WH 81

Siglum: WH 81
Transliteration: l ʿmrt bn ʿbdy bn klb w ḍrk rḍy
Translation: By ʿmrt son of ʿbdy son of Klb and he was in need of [divine] favour

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus: WH 81: Translation of ḍrk rḍy "...and he is destitute, Rḍy"
Commentary: WH connect the verb "ḍrk" with Arabic ḍaruka "to be needy". The problem with this interpretation is that it does not account for the name of the deity Rḍy, which appears to be disconnected from the rest of the inscription. The Hebrew cognate of Arabic ḍrk, ṣārak "have need of", is a better semantic match for the Safaitic. Rḍy, then, should be read as the noun meaning "favour" rather than as the name of the deity. Rḍy, "[divine] favour" in invocations, is very common in Dadanitic.

Provenance: WH Cairn 2 and this inscription were rediscovered and photographed by the Badia Epigraphic Survey in 2018 and the co-ordinates given are exact.
Original Reading Credit: OCIANA
Original Translation Credit: OCIANA

Winnett, F.V. & Harding, G.L. Inscriptions from Fifty Safaitic Cairns. (Near and Middle East Series, 9). Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1978.