BRenv.K 1
Text Information
- Siglum
- BRenv.K 1
- Transliteration
- l ʿbd bn ḥmlt bn ṣʿd bn ʿbd w rḥḍ b- ʿrḍ w bʿls¹mn ʿwr l- ḏ ʿwr h- {s¹}fr w wr{d} h- n[m]rt b- {y}ʾ{m}r s¹nt qtl h- {ḥ}wlt {ʿ}m f h lt ṯʾr
- Translation
- By ʿbd son of Ḥmlt son of Ṣʿd son of ʿbd and he washed in a valley [?] and Bʿls²mn [inflict] blindness on whoever scratches out the {inscription} and {he came to water} at {al-Namārah} in {Capricorn} in the year the {Ḥwlt} killed {ʿm} and so O Lt [grant] revenge
Interpretation
- Commentary
- Photographed in 1996, near Biʾr al-Ruṣayʿī, the exact site is not certain, and the inscription number given to it is purely arbitrary. Arabic raḥaḍa can mean “to wash (something, with the accusative)” or “to sweat”. Perhaps here it has a reflexive meaning equivalent to Arabic taraḥḥaḍa, or is in the passive, that is “he was washed (by the rain). See Musil 1928: 14-15 on bathing and washing after the first rains. The word ʿrḍ could have numerous different meanings many of which could be appropriate here, though in most cases one would expect the word to be defined. The s¹ of s¹fr has been damaged by an abrasion. The loop of the d of wrd is very slim and the top of the stem is extended by two lighter lines which could conceivably be the loop of a y or the prong of a h. Arabic wry can mean “to be kindled (of fire)” and nawra can mean “a brand mark made with a hot iron”. Alternatively, Arabic wrh can mean to be heavy with rain (of clouds), but nrt has no meaning suitable for such a context. Since it is difficult to get an exact statement from the text on the basis of such meanings, the reading wr{d} seems the most likely possibility. The author may have written h- nrt for h- nmrt. As Al-Jallad has shown, yʾmr was the Safaitic name for the Zodiac sign of Capricorn and occurs in C 4276 in the phrase b- rʾy yʾmr "during the rising of Capricorn" (see Al-Jallad 2016: 92–93, 103–104). The ḥ of ḥwlt has four prongs. Only one letter seems to be missing following ḥwlt and the traces suggest that it was a ʿ.
- Associated Inscriptions
- BRenv.K 2–3
- Musil, A. The Manners and Customs of the Rwala Bedouins. (Oriental Explorations and Studies, 6). New York: American Geographical Society, 1928.
- Al-Jallad, A.M An Ancient Arabian Zodiac. The Constellations in the Safaitic Inscriptions. Part II. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 27, 2016: 84–106.
- Inscriptions recorded by the Safaitic Epigraphic Survey Programme in 1995 in the environs of the water tower at Biʾr al-Ruṣayʿī.
- Site
- Near Biʾr al-Ruṣayʿī, Al-Suwaydāʾ (al-Sweidah) Governorate, Syria
- Date Found
- 1996
- Current Location
- In situ
- Subjects
- Astronomical, Curse, Date (s¹nt), Deity, Genealogy, Isolated Prayer, Outside peoples, Place-name, Watering
- Script
- Safaitic
- Old OCIANA ID
- #0035812
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