A 1

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Siglum
A 1
Transliteration
ΑΥΣΟΣ ΟΥΔΟΥ ΒΑΝΑΟΥ ΧΑΖΙΜΜΟΥ ΑΛ- ΙΔΑΜΙ ΑΘΑΟΥΑ ΜΙ- ΣΕΙΑ ΖΑΘΑΟ ΕΩ ΒΑΝAΑ Α- ΔΑΥΡΑ ΑΟΥΑ ΕΙΡΑΥ ΒΑΚΛΑ ΒΙ- ΧΑΝΟΥ[Ν]
Ahmad Al-Jallad
Translation
ʾAws son of Hūd (?) son of Bannāʾ son of Kazim, the ʾIdāmite, came from Sīʿ to spend the winter with Bannāʾ in this place and they pastured on fresh herbage during Kānū[n]
Ahmad Al-Jallad
Language and Script
Arabic/Greek

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus
Al-Jallad and al-Manaser 2015 (editio princeps) offer an alternative parsing of ΜΙΣΕΙΑΖ as mi-śiḥaṣ 'because of scarcity' but disprefer this to the reading and translation provided here, which is found in Al-Jallad and al-Manaser (2015: 52) and refined in Al-Jallad (2020: 111).
Commentary
This is perhaps the most important inscription that informs the vocalization of the dialects expressed in the Safaitic inscriptions. A full discussion of its linguistic features can be found in Al-Jallad and al-Manaser 2015. Al-Jallad (2020:111) reconstructs the vocalization of the inscription as follows: ʾAws (bin) hūd (?) (bin) Bannāʾ (bin) Kazim ʾal-ʾidāmiyy ʾatawa mis-seʿīʿ śatāw wa Bannāʾa ʾad-dawra wa yirʿaw baqla bi-kānūn 1) The author most likely identifies himself as an Edomite, Safaitic ʾdmy /ʾidāmiyy/, but note the reversal of the Canaanite shift, as in ʿammān < ʿammōn. 2) The 3rd masculine singular suffix conjugation 'he came' corresponds to Classical Arabic ʾatā but preserves the final triphthong, ʔatawa, as in Gəʿəz and Safaitic ʾtw (rare), ʾty (common). 3) The accusative case is attested in baqla “fresh herbage” and in the name bannāʾa, where it follows the wāw al-māʿiyyah 'comitative wāw'. 4) The *s² of the infinitive “to spend the winter” is spelled with a mirrored Zeta, ζαθαοε /śatāw/. 5) The name of the town of Sīʿ is spelled identically to its transcription in Greek inscriptions, and corresponds to Nabataean sʿyʿ and Safaitic s¹ʿʿ. This suggests the pronunciation /seʕīʕā/.

Editio Princeps
Ahmad Al-Jallad

Technique
Incised

  • Al-Jallad, A. 2020. The Damascus Psalm Fragment Middle Arabic and the Legacy of Old Ḥigāzī, with a contribution by R. Vollandt. Chicago: OI, 2020 pp 111
  • [A] Al-Jallad, A.M. & Al-Manāsīr [Al-Manaser], A.Y.Kh. New Epigraphica from Jordan I: a pre-Islamic Arabic inscription in Greek Letters and a Greek inscription from north-eastern Jordan. Arabian Epigraphic Notes 1, 2015: 51-70. pp 51-59 Plate 2, 3
Site
Wādī Salmā, Al-Mafraq Governorate, Jordan
Current Location
In situ
Subjects
Definite article (unusual), Movement, Pasturing, Place-name, Present in a place, Season
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Updated 26 Nov, 2024 by Ahmad Al-Jallad