LP 335

Siglum: LP 335
Alternative Sigla: Is.Mu 152
Transliteration: l rfʾt bn bʾs¹h bn bqrt bn ḫ{r}{s}¹ w h rḍw ḥyw m- -h ḍf wnwṯh h- nqḏ m- {ḥ}wl -h
OCIANA
Translation: By Rfʾt son of Bʾs¹h son of Bqrt son of {Ḫrs¹} and O Rḍw preserve Ḍf on account of him wnwṯh the relief from his {circumstances}
OCIANA
Language and Script: Safaitic

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus: LP 335: lfʾt for rfʾt; ḫl[d] for ḫ{r}{s¹}; w h rḍw ḥy w mrḍ f nwy -h h- nq h- mṭ(y)h "and, O Rḍw, [grant] health for the mount she-camels were sickened by their date-stones (or: during his absence)" for w h rḍw ḥyw m- -h ḍf wnwṯh h- nqḏ m- {ḥ}wl -h "and O Rḍw preserve Ḍf on account of him wnwṯh the relief from his circumstances".
Commentary: At first sight the second letter looks like a y but the loop at the top must be an error and the small horizontal strokes at the top and bottom fo the r can be seen on the photograph. The r in the name ḥ{r}{s¹} appears to be back-to-front and the s¹ upside-down in relation to the rest of the text. However, it cannot be a d, as read by Littmann. The last letter in the passage which Littmann read as w nwy is clearly a ṯ not a y on the stone and this makes it very difficult to interpret. The prayer h rḍw hywmhḍf is difficult to interpret and the translation here is offered very tentatively. Compare the Arabic expression ḥayyā-ka llāh "May God preserve you alive" (Lane 680a). The equivalent root in Safaitic is usually Ḥ-Y-W (see Al-Jallad 2015: 324). In this case, ḥyw is in the suffix conjugation of the II (faʿʿala) form with an optative implication, and the direct object can only be ḍf. We have therefore taken mh as m- -h "from him/it" or "on account of him/it".

Al-Jallad, A. An Outline of the Grammar of the Safaitic Inscriptions. (Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics, 80). Leiden: Brill, 2015.
[Is.Mu] Inscriptions recorded at al-ʿĪsāwī by Muna Al-Muʾazzin, on the Safaitic Epigraphic Survey Programme, 1995–2002, and published here.
[Lane] Lane, E.W. An Arabic-English Lexicon, Derived from the Best and Most Copious Eastern Sources. (Volume 1 in 8 parts [all published]). London: Williams & Norgate, 1863-1893.
[LP] 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.

Updated 16 Sep, 2024 by OCIANA

OCIANA. 'LP 335.' OCIANA. 16 Sep, 2024. https://ociana.osu.edu/inscriptions/3635. Accessed: 16 Jun, 2025.