Al-Namārah.M 58

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Siglum
Al-Namārah.M 58
Transliteration
l wrd bn ġṯ bn wrd bn s²hrt bn ʾs¹ bn ḥ{g} w ḏbḥ ⟨⟨⟩⟩ f ṣdy {l-} s²ʿhqm {w}- drbt mʿ- -h f s¹lm w dṯʾ s¹nt {ʾ}{m}{r}{t} ṣbrṣ h- mdnt
Ahmad Al-Jallad (2022a)
Translation
By Wrd son of Ġṯ son of Wrd son of S²hrt son of ʾs¹ son of {Ḥg} and he performed an animal sacrifice and called out (by clapping) to S²ʿhqm while Drbt was with him, so may he be secure while he spends the season of the later rains (here) the year Severus took control of/ruled over the province
Ahmad Al-Jallad (2022a)
Language and Script
Safaitic 2

Interpretation

Commentary

This text, first correctly read and discussed in Al-Jallad (2022a: 21-22), is dated to the appointment of Gaius Claudius Severus to rule over Nabataea, perhaps in 106 or 107 CE. The same event is perhaps referenced in ZMMS 205 (Al-Jallad and Macdonald 2024).

ṣdy: Compare with Classical Arabic taṣdiyatun “the clapping with the hands,” perhaps a type of prayer. Lane gives an example of the tD-stem in such a context, Quran 8:35: mā kāna ṣalātu-hum ʿinda l-bayti ʾillā mukāʾun wa-taṣdiyatun 'And their prayer at the temple was merely whistling and clapping'. 

{ʾ}{m}{r}{t} ṣbrṣ h-mdnt: ʾmrt must be understood as an infinitive of the verb ʾamara 'to take control, rule', probably cognate with the Classical Arabic infinitives, ʾimratun and ʾimāratun (Lane, 96a). 

Ahmad Al-Jallad

Editio Princeps
OCIANA
Field Collector
Michael C.A. Macdonald

Technique
Lightly incised
Direction of Script
Boustrophedon

Associated Inscriptions

  • Al-Jallad, A. The religion and rituals of the nomads of pre-Islamic Arabia: A reconstruction based on the Safaitic inscriptions. (Ancient Languages and Civilizations, 1). Leiden: Brill, 2022a.
  • [Al-Namārah.M] Inscriptions recorded by Michael Macdonald during the Al-Namārah Rescue Survey, 1996, and published here
  • [Lane] 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.
Site
Al-Namārah, Al-Suwaydāʾ (al-Sweidah) Governorate, Syria
Date Found
30-09-1995
Current Location
In situ
Subjects
Date (s¹nt), Outside peoples, Religion, Season
Old OCIANA ID
#0047000
Download Images
Updated 01 Mar, 2026 by Ahmad Al-Jallad

Cite this Site

Ahmad Al-Jallad, 'Al-Namārah.M 58,' ed. A. Al-Jallad and M.C.A. Macdonald, OCIANA, 01 Mar, 2026. https://ociana.osu.edu/inscriptions/2166. Accessed: 07 Mar, 2026.