OCIANA
Online Corpus of the Inscriptions of Ancient North Arabia

LP 386

Text Information

Siglum
LP 386
Alternative Sigla
Is.M 135
Transliteration
l ʾ{s¹} bn wʾl bn s²hyt bn s¹ny w wgm {ʿ}l- ʾḫw -h ʿl- ḥn w ʿl- ʿrm
Translation
By {ʾs¹} son of Wʾl son of S²hyt son of S¹ny and he grieved {for} his two brothers for Ḥn and for {ʿrm}

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus
LP 386: ʾḫ for ʾ{s¹}; ʿmr for ʿrm. LP 1101: s²hy(t) for s²hyt; w[g][m] for wgm; ʿl for {ʿ}l; ʾḫ(h) (w) for ʾḫw -h; ʿm for ʿrm
Commentary
The inscription was copied twice once (LP 386) by Littmann and once by one of the "servants of the Princeton University Archaeological Expedition" (Littmann 1943: iii). The text was incised with a broad point. The third letter could be ḫ or s¹ but its size in relation to the previous ʾ and compared to the ḫ later in the text suggests that it is more likely to be s¹. From the position of the ʿ-r of the final name it would seem that the author originally omitted them and then inserted them below the line. Littmann's reading ʿmr is less probable since the r is placed before the m. As Littmann notes this text shows clearly that the dual of ʾḫ in annexation is ʾḫw. Given that there is no w after ʾḫw-h, it is likely that ḥn and ʿrm are the names of the brothers. Littmann did recognize the identity of LP 386 and 1101 and his reading ʾḫ -h w was based on the assumption that the placement of w and had been inadvertently reversed by the author or the copyist.

Provenance
Al-ʿĪsāwī is the name of a probably ancient well between two headlands on the eastern side of the Wādī Shām as it runs northwards from the modern Al-Namārah dam to the Ruḥbah. The well is large, stone lined and with stone water-channels running from it. The main concentration of published inscriptions is on the top of the northern headland, but there also many inscriptions on its south-west slopes, coming down to the well and on the southern headland, on the crest of which is a stone tower.
Original Reading Credit
OCIANA
Original Translation Credit
OCIANA

Technique
Incised

Associated Remains
None
Associated Inscriptions
LP 387–390 (= Is.M 131-134) on an adjacent face

  • Littmann, E. Safaïtic Inscriptions. Syria. Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria in 1904–1905 and 1909. Division IV. Section C. Leiden: Brill, 1943.
  • Inscriptions recorded at al-ʿĪsāwī by Michael Macdonald, on the Safaitic Epigraphic Survey Programme, 1995–2003, and published here.
Site
Al-ʿĪsāwī, Rif Dimašq Governorate, Syria
Date Found
1904–1905; 1996–2003
Current Location
In situ
Subjects
Genealogy, Grieving, Relatives
Script
Safaitic
Old OCIANA ID
#0026905
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