LP 260

Siglum: LP 260
Alternative Sigla: Mr.A 1
Transliteration: l ʾyl bn ḫbṯ bn s¹mk bn s¹w{r} bn m{k} w h bʿls¹my s¹lm
Translation: By ʾyl son of Ḫbṯ son of S¹mk son of S¹wl son of {Mk} and so Bʿls¹my [grant] security

Interpretation

Commentary: LP 258–260 are on three sections of the same rock face. All except LP 259.1 (= Mr.A 4), are firmly incised. The author of this text would appear to be a brother of the author of LP 258. If this is so, s¹wl would appear to be a mistake for s¹wr (in 258), though there are no other examples of l in this text for comparison, and carving r as a straight line may simply have been an idiosyncrasy of this author. Similarly, mk for mlk (in 258) could be a mistake, though it might represent a difference of pronunciation. Note that the divine name is bʿls¹my, an Arabian re-formation of the more usual bʿls¹mn which is found in LP 259.

Provenance: Al-Mrōshan consists of four long, low mounds, running roughly east-west in a flat area where the Wādī al-Gharz spreads out. These mounds create a series of "gorges" perhaps 3 m high in the Wādī which is otherwise very flat and at this point hardly distinguishable from the surrounding area, the "Wādī-bed" consisting of several channels approximately 30–80 cm deep and 4–10 m wide. The southerly three mounds are covered with graves and enclosures. Much of the rock is not suitable for inscribing. It was visited in 1995 by the Safaitic Epigraphic Survey Programme and all the published texts it rediscovered came from the most northerly of the southern three mounds, and most were concentrated at its eastern end.

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.