WH 1679

Siglum: WH 1679
Transliteration: l ʿṭs¹ bn ʾs¹d bn ʾḥlm w {w}{g}m ʿl- ḥbb f ḥbb f hr ḫyl w ḥl m s¹ʾr w ʿwr m ʿwr h- s¹fr
Translation: By ʿṭs¹ son of ʾs¹d son of ʾḥlm and he {grieved} for loved one after loved one and horsemen suffered from diarrhoea and may he who is left remain and may he who would scratch out the inscription go blind

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus: WH: ʾtd for ʾs¹d; f h-rḫyl "among [fī] the ewe-lambs" for hr ḫyl "and the horsemen suffered from diarrhoea"; w ḥlm bʾr "and he dreamed of a well" for ḥl m s¹ʾr "and may he who is left remain"
Commentary: The photographs suggest that the second letter of the patronym is a s¹ not a t, as read by WH. We would suggest that the passage after ḥbb f ḥbb is f hr ḫyl "and horsemen suffered from diarrhoea", compare Classical Arabic hurra "to be seized with diarrhoea" (Hava 822) and ḫuyūl the plural of ḫayl "horses, horsemen" (Hava 192). At first sight the l seems to have a horizontal line at one end, but close examination of the photographs shows that this is a superficial mark on the rock and not an incision of the depth of the rest of the letter. In any case, r in this text has two prominent hooks and is quite different from this letter which is clearly a l. The rest of the text appears to be a prayer or wish (no deity is mentioned). Tentatively, we would suggest that ḥl m s¹ʾr means "may he who is left remain"

Provenance: WH Cairn 21 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

Winnett, F.V. & Harding, G.L. Inscriptions from Fifty Safaitic Cairns. (Near and Middle East Series, 9). Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1978.
Hava, J.G. Al-Faraid Arabic-English Dictionary. Fifth edition. Beirut: Dār al-Mašriq, 1982.