BES20 1065

Siglum: BES20 1065
Transliteration: l flṭt bn m{h}r bn ʾs¹l bn mkm{d} w ṭrq m- flyt l- ḫms¹ ʿm
Josef Bloomfield
Translation: By Flṭt son of {Mhr} son of ʾs¹l son of {Mkmd} and he travelled(?) from Flyt for [a period of] five years
Josef Bloomfield
Language and Script: Safaitic 1

Interpretation

Commentary: The inscription is difficult to make sense of as it runs over multiple faces of the stone and the photographs do not show all the faces clearly. The final letter of mkmd is position on the edge of two faces of the stone. Due to damage on the right side, it looks like a q, but upon close inspection it is almost certainly a d. The letters following mkmd are relatively clear, but the meaning of them is unclear. Typically, ṭrq refers to beating or hitting something. The following letters seem to use the preposition m- followed by either fnyt or flyt, both of which are attested as place names. This perhaps refers to a use of ṭrq similar to the Classical Arabic ṭaraqa l-ṭarīq (he travelled the road), suggesting the author travelled from fnyt or flyt. Nevertheless, the following letters l- ḫms¹, for five…, seems to suggest a duration of travel. On the other stone face, there are the letters ʿm, seemingly without any letters before them. If we read this as ḫms¹ ʿm, it may perhaps mean ‘five years’, despite the fact that the plural would presumably be ʿwm. The meaning of travelling from one place for five years also does not make much sense. The reading presented here, therefore, is very tentative. Josef Bloomfield

Associated Inscriptions

[BES20] Inscriptions recorded during the Badia Epigraphic Survey 2020 and published here

Updated 02 Jul, 2025 by OCIANA

Bloomfield, Josef. 'BES20 1065.' OCIANA. 02 Jul, 2025. https://ociana.osu.edu/inscriptions/44996. Accessed: 14 Jul, 2025.