BES20 696
Text Information
- Siglum
- BES20 696
- Transliteration
-
l ns²l bn bny bn grmʾl w ʾs²rq m- grm l- h- ḍʾn l- h-ʾʾnf f h lt s¹lm w h ds²r ʿhn
Josef Bloomfield
- Translation
-
By Ns²l son of Bny son of Grmʾl and he migrated from Grm towards h- ʾʾnf for the sake of the sheep so, O Lt, may he be secure and, O Ds²r, provide a (safe) dwelling
Ahmad Al-Jallad
- Language and Script
- Safaitic 2
Interpretation
- Commentary
-
The construction ʾs²rq m- Toponym l- Toponym is previously attested in a number of inscriptions. For example, BES20 298: ʾs²rq m- ḥkrn b- ʾbl l- brkt 'he migrated from Ḥkrn with camels towards Brkt;' HSNS 1: ʾs²rq l- mdbr 'he migrated towards the inner desert.' These examples suggest that the hapax legomenon h-ʾʾnf should be interpreted as the name of a place rather than a substantive or verbal noun. The toponym could be derived from the C-stem infinitive /ʾeʾnāf/ (Classical Arabic ʾīnāf), which refers to the pasturing of beasts on the first herbage (Lane, 113c). Alternatively, it could be a plural of the common noun ʾanf- 'nose', /ʾaʾnāf/, perhaps referring to a feature of the landscape.
While the construction ʾs²rq b-animal is well attested (e.g., BES20 298), this is the first occurrence of the construction with the preposition l-. Given that a comitative interpretation is not possible, I suggest taking it as a benefactive, which provides the reason for the author's migration.
On ʿhn, see SafDict, 51.
Ahmad Al-Jallad
- Editio Princeps
- OCIANA
- Field Collector
- BES20 team
- Technique
- Incised
- Direction of Script
- Coiling inwards
- Associated Inscriptions
- [SafDict] Al-Jallad, A. & Jaworska, K. A Dictionary of the Safaitic Inscriptions. Leiden: Brill, 2019
- [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 115–116
- Site
- Wādī Mismā al-Sharqī, Al-Mafraq Governorate, Jordan
- Date Found
- 2020
- Current Location
- In situ
- Subjects
- Deity, Domestic animals, Genealogy, Movement, Place-name, Prayer
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