SDh 1

Text Information

Siglum
SDh 1
Transliteration
ḥgb gʿmʾ
Ahmad Al-Jallad
Translation
Ḥgb (son of) Gʿmʾ
Ahmad Al-Jallad
Language and Script
Dhofari 1a

Interpretation

Commentary

ḥgb: This likely reflects ḥigāb 'cover', a common Arabic name but attested only once in ANA, in Safaitic ISB 51. 

gʿmʾ: The root gʿm is attested as a tribe name in Hismaic, CH.07-0001-02.11, and once as a personal name in Safaitic, C 1991. The final ʾ could reflect the pattern faʿlāʾ; indeed, the feminine term gamʿāʾ is attested in Arabic but not as a personal name. The name gaʿmūm is attested on Soqotra today. There is a Jabal Jaʿam in the Jinahah region of the Sanʿāʾ governorate. There is a small circle following the ʾ, which might be interpreted as a r or, more likely, a flaw on the stone. 

If the interpretation of this text as comprising a genealogy of names without the word for 'son' is correct, then it would be the first instance of this phenomenon in the Dhofari inscriptions, although it is a well-represented pattern in the Himaitic corpus. 

Ahmad Al-Jallad

Editio Princeps
Jansen van Rensburg et al. 2018
Field Collector
J. Jansen van Rensburg

Technique
Carved
Direction of Script
Left to right

  • [SDh] Jansen van Rensburg, J., Al-Orqbi, A. S. A., & Salem, E. M. A. Documenting a threatened rock art site on Soqotra, Yemen. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 29, 2018: 1-11.
Site
SHP_067 , Socotra, Yemen
Date Found
2018
Current Location
In situ
Subject
Genealogy
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Updated 03 Sep, 2025 by Ahmad Al-Jallad

Cite this Site

Al-Jallad, Ahmad. 'SDh 1.' OCIANA. 03 Sep, 2025. https://ociana.osu.edu/inscriptions/45814. Accessed: 07 Sep, 2025.