FTH 16

Fujii and Tokunaga 2007: l dwrs bn ʾgmʿ bn ḥbk ḏ ʾl ʿdw [w] ḏkrt lt wd w gṯ w rḍwt w ġṯ w tm w yʿly w yhd w ysʿ w ʾsrh w hnʾ w zdlh w ġṯ w ḥg w ḥbb ʾl ʿmr w ḥmlg w ʾšyʿn, translation: 'By Dwrs son of ʾgmʿ son of Ḥbk of the tribe of ʿdw; [and] may Lt remember Wd and Ġṯ and Rḍwt and Ġṯ and Tm and Yʿly and Yhd and Ysʿ and ʾsrh (or 'his family') and Hnʾ and Zdlh and Ġṯ and Ḥg and Ḥbb of the tribe ʿmr and Ḥmlg and our companions'

This is the first occurrence of the name Dwls¹, which does not seem to be a Semitic name. It can be hypothesized that this is a transcription of the Greek name Δοῦλος “servant, slave”, possibly used as an equivalent to Tm or ʿbd. 

Yhd and Ys¹ʿ seem to correspond to the Jewish names “Judah” (Yəhūdā) (יְהוּדָה) and “Jesus” (Yēšūaʿ) (יֵשׁוּעַ). There is no reason to assume that Ys¹ʿ is a reference to Jesus Christ and that Yhd designates the “Jewish people” (Yahūd). Rather, these must be references to two private individuals bearing two common Jewish personal names.

- Jérôme Norris (June 5th, 2025)

The tribe ʿd has been previously attested in Hismaic and is likely one and the same as the Quranic ʿād (see Al-Jallad 2025a).