AH 225

Siglum: AH 225
Transliteration: [----] ----n---- ----ks¹---- ----/w ʾḫ---- ---- [ṯ][l][ṯ][n] [w] [ʾ][r]bʿ 34 ---- ---- [h][n]ʾs¹/m{l}k/l[ḥ][y][n]---- ----mṣd hẓ{l}[l]---- ---- ẓll/h- nq ---- ---- [ʾ][r][b][ʿ][n] [w] ḫms¹ 45 ----
Translation: [----] ----n---- ----ks¹---- ---- and ʾḫ---- ---- {thirty-four} 34 ---- ---- {Hnʾs¹} {king of} {Lḥyn} ---- on the high [red] mountain {performed} ---- ---- the {ẓll-ceremony} of the top of the mountain ---- ---- {forty}-five 45 ----

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus: TEXT Line 1. Abū l-Ḥasan: ----n ht---- rather than ----n----. Line 2. Abū l-Ḥasan: ----hks¹---- for ----ks¹----. Line 3. Abū l-Ḥasan: w ʾḫr[t -h] ---- rather than w ʾḫ----. Line 6. Abū l-Ḥasan: [b- h-] mṣd h- ṭl[l] ---- for ----mṣd hẓ{l}[l]----. Line 7. Abū l-Ḥasan: ṭll for ẓll. TRANSLATION Line 7: h- nq, Abū l-Ḥasan: 'the female camels'.
Commentary: The inscription is very damaged. It is broken on the left and the right sides, and at the top. Line 8. Given that all the inscriptions mentioning h-nq are located on the way up Jabal ʿIkmah or at the top of Jabal Umm Daraǧ, this interpretation seems appropriate and it seems unlikely that nq in these cases would refer to female camels (nūq), as suggested by Abū l-Ḥasan. Indeed, his translation raises the question of how one would have got the female camels to the top of Jabal Umm Daraǧ. In Classical Arabic (Lane 1863-1893: 2719b), the word maṣad means, among other things "a mountain top", or "a place of refuge". On the other hand, Abū l-Ḥasan (2002: 36–37) translates is as 'the high red mountain'. According to him, this meaning is consistent with the red colour of the Jabal Umm Daraǧ where the inscription has been found.

Abū ʾl-Ḥasan, Ḥ.ʿA.D. Nuqūš liḥyānīyah min minṭaqat al-ʿulā. (Dirāsah taḥlīliyyah muqāranah). al-Riyāḍ: Wizārat al-maʿārif, 2002. pp 113–115
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.
Hidalgo-Chacón Díez, M. del C. [Review of: Abū ʾl-Ḥasan, Ḥ.ʿA.D., Nuqūš liḥyānīya min minṭaqat al-῾Ulā: dirāsa taḥlīlīya muqārana. Al-Riyāḍ: Wizārat al-ma῾ārif wakālat al-wizāra li-l-āṯār wa-ʾl-matāḥif, 1423 h./2002 m]. Journal of Semitic Studies 54, 2009: 611–613