MMGS 1

Siglum: MMGS 1
Transliteration: l mḥrb bn bʿrt bn mḥrb bn s²ḥl bn ʿwḏn bn wh----bn w wgm ʿl- ġry ʾḫ -h trḥ w ʿl- ʾs¹ w ʿl- whblh <ḏ-> ʾl ʿmrt h- ḫṭṭ f h lt ʿ[w][r] l- ḏ yʿ[w][r] h- ḫṭṭ
Translation: By Mḥrb son of Bʿrt son of Mḥrb son of S²ḥl son of ʿwḏn son of Wh---- and he grieved for Ġry his brother who had perished and for ʾs¹ and for Whblh {of} the lineage of ʿmrt is this inscription. So, O Lt {blindness} to whoever {scratches out} the inscription

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus: MMGS 1: "By Muhrab son of Baarat son of Muhrab son of Shahal son of Audhan son of Waha {b......} son? And he buried his brother Ghayri with sadness, also Auss and Wahab- Allah. For the Amarah tribe is this inscription. May Fahlat blind the person who damage this inscription".
Commentary: It seems clear that the bn after the break are the end of name and that the letters lost in break must have been b [b][n] + the first letter(s) of this name. It would seem that the author of this text was abbreviating certain words probably on purpose. This can be seen most clear in the curse ʿ[wr] l- ḏ yʿ[wr], but may also be true of the single line where one expect the ḏ of ḏ ʾl. It is not entirely certain whether the letters h- ḫṭṭ f h lt ʿ[w][r] l- ḏ yʿ[w][r] h- ḫṭṭ belong to this inscription or to MMGS 2, but since the last two letters of the latter turn aside apparently to miss this these letters, it would seem that it they belong to MMGS 1 and that it was carved before MMGS 2.

Mu’azzin, M. Safaitic inscriptions from Jabal Says in the National Museum in Damascus. Pages 301-308 in K. Bartl & ʿA. Moaz (eds), Residences, Castles, Settlements. Transformation Processes from Late Antiquity to Early Islam in Bilad al-Sham. Proceedings of the International Conference held at Damascus, 5–9 November 2006. (Orient-Archäologie, 24). Rahden/Westf.: Leidorf, 2009.