Kim Tay 1

Siglum: Kim Tay 1
Transliteration: lm {ʿ}zr/b tbm/ʾl {ʾ}ʿly/tmʾ{/}{ʾ}{l} rt w bhs²/f ydʿ/{ʾ}ns¹
Translation: By {ʿzr} son of Tbm of the tribe of {the nobles ʾʿly} of Taymāʾ, {of the clan of} Rt and he examined and knew {mankind}

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus: TEXT Line 1. Kootstra: ʾ[s¹] rather than ʾl.
Commentary: In a cartouche above JSTham 429. Translation highly speculative based on an assumption that it is in Aramaic or even Hebrew (or at least the vocabulary). Bʿly would be the construct pl. of bʿl; bḥš would be "examine" (cognate with Arabic bḥṯ) and see Hoftijzer & Jongeling (1995: 150); ydʿ the normal Hebrew/Aramaic word to know and ʾns¹ would be the normal Taymanitic form of ʾnwš. Not at all satisfactory. It would probably be better to read ʾʿly (if that is the correct reading) and translate "nobles", and regard bḥš as a by-form of bḥṯ and ydʿ as the prefix conjugation of wdʿ. This text seems to support reading the large dot as ʿayn. The first letter of Esk 017, and the first four letters of Esk 017.1 can be seen in the top left hand corner of the photograph.

Hoftijzer, J. & Jongeling, K. Dictionary of the North-West Semitic Inscriptions. With appendices by R.C. Steiner, A. Mosak Moshavi and B. Porten.. (2 volumes). (Handbuch der Orientalistik, 21). Leiden: Brill, 1995. pp 150