OCIANA
Online Corpus of the Inscriptions of Ancient North Arabia

WH 2502.1

Siglum
WH 2502.1
Transliteration
l kḫlh
Translation
By Kḫlh

Interpretation

Commentary
This was published in the ed. pr. as WH 2502 b.

Provenance
WH Cairn 34 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

Associated Drawings
A battle scene in which 2 stick-figure men are fighting with swords on either side of a long vertical line (possibly held in the left hand of the one on the right), which WH (p. 374) thought might be a testudo (a formation in which Roman soldiers placed their shields [scuta] over their heads when attacking a walled city or fortress, see Goldsworthy 2003: 194). However, as suggested in MNH p.328, n. 163, this does not really fit the drawing. On the other hand, it is possible that it represents an exaggeratedly long scutum, the shield used by Roman legionaries (Goldsworthy 2003: 31). To the left of them, 2 other stick-figure men appear to be exchanging blows. Above them is a stylized male figure with raised arms in the same technique as the drawing below, and below them also in the same technique, an unidentifiable object. Finally, at the bottom of the face there is a stick figure animal, probably an equid, in the same technique, and above the fighting men is a thinly incised stick-figure human with outstretched arms. To the right of the end of WH 2502 are some confused light scratchings, which are probably more recent, and some Arabic letters.
Associated Inscriptions

  • Winnett, F.V. & Harding, G.L. Inscriptions from Fifty Safaitic Cairns. (Near and Middle East Series, 9). Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1978.
Site
WH Cairn 34, Al-Mafraq Governorate, Jordan
Date Found
1958–1959
Current Location
In situ
Subject
Genealogy
Script
Safaitic
Old OCIANA ID
#0013391
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