SHSM 1

Siglum: SHSM 1
Alternative Sigla: SHNS 1
Transliteration: l mnʿm b{n} khl ḏ- ʾl ʿḏ{ʿ} ḏ- ʾl bʿr w wrd l- ṯmny {ʾ}nqʿt mn- rḥbt b- {r}ʾy ʾ[ʾ]{l}{y}) f {b}ʿls¹mn rwḥ l- h- mdnt
OCIANA
Translation: By Mnʿm {son of} Khl of the lineage of {ʿḏʿ} of the lineage of Bʿr and he came to eight plentiful wells from the Ruḥbah at {the rising} {of Taurus} and so {Bʿls¹mn} [grant] relief from adversity to the Province
OCIANA
Language and Script: Safaitic

Interpretation

Commentary: It is impossible to see more than a few of the letters on the photograph and so we are reliant on the hand copy for the text of this inscription. It is interesting that the author gives his lineage at two levels, ḏ ʾl ʿḏ{ʿ} ḏ ʾl bʿr, which is unusual though not unknown in Safaitic inscriptions. The expression ṯmny {ʾ}nqʿt has not been found before in Safaitic, and this is the first occurrence of the number "eight" in these inscriptions. In Classical Arabic ʾnqʿt is the plural of naqīʿ "a well with a great deal of water" (Lisān 4526a). The emendation of the copy (nothing is visible at this point on the photograph) to b- {r}ʾy ʾ[ʾ]{l}{y} "the {rising} {of Taurus}" was suggested tentatively by A. Al-Jallad. For this expression see All-Jallad 2014: 216–217, 233; and in press, a. Note, however, that on the copy the letter read as r in {r}ʾy has no hooks, unlike all the other examples of r in the text. The "rising of Taurus" would be late April (Al-Jallad 2014: 218, Table 3). On mdnt possibly referring to the Roman provinces of Syria and/or Arabia, see Macdonald 2015: 154.

Al-Jallad, A. An Ancient Arabian Zodiac. The Constellations in the Safaitic Inscriptions. Part II. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 27, 2016: 84–106.
Al-Jallad, A.M. An ancient Arabian zodiac. The constellations in the Safaitic inscriptions, Part I. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 25, 2014: 214-230.
[SHSM] Ḥarāḥšah [Harahsheh], R.M.A. & Al-Šudayfāt [Shdeifat, Shdifat], Y.M Nuqūš ṣafawiyyah muʾrraḫah ilà ḥukm aġrībā al-ṯānī (19/50 – 92/93 m). Maǧallat muʾtah li-l-buḥūṯ wa-ʾl-dirāsāt (silsilat al-ʿulūm al-insāniyyah wa-ʾl-iǧtimāʿiyyah) 21:6, 2006: 111-129.
[Lisan] Ibn Manẓūr, Muḥammad b. al-Mukarram. Lisān al-ʿArab. Ṭabʿah ǧadīdah muḥaqqaqah wa-maškūlah šaklan kāmilan wa-muḏayyalah bi-fahāris mufaṣṣalah. (7 volumes). Al-Qāhirah: Dār al-Maʿārif, (3rd edition) [1st ed. 1981].
Macdonald, M.C.A. ‘Romans Go Home’? Rome and other ‘Outsiders’ as viewed from the Syro-Arabian Desert. Pages 145-163 in J.H.E. Dijkstra & G. Fisher (eds), Inside and Out. Interactions between Rome and the Peoples on the Arabian and Egyptian Frontiers in Late Antiquity. (Late Antique History and Religion, 8). Louvain: Peeters, 2014.
[SHNS] Ṣadaqah [Sadaqah], I.S. & Ḥarāḥšah [Harahsheh], R.M.A. Nuqūš ṣafawiyyah jadīdah min minṭaqah marabb al-ġanam. Adumatu 12, 2005: 45-74 [Arabic].

Updated 16 Sep, 2024 by OCIANA