BES19s 50

Text Information

Siglum
BES19s 50
Transliteration
l ḫlf bn gnʾl bn ḫdmt bn trml bn s¹ry bn s¹lm bn s¹fd bn rfʾt s¹nt ʿbdt w h lt mḥlt l- ḏ yʿwr h- s¹fr

Adam Abate
Translation
By Ḫlf son of Gnʾl son of Ḫdmt son of Trml son of S¹ry son of S¹lm son of S¹fd son of Rfʾt, the year of ʿbdt, so, O Lt, dearth be to the one who would efface this writing
Adam Abate
Language and Script
Safaitic 2

Interpretation

Commentary

The author of this inscription is the brother of the author of inscription BES19s 49, although the geneaology here is extended by two generations. The authors of both inscriptions inscribe identical curses. The inscription is dated to "the year of ʿbdt," which must be the Nabataean regnal name ʿObodat = 𐢗𐢃𐢅𐢞‎, Οβοδας‎. There were three Nabataean kings by this name, but only two reigned long enough to have been known by the inhabitants of the Ḥarrah, Obodas I (r. 96 to 85 BC) and Obodas III (r. 30 to 9 BC).  The inscription cannot be precisely dated as we cannot know what 'the year' here signified, whether to the king's accession or death, or which ʿbdt was intended. The inscription therefore can only be roughly dated to the 1st c. BCE.

Editio Princeps
OCIANA
Field Collector
BES19s team

Technique
Scratched
Direction of Script
Boustrophedon

Associated Signs
seven lines
Associated Inscriptions

  • [BES19s] Inscriptions recorded during the summer season of the Badia Epigraphic Survey 2019
Site
Firʿ Wādī al-Ḫuḍarī, Al-Mafraq Governorate, Jordan
Date Found
June 2019
Current Location
In situ
Subjects
Curse, Date (s¹nt), Deity, Genealogy, Outside peoples
Download Image
Updated 15 Feb, 2025 by Adam Abate