudic B vocalization is entirely hypothetical and it is possible that the participle is derived from some other stem.

 

Editio Princeps
Van den Branden 1950
Field Collector
Charles Huber

Technique
Hammered
Direction of Script
Right to left parallel lines

  • Al-Jallad, A. “On the Origins of the God Ruḍaw and Some Remarks on the Pre-Islamic North Arabian Pantheon.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 31(3), 2021d: 559–71
  • [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 87–88 [as Hu 789 e, f and h] Plate 10 A
  • [Lane] Lane, E.W. An Arabic-English Lexicon, Derived from the Best and Most Copious Eastern Sources. (Volume 1 in 8 parts [all published]). London: Williams & Norgate, 1863-1893.
  • [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. 5–8 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.
Site
Ǧabal Sarrā, Ḥāʾil area, Ḥāʾil Province, Saudi Arabia
Date Found
1878-1882
Current Location
In situ
Subjects
Deity, Isolated Prayer, Religion, Revenge
Old OCIANA ID
#0052447
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Updated 08 May, 2025 by Ahmad Al-Jallad

Cite this Site

Al-Jallad, Ahmad. 'HU 789 e.' OCIANA. 08 May, 2025. https://ociana.osu.edu/inscriptions/10098. Accessed: 30 Jun, 2025.