AMSI 51

Image © Ali Al-Manaser; CC BY

Siglum: AMSI 51
Transliteration: l n{h}ṣyn h- lṣṭ ḏ- ʾl fṣmn w wgm [ʿ]l- ms¹k w ʿl- ʿqrbn
Ahmad Al-Jallad
Translation: By {Nhṣyn}, the bandit, of the lineage of Fṣmn and he grieved [for] Ms¹k and for ʿqrbn
Ahmad Al-Jallad
Language and Script: Safaitic 2

Interpretation

Commentary: The reading of the name nhṣyn is tentative; it is otherwise unattested in ANA. The word lṣṭ is drawn from Greek ληστής (SafDict, 93a); it is also attested in AMSI 50, on the same rock, and ShNGA 1, which is written by the same man as AMSI 50. The inscriptions of two bandits on the same rock suggests that a band of highway men had stopped in this place, and during their pause carved inscriptions. Perhaps the other men who inscribed their names on this rock belonged to the same band, even though they did not explicitly call themselves bandits.

Associated Inscriptions

[SafDict] Al-Jallad, A. & Jaworska, K. A Dictionary of the Safaitic Inscriptions. Leiden: Brill, 2019
[AMSI] Inscriptions recorded by Ali Al-Manaser on his survey in Wādī Ḥashād in 2004 and published here

Site: Wādī al-Ḥašād, c. 6.5 km south of the Syrian-Jordanian border, Al-Mafraq Governorate, Jordan

Updated 05 Jan, 2025 by Ahmad Al-Jallad