BES17 279

OCIANA 1, translit: l ʿbs¹ bn gʿṯm bn ḥmyn bn ġḍḍt bn ʾn[ḍt] bn ws²yt bn ḍf bn gnʾl bn rhy h- bkrt w w{y}{l} mlkt dhr, trans: 'By ʿbs¹ son of Gʿṯm son of Ḥmyn son of Ġḍḍt son of {ʿndt} son of Ws²yt son of Ḍf son of Gnʾl son of Rhy is [the drawing of] the young she-camel and woe to Mlkt for ever'

wʿ{r}t: The ʿayn of this word appears to have a short tail, but upon closer inspection, this is nothing but a stray line not even connected to the loop. The reading y, as suggested by OCIANA 1, is not possible. The r has an extremely open shape. The l's of this script variant are not hooked, as evidenced by the l of the following word, mlkt, and therefore such a reading is not possible. The letter is therefore best read as an r as it is too wide for a b. Its asymmetrical shape is due to the fact that the author extended its lower half across the bottom face of the rock. This gives us the secure reading wʿrt, a third feminine singular verb agreeing with the following feminine noun, mlkt (see below). Context motivates us to understand this as a causative D-stem verb meaning 'to make difficult, scare, strait', cf. Classical Arabic waʿʿara (Lane, 2953a-b).

mlkt: The term here should probably be identified as /malakūt/ 'reign' or 'kingdom', previously attested in ZMMS 205. The 'reign' of dhr (see below) can be compared to the expression mykn ḫlf lyly-h w-ʾwm-h 'established is the alternation of his nights and days', referring to the reign of Mt (Mot) in KRS 2453 (Al-Jallad 2015b). It is also possible to understand it as 'Queen', /mal(e)kat/, although this interpretation is dispreferred.

dhr: This is the first attestation of dhr as a divine title, cf. Classical Arabic dahr- 'Fate-Time'. The etymology of the word has to do with 'burning' and 'destruction' (Beeston et al. 1982, 35), perhaps here an epithet of Mt, deified death, or Mny, Fate.

The phrase mlkt dhr 'the kingdom/reign of Dahr' likely refers to the dry season when the land is ravaged by deified death. Drawing on the second interpretation, it is possible to imagine mlkt as a title meaning 'Queen' and the entire clause as rendering 'the Queen of destruction rendered (the land) difficult'. Both mt and mny, however, appear to be grammatically masculine in Safaitic, so this title would then refer to some other force. Moreover, in later Arabic, dahr is a deified force of its own, which is also masculine. Weighing these factors, I would prefer the reading mlkt dhr as 'the reign of Dahr', until evidence to the contrary presents itself.