AH 207

Siglum: AH 207
Transliteration: ----l / b----
ḏ---- s¹tṭr / b- mṣd ---- s¹mʿ
---- / ḏġ----bt
OCIANA
Translation: ----l/b ----
ḏ---- committed to writing on the high [red] mountain ---- s¹mʿ
---- {Ḏġ----bt}
OCIANA
Language and Script: Dadanitic

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus: The line numbers below refer to the OCIANA reading not those of Abū l-Ḥasan. TEX Line 2. Abū l-Ḥasan: s¹tṭr rather than ḏ---- s¹tṭr and f s¹mʿ for ---- s¹mʿ. TRANSLATION Line 2. s¹mʿ, Abū l-Ḥasan: '(he) heard'.
Commentary: The inscription is badly incised. Line 2. s¹tṭr appears also in Sabaic, s¹ṭr 'write', 'inscribe' (Beeston et al. 1982: 129). It is a t-infix stem in Dadanitic, see also tqṭ from root W-Q-T or N-Q-T. Line 3. There is a space between the letters ġ and b in the divine name ḏġbt and only some faint lines in the space are visible. Hidalgo-Chacón Diez (2016:128) has suggested that the divine name has been carved as *ḏġybt here, as it definitely has in AH 229/2. However, in the present case it is impossible to see a y between the ġ and the b, and the lines that can be seen look more like those of a t. It seems probable that the mason accidentally carved the t before the b in the name, rubbed over his mistake and carved both letters after it. 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.

[AH] Abū ʾl-Ḥasan, Ḥ.ʿA.D. Nuqūš liḥyānīyah min minṭaqat al-ʿulā. (Dirāsah taḥlīliyyah muqāranah). al-Riyāḍ: Wizārat al-maʿārif, 2002. pp 62–64
Beeston, A.F.L., Ghul, M.A., Müller, W.W. & Ryckmans, J. Sabaic Dictionary (English-French-Arabic). Publication of the University of Sanaa, YAR. Louvain-la-Neuve: Peeters / Beyrouth: Librairie du Liban, 1982.
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
Hidalgo-Chacón Díez. M. del C. The divine names at Dadan: a philological approach. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 46, 2016: 125–136
[Lane] 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.

Updated 08 Jan, 2025 by OCIANA