HaNSC 1

Siglum: HaNSC 1
Transliteration: l ʿmrn bn ʿḏr bn ʿql w rʿy -h nwy f h rḍw ṭwf
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Translation: By ʿmrn son of ʿḏr son of ʿql and he pastured it/them while migrating with the tribe so O Rḍw [grant] torrential rains
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Language and Script: Safaitic

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus: HaNSC: rʿy h- nwy for rʿy -h nwy; translation of h -nwy "he pastured, moving from place to place" (mutanaqqilan min makān ilā makān).
Commentary: HaNSC takes nwy as a circumstantial accusative introduced by the definite article. This seems unlikely, as circumstantial accusatives may be defined by a pronominal suffix but never the article. It is possible that the -h could be read as a 3rd person pronominal suffix, "he pastured it/them", without an expressed antecedent. The antecedent would have been obvious to the author, who might not have felt the need to write out explicitly what or where he was pasturing. This is in line with the syntax of similar inscriptions, e.g.: KRS 2526: w rʿy h- ʾrḍ nwy KRS 2568: w rʿy h- ʾbl h- s²q nwy If the author was referring to his animals, it would imply that non-human plurals took feminine singular concord, at least with pronouns. The edition connects Safaitic ṭwf to the Arabic noun ṭūfān "torrential rains", but it is equally possible to appeal to the general sense of the root ṬWF "to go around, circumambulate" and translate the word as "[safe] return." Until more examples are attested, it will remain unclear as to which sense is to be preferred.

[HaNSC] Ḥarāḥšah [Harahsheh], R.M.A. Nuqūš ṣafāʾiyyah muḫtārah min al-bādiyah al-urdunniyah. Journal of Epigraphy and Rock Drawings 1, 2007: 29-52.

Updated 16 Sep, 2024 by OCIANA