LP 461

Siglum: LP 461
Transliteration: l whblh bn mlk bn whblh bn mrʾlh bn ʾḥlm bn lbb w wgm ʿl- mlk w ʿl- ḫrg w ʿl- gm w ʿl- ʾys¹ w ʿl- ẓn f h lt w ds²r ṯʾr w ʿwr ḏ yʿwr w dṯn h- ʾs¹d l- m ʿwr wqʿ ḏ- ʾl zdʾl
Translation: By Whblh son of Mlk son of Whblh son of Mrʾlh son of ʾḥlm son of Lbb and he grieved for Mlk and for Ḫrg and for Gm and for ʾys¹ and for Ẓn so O Lt and Ds²r grant blood-revenge and blind him who effaces (this inscription) and may the lion alight upon whoever effaces this writing, of the lineage of Zdʾl

Interpretation

Provenance: Al-ʿĪsāwī is the name of a probably ancient well between two headlands on the eastern side of the Wādī Shām as it runs northwards from the modern Al-Namārah dam to the Ruḥbah. The well is large, stone lined and with stone water-channels running from it. The main concentration of published inscriptions is on the top of the northern headland, but there also many inscriptions on its south-west slopes, coming down to the well and on the southern headland, on the crest of which is a stone tower. Littmann visited the site twice when he and other members of the expeditions copied some 450 inscriptions. Between 1996 and 2003, the Safaitic Epigraphic Survey Programme [SESP] made a comprehensive survey of the site recording over 3500 inscriptions.

Macdonald, M.C.A. The Seasons and Transhumance in the Safaitic Inscriptions. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland 3rd. series, 2, 1992: 1-11.
Littmann, E. Safaïtic Inscriptions. Syria. Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria in 1904–1905 and 1909. Division IV. Section C. Leiden: Brill, 1943.