ZeWA 1

Siglum: ZeWA 1
Transliteration: l whbʾl bn ḥnn bn ʿbd bn ġṯ bn s²rk bn s¹krn ḏ- ʾl qs²{m} w s²ty h- dr {m-} rk s¹nt ṭrq mk mlk nbṭ ṯlṯn mʾt qtl ʾl rm w s¹q tmr l- -h z{ʿ}m gdʿwḏ w h lh w h s²ʿhqm ġnyt w s¹lm m- ḏ ḫrṣ w ġnmt l- ḏ dʿy h- ḫṭṭ
Translation: By Whbʾl son of Ḥnn son of ʿbd son of Ġṯ son of S²rk son of S¹krn of the lineage of {Qs²m} and he spent the winter here {on account of} an area on which a small amount of rain had fallen the year [in which] Mk king of Nabaṭ smote one hundred [and] thirty warriors of the Romans and {the spokesman} [chief] of Gdʿwḏ drove Tmr to him [Mk]. And O Lh and O S²ʿhqm [grant] plenty and safety from whoever is on guard and [grant] booty to whoever reads the carving

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus: ZeWA 1: "qs²m" for "qs²{m}"; "mrk" for "{m-} rk"; "zʿm" for "+ z + {ʿ}m"; trans. "wa qad atā fī haḏā-l-makān muqīman fī as-sanati allatī ʾaṣāba fīhā mālik malik al-ʾanbāṭi ṯalāṯīn miʾah qatīl lil-rmān wa ṭarada tmr lil-zaʿīm [fayā] gdʿwḏ wa yā ʾayytuhā allāt wa yā s²ʿhqm al-ġanī wa-s-salāmah li-man yurāqibu wa-l-ġanīmah li-llaḏī yatruku haḏā-l-ḫaṭṭa salīman"
Commentary: The m of the lineal name is incomplete in the copy and the m after the word "dr" is a loop shape different from the other m's of the text. The letter z is very small and squeezed in between the two adjacent letters. The following letter which has been read as an ʿ is quite a lot larger than the other ʿ's of the text and it is possible it should be read as a g. For rk as "a small amount of rain" compare Classical Arabic rk "weak or small amounts of rain" (Lane 1141c). Zeinaddin suggested that a w had been omitted between ṯlṯn and mʾt, but ṯlṯn [w] mʾt would be a very strange way of expressing the number 130. It seems better to treat mʾt here as meaning "centuries" in the Roman army (see Macdonald 2014: 160–161). The claim that Malichus defeated thirty centuries is almost certainly the sort of exaggeration often found in accounts of battles.

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.
Macdonald, M.C.A. ‘Romans Go Home’? Rome and other ‘Outsiders’ as viewed from the Syro-Arabian Desert. Pages 145-163 in J.H.E. Dijkstra & G. Fisher (eds), Inside and Out. Interactions between Rome and the Peoples on the Arabian and Egyptian Frontiers in Late Antiquity. (Late Antique History and Religion, 8). Louvain: Peeters, 2014.
Zeinaddin, H. Al-ʿalāqāt al-ṣafāʾiyyat al-nabaṭiyyah min ḫilāl al-kitābāt al-ṣafāʾiyyah wa-ḏikr al-malik mālik al-ṯāliṯ malik al-anbāt. Unpublished typescript of a paper given at a conference in Petra 29–31 Ocober, 2002.. 2002.

Current Location: In situ
Subjects: Date (s¹nt), Deity, Genealogy, Isolated Prayer, Lineage, Military, Outside peoples, Season, Weather
Script: Safaitic
Old OCIANA ID: #0018625
Download Images