C 2076

Siglum
C 2076
Alternative Sigla
Dunand 704
Transliteration
l lṯ fty gʿd bn ʿbṯn w s¹rt ʿl- {ḥ}d{d} ʾbgr b- ʾlf rgl w mʾt f[r]s¹ w tnẓr h- s¹my b- h- d{r} f h lt r{w}ḥ w h bʿls¹{m}[n] ----
OCIANA
Translation
By Lṯ slave boy of Gʿd son of ʿbṯn and he served in a military unit on the {borders} of ʾbgr with a thousand foot soldiers and a hundred {horsemen} and he waited for the rains in this {place} so, O Lt, [grant] {relief}, and O {Bʿls¹mn} ----
OCIANA
Language and Script
Safaitic

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus
C: l lṯ [b][n] fty [b][n] {w}ʿd bn ʿbṯn w s¹rt ʿl- (ṣ)dqʾl {w} rbʾl f rʿl w m(y)t f [n]s¹ w tnfr h- s¹my b- h- d{r} f h lt r{w}ḥ w h bʿls¹{m}[n] ---- "By Lṯ {son of} Fty {son of} {Wʿd} son of ʿbṯn and a sign for {Ṣdqʾl} {and} Rbʾl and he was pierced and {died} and S¹mt [should be S¹my] left and fled near this place [?] and O Lt relief {and} O Bʿls¹m[n]---- " Al-Jallad 2015: 235: w s¹rt ʿl- {ḥ}dq ʾbgr "and he served in a troop against the {walled enclosure} of ʾbgr"
Commentary
Safaitic graffiti by slaves are relatively common and they give their personal name but the genealogy of their master. On s¹rt meaning "to serve in an army unit" see Macdonald 2014: 159–160, and n. 78. The "borders of ʾbgr" could refer to the territory of Edessa which had a series of kings named Abgar. It is interesting that slaves also served in army units. See also KRS 1024 and RQ.A 10 for examples where s¹rt ʿl- means "served in an army unit under [someone]".

Editio Princeps
OCIANA

  • Al-Jallad, A. An Outline of the Grammar of the Safaitic Inscriptions. (Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics, 80). Leiden: Brill, 2015.
  • [KRS] Inscriptions recorded by Geraldine King on the Basalt Desert Rescue Survey in north-eastern Jordan in 1989 and published here No. 1024
  • Macdonald, M.C.A. ‘Romans Go Home’? Rome and other ‘Outsiders’ as viewed from the Syro-Arabian Desert. Pages 145-163 in J.H.E. Dijkstra & G. Fisher (eds), Inside and Out. Interactions between Rome and the Peoples on the Arabian and Egyptian Frontiers in Late Antiquity. (Late Antique History and Religion, 8). Louvain: Peeters, 2014.
  • [RQ.A] Inscriptions recorded by the Safaitic Epigraphic Survey Programme in 1995 at the site which Wetzstein called Riǧm Qaʿqūl, and published here.
  • [C] Ryckmans, G. Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum: Pars Quinta, Inscriptiones Saracenicae Continens: Tomus I, Fasciculus I, Inscriptiones Safaiticae. Paris: E Reipublicae Typographeo, 1950–1951.
Site
Zalaf (d) “On the right of the track leading to the Ruḥbah” (C p. 249)., Rif Dimašq Governorate, Syria
Date Found
1920s and 1930s
Current Location
In situ
Subjects
Deity, Genealogy, Isolated Prayer, Military, Outside peoples, Present in a place, Slave, Weather
Old OCIANA ID
#0005280
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Updated 16 Sep, 2024 by OCIANA