Is.M 72

Siglum
Is.M 72
Alternative Sigla
LP 322
Transliteration
l lṯmt bn ḫfy bn rbn <<>>bn bny w wgm ʿl- bny
OCIANA
Translation
By Lṯmt son of Ḫfy son of Rbn son of Bny and he grieved for Bny
OCIANA
Language and Script
Safaitic

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus
LP 322: lʿṯmn for lṯmt; [b][n] ḥbn bn ʿly w wgm for <<>>bn bny w wgm ʿl bny
Commentary
There is a small curving line joining the second and third letters part of which Littmann copied and read this as a ʿ. However compare the ʿ of ʿl- which is a full circle. The fifth letter which Littmann read as n has a clear cross-stroke and can only be t. After rbn the text turns sharply back on itself. To the right of the bn which follows rbn there is a ḥ in exactly the same technique as the other letters but which is curiously placed if it was intended to be read as part of the text. Moreover to take it as the first letter of the next name (ḥbn) as read by Littmann not only requires the restoration of a [b][n] between rbn and the ḥ but also an unnatural reading of the letters which follow (Littmann's ʿly where the sequence of letters would at best be lʿy or yʿl). It therefore seems more likely that the ḥ is extraneous to the text. If this is accepted the text then reads easily rbn bn bny w wgm ʿl-. Despite the fact that there is plenty of room on the face the statement has been written in a tight circle which places the ʿl- immediately above the final name in the genealogy, bny. The obvious conclusion is that the author was grieving for bny and by an elegant device made it clear that the bny for whom he was grieving was his great grandfather. Given that the author did this at the end of the text it is just possible that the ḥ discussed above is part of an even more elaborate device. If the name ḥbn did indeed occur in the author's genealogy between rbn and bny it is just possible that he “telescoped” the five b-n sequences in the three successive names and the two “ibn”'s which separated them making the b-n sequences of rbn and ḥbn do duty also for the following ibn's. However this is a far more speculative hypothesis than the reading proposed above and is not supported by the genealogies in M 85.1 and 85. 2 which appear to be by brothers of the present author. It would seem therefore that the ḥ must be treated as extraneous to the text. Ḥbn would be so far unattested in Safaitic since the references in Harding 1971: 175 should be deleted. The name in SIJ 550 is clearly ḥrn (which should be added to Harding 1971: 186) and in WH 3685 ḥbn appears to be a substantive.

Editio Princeps
OCIANA

Technique
Chiselled
Direction of Script
Curving

Associated Remains
None
Associated Inscriptions
M 73 (on an adjacent horizontal face separated by a split)
Site
Al-ʿĪsāwī, Rif Dimašq Governorate, Syria
Date Found
1904–1905; 1996–2003
Current Location
In situ
Subject
Genealogy
Old OCIANA ID
#0026840
Download Images
Updated 16 Sep, 2024 by OCIANA

Cite this Site

OCIANA,. 'Is.M 72.' OCIANA. 16 Sep, 2024. https://ociana.osu.edu/inscriptions/3340. Accessed: 14 Jul, 2025.