C 2

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus: C: qmrn for qmm.
Commentary: This is the large inscribed lintel recorded by Wetzstein (HrH 1 = C 2) which is still at the site. It is 1.54 x 62 cm, and 23 cm thick. The inscription (C 2) is written from left to right in large letters (from 42 to 9 cm high) with a serpentine line above it. The second stone with the drawing of a man which Wetzstein found beside it (see C 2), is no longer visible, but may be among the rubble. There is a second large block bearing a few very faint letters (HrH 2).

Provenance: A ruined building on the eastern edge of a small khabra surrounded by low cliffs (c. 5 m high), except on the north side which is open. Many large roughly dressed ashlar blocks. The building must have been quite substantial, possibly with ceilings supported by a central pillar as at Khirbat ʿArʿar. It was first discovered in 1858 by Wetzstein, who gives a poetic description of it, as well as rough measurements (1860: 61–62). It appears to have been in ruins even in his day. Note, this is not Haǧar al-Helle (the reported provenance of C 633-861), which has yet to be located.
Original Reading Credit: OCIANA
Original Translation Credit: OCIANA

Ryckmans, G. Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum: Pars Quinta, Inscriptiones Saracenicae Continens: Tomus I, Fasciculus I, Inscriptiones Safaiticae. Paris: E Reipublicae Typographeo, 1950–1951.
Grimme, H. Texte und Untersuchungen zur ṣafatenisch-arabischen Religion. Mit einer Einführung in die ṣafatenische Epigraphik. (Studien zur Geschichte und Kultur des Altertums, 16/01/2012). [Reprint, 1970, Johnson, New York]. Paderborn: Schöningh, 1929.
Wetzstein, J.G. Reisebericht über Hauran und die Trachonen nebst einem Anhange über die sabäischen Denkmäler in Ostsyrien. Berlin: Reimer, 1860.
Inscriptions recorded at Ḥuǧayr al-Ḥelle, southern Syria, by the Safaitic Epigraphic Survey Programme in 1995 and published here