BES20 628

Image © Badia Epigraphic Survey 2020 CC BY
Siglum
BES20 628
Transliteration
{l} {ʾ}{s¹} bn nʿmn bn ṣʿd bn ys¹mʿl bn ʾs¹ bn rbʿ bn mfn{y} w wgm ʿl- ----w---- [s¹]{n}[t] [k]tb h- rmy h- mdnt w ḫrṣ h- s¹nt f h bʿls¹mn rwḥ b- mṭr w ʿwr ḏ yʿwr h- s¹{f}r w {ġ}nmt l- ḏ dʿy
Josef Bloomfield and Michael C.A. Macdonald
Translation
By ʾs¹ son of Nʿmn {By} {ʾs¹} son of Nʿmn son of Ṣʿd son of Ys¹mʿl son of ʾs¹ son of Rbʿ son of {Mfny} and he grieved for ----w---- [the year] that the Romans {deployed units} to [or: in] the province and he kept watch [during] the intense drought and so O Bʿls¹mn grant relief with rain and blind him who would efface this inscription and [grant] {booty} to him who reads [it] aloud
Josef Bloomfield and Michael C.A. Macdonald
Language and Script
Safaitic 2

Interpretation

Commentary

Unfortunately, parts of this text are not clearly visible on the photographs. The author is a brother of the author of BES20 616 who also dates his inscription to the year "the Roman deployed military units to [or in] the Province". Unfortunately, it is not clear whether this is the Province of Syria or that of Arabia, or "the Roman" was. The word s¹nt can mean "intense drought" as well as "a year" [see Lane 1448a–b), and the subsequent prayer to Bʿls¹mn for rain suggests that "drought" is the meaning intended here. For the interpretation of dʿy see Al-Jallad and Jaworska 2019: 63.

Michael C.A. Macdonald

Editio Princeps
OCIANA
Field Collector
BES20 team

Technique
Incised
Direction of Script
Boustrophedon

Associated Inscriptions

  • [SafDict] Al-Jallad, A. & Jaworska, K. A Dictionary of the Safaitic Inscriptions. Leiden: Brill, 2019 pp 63
  • [BES20] Inscriptions recorded during the Badia Epigraphic Survey 2020 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. pp 1448
Site
Wādī Mismā al-Sharqī, Al-Mafraq Governorate, Jordan
Date Found
2020
Current Location
In situ
Subjects
Curse, Date (s¹nt), Deity, Genealogy, Grieving, Military, Outside peoples, Prayer, Watch (keeping)
Download Images
Updated 27 Jul, 2025 by Michael Macdonald

Cite this Site

Macdonald, Josef Bloomfield and Michael C.A. and Michael C.A. Macdonald. 'BES20 628.' OCIANA. 27 Jul, 2025. https://ociana.osu.edu/inscriptions/44555. Accessed: 19 Jan, 2026.