LP 653

Siglum: LP 653
Transliteration: l mġyr bn mḥlm bn ʿbd bn mʿz bn ms²ʿr w ḥḍr h- dr s¹nt lgy[n] grmnqṣ b- nqʾt w wg[ʿ] ʿl- glḥn qtl w ʿl- ʾb{n} qtl w ʿl- mʿz qtl w ʿl- mlk qtl w ʿl- ns¹m w ʿl- ṭrts¹m(w)y
Translation: By Mġyr son of Mḥlm son of ʿbd son of Mʿz son of Ms²ʿr and he stayed by permanent water here the year the {legions} of Grmnqṣ were at Nqʾt and he {grieved in pain} for Glḥn who was killed and for {ʾbn} who was killed and for Mʿz who was killed and for Mlk who was killed and for Ns¹m and for ṭrts¹m(w)y

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus: LP 653: s¹nt ngy gr mn- qṣr nqʾt "in the year in which Gr escaped from Qsr Nqʾt" for s¹nt lgy[n] grmnqṣ b- nqʾt "the year the {legions} of Grmnqṣ were at Nqʾt"; w ʿl- ṭr {h-} s¹mwy "and for Ṭr {has¹-}S¹amāwīy" for w ʿl- ṭrts¹m(w)y w wgm ʿl- glḥn qtl w ʿl- ʾbn qtl w ʿl- mʿz qtl w ʿl- mlk qtl w ʿl- ns¹m w ʿl- ṭrhs¹mwy Macdonald 1995: 287-288 and n. 18: snt lgy[n] grmnqṣ b- nqʾt "the year the troops of Germanicus were at Nqʾt"
Commentary: The copy has w wg ʿl- and which Littmann read as w wgm ʿl-, even though there is not m. It seems more likely that the author's intention was w wgʿʿl- and that either he or the copyist omitted it by mistake.

Provenance: Unfortunately, the Safaitic Epigraphic Survey Programme was unable to locate the site of Qabr Nāṣir and it does not appear in Geonames.

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.
Macdonald, M.C.A. Herodian Echoes in the Syrian Desert. Pages 285-290 in S. Bourke & J.-P. Descoeudres (eds), Trade, Contact, and the Movement of Peoples in the Eastern Mediterranean. Studies in Honour of J. Basil Hennessy. (Mediterranean Archaeology. Supplement, 3). Sydney: Mediterranean Archaeology, 1995.