AAWAB 4

Siglum: AAWAB 4
Transliteration: l ṯlg bn ḏkr bn ẓʿn bn nks¹ bn s¹hwt w ḫrṣ s²nʾ f h ḏg{n/l} s¹lm h- ḫfyt h- s¹nt
OCIANA
Translation: By Ṯlg son of Ḏkr son of Ẓʿn son of Nks¹ son of S¹hwt and he was keeping watch for enemies and so O Ḏg{n/l} may this well be secure this year
OCIANA
Language and Script: Safaitic

Interpretation

Commentary: The text is thinly scratched on a rough surface which is not really suitable for inscribing. A deity ḏgn or ḏgl has not been found before in Ancient North Arabian or, as far as we can tell, elsewhere, unless one assumes that it is a mispronunciation of the divine name Dagan, which to the best of our knowledge has not been found spelt with a /ḏ/ in those Semitic languages (such as Ugaritic) which have this phoneme. For ḫfyt cf. Arabic ḥafiyyah "a well" (Lane 777b). Alternatively, one could read s¹lm-h ḫfyt h-s¹nt "keep him securely hidden this year" (literally "make him safe as to his being hidden this year"), cf. Arabic ḫāfiyah "a state of being unapparent, covert, secret" (Lane 777b).

[AAWAB] Inscriptions recorded by Ali Al-Manaser in Al-Wādī Al-Abyaḍ in June 2021
[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.

Updated 16 Sep, 2024