Esk. 001

Siglum
Esk. 001
Alternative Sigla
Ph 279.ay
Transliteration
kfrʾl / b ṣʿn / hrg / h- ġlm
Michael C.A. Macdonald
Translation
By / son of Ṣʿn Kfrʾl son of Ṣʿn killed the boy
Ahmad Al-Jallad
Language and Script
Taymanitic

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus

Esk: ḫnʿn hnʿ h- blm 'Kfrʾl son of Ḫnʿn, the lord of this camel with disability' 

van den Branden (Philby 279 ay): kʿrʾl / b- ḍ{w}n /hrm / h- ġlm '(he) desired ardently the young man'

Kootstra 2016: h{r/s²}{g/ʿ}, 'the rg, the junior'

Commentary

The purpose of this texts lends itself to speculation. Is it a record of a sacrificial killing of a boy or simply boast about besting one's opponent? Many Taymanitic inscriptions were carved by soldiers so a military conntext is plausible. 

hrg: This verb is cognate with Hebrew hārag 'to kill'; it is not attesed in any other ANA corpora as a verb, although the root occurs a handful of times as a personal name. The root appears in an obscure word in a tradition attributed to Mohammed, where he states that al-harǧ will increase as a sign of the end of times. The audience, puzzled by this word, asked what is al-harǧ. He replied: al-qatl 'killing.' On its meanings in Classical Arabic, see Lane, 2890.

Ahmad Al-Jallad

Editio Princeps
Van den Branden 1956
Field Collector
Philby

Technique
Carved
Direction of Script
Horizontal R—L

Associated Signs
Above the text a Taymanitic b with a dot above it and a vertical line to the left, in same technique and same patina as text

  • [Esk] Eskūbī [Eskoubi] Ḫ.M. Dirāsah taḥlīliyyah muqāranah li-nuqūš min minṭaqah (rum) ǧanūb ġarb taymāʾ. [English title: An Analytical and Comparative Study of Inscriptions from “Rum” region, South West of Tayma. Riyāḍ: wazīrat al-maʿārif, waqālat al-āṯār wa-l-matāḥif, 1999. pp 45–46
  • Kootstra, F. The Language of the Taymanitic Inscriptions and its Classification. Arabian Epigraphic Notes 2, 2016: 67–140
  • [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.
  • [Ph] Van den Branden, A. Les textes thamoudéens de Philby. (2 volumes). (Bibliothèque du Muséon, 39 and 41). Louvain: Institut orientaliste, 1956.
Site
Waḍaḥā Alif, south of Taymāʾ, Tabūk Province, Saudi Arabia
Current Location
In situ
Subjects
Genealogy, Query (subject uncertain)
Old OCIANA ID
#0040140
Download Images
Updated 09 Mar, 2026 by Ahmad Al-Jallad

Cite this Site

Ahmad Al-Jallad and Michael C.A. Macdonald, 'Esk. 001,' ed. A. Al-Jallad and M.C.A. Macdonald, OCIANA, 09 Mar, 2026. https://ociana.osu.edu/inscriptions/22794. Accessed: 15 Apr, 2026.