BES26_HRN1 58

wd----: The first has been obliterated, but a small loop at the top is apparent, so one may suggest wdy.

hrn: The final name, which is perhaps the most important feature of this inscription, clearly begins with an h. The second letter has some damage at the top causing it to resemble a y, but it would have an entirely different shape when compared to the y of ʿly. Rather, it seems to have a short arm at the top and a small curve at the bottom of the shaft, making r the most likely candidate. If one dismisses the lower curve, then perhaps it can be read as an l. The final letter is clearly an n, despite adjacent damage. This produces the likely reading of hrn, but one cannot rule out hln.

The dating formula can be interpreted in two ways. The first is to understand the last word, hrn or hln, both attested anthroponyms, as the name of the king. But this would leave the verb of motion, ʿly 'to go up', without a goal. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that the name of the area in which this inscription was found is today called hārūn. Could the name be ancient, with the inscription recording the coming of a certain king to the present region? The biblical name אַהֲרֹן /ʾahărōn/ lacks a secure etymology, but it is hard to imagine that the Safaitic hrn is taken from Hebrew, given the lack of other Hebrew onomastic borrowings. Rather, it would appear to be a native name that was then conflated with the name of the biblical figure, as is so common with biblical borrowings (see Al-Jallad and al-Manaser 2021). This explanation appears to be the most economical, as the initial ʾ is found even in the Syriac form, ܐܗܪܘܢ. It is also possible that hln is an unknown place.

• BES26_HRN1 57