LP 162

Siglum: LP 162
Alternative Sigla: Hf.A 3; MISS.C
Transliteration: l ẓnn bn drʾl bn ʾs²ym bn drʾl w ḥll h- ḥs¹y f ḫs¹f f h lt s¹lm l- ḏ s¹ʾr
Translation: By Ẓnn son of Drʾl son of ʾs²ym son of Drʾl and he camped at this place where the water lies just below the surface and he dug to reach the water and so O Lt [grant] security to whoever leaves [the inscription] untouched

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus: LP 162: w ḥll h- ḥs¹y b- s¹nt 42 "and he encamped at this water-place in the year 42"
Commentary: In small incised letters running vertical boustrophedon between the letters of LP 161. The reading is that published in MISS.C. A ḥs¹y is a place where water sinks easily through the permeable soil or sand and is then stopped by an impervious layer of rock and so is trapped relatively close to the surface and can be reached with only a small amount of digging (Lane 572c–573a, Littmann 1940: 123–124, Groom 1983: 112 under hisá). Al-Ḥifnah is a place of this sort and indeed the name, ḥifnah, means a place where water collects (see Groom 1983: 111 Ḥifnah and 113, under Ḥufnah). The verb ḫs¹f means, among other things, "he dug a well so as to reach an unceasing, or a copious,source of water" (see Lane 738b–c).

Provenance: The Wādī al-Shām is a wide gorge at this point and the site of Al-Ḥifnah runs downstream from a series of wells in the Wādī bed to a series of pools which were still full in mid-July 1995. Some of the wells are large and may be ancient, others are of the small Bedouin type. In July 1995 three were blocked and one was operational. Site Hf.A is the escarpment of the left bank of the Wādī north of the pool, where the major concentration of inscriptions is to be found.

Littmann, E. Safaïtic Inscriptions. Syria. Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria in 1904–1905 and 1909. Division IV. Section C. Leiden: Brill, 1943.
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.
Groom, N. A Dictionary of Arabic Topography and Placenames. A Transliterated Arabic-English Dictionary with an Arabic Glossary of Topographical Words and Placenames. London: Longman / Beirut: Librairie du Liban, 1983.
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.
Littmann, E. Thamūd und Ṣafā. Studien zur altnordarabischen Inschriftenkunde. (Abhandlungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, 25.1). Leipzig: Brockhaus, 1940.
Inscriptions recorded by the Safaitic Epigraphic Survey Programme in 1995 at Al-Ḥifnah, and published here

Date Found: 1904–1905; 1995
Current Location: In situ
Subjects: Camping, Deity, Genealogy, Isolated Prayer, Topographic features, Watering
Script: Safaitic
Old OCIANA ID: #0008746
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