AH 207

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

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.

Abū ʾl-Ḥasan, Ḥ.ʿA.D. Nuqūš liḥyānīyah min minṭaqat al-ʿulā. (Dirāsah taḥlīliyyah muqāranah). al-Riyāḍ: Wizārat al-maʿārif, 2002. pp 62–64
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.
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