Al-Ǧawf Dum 1

Siglum: Al-Ǧawf Dum 1
Transliteration: s¹mʿ {l}- -h/ʿtrms¹m/w rḍw/m- ks²d l whb{r}ḍw/h- qrt/f s¹mʿ l- -h
Translation: {Whbrḍw} is on this black hillock and listen to him Listen {to} him ʿtrs¹m and Rḍw from Chaldaea

Interpretation

Commentary: The script is probably Dumaitic. It appears to begin on the second line and then go to the first. The name whbrḍw has been found once before in a Dadanitic graffito, Umm Daraǧ 61. For qrt compare Classical Arabic qārah "a small mountain, a small, black isolated mountain" (Lane 2574b). It also occurs in Dadanitic inscriptions. It is also interesting that the deity ʿAtar-Samain has the spelling found in Dumaitic and Thamudic B: ʿtrs¹m, which presumably reflects an Arabian form *ʿatar-s¹amā see Macdonald, Al Muʾazzin & Nehmé 1996: 479–480.

Provenance: The co-ordinates are simply those of the town of Sakaka near which this inscription is said to have been found. This provenance is credible since the rock looks like the dark varnished rock formations of the Al-Jawf province. However, according to Jérôme Norris, the inscription was not recorded during the seasons of the Saudi-French-Italian project at Dūmat al-Jandal, and is also not part of Al-Theeb's collection from the area. There is no photograph of it in Al-Muaikel's publications nor in Atlal or among Winnett's photographs.

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.
Macdonald, M.C.A., Al Muʾazzin, M. & Nehmé, L. Les inscriptions safaïtiques de Syrie, cent quarante ans après leur découverte. Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions & Belles-Lettres 1996: 435-494.