BES15_MS 23

(perhaps fll m-ḥmn bql is “he fled/they fled from ḥmn for fresh herbage”; cf. HaNSB 197) KʾB – This root is heretofore unattested in the Safaitic corpus, but well-attested in Arabic, with the meaning of “to be sad, depressed, in broken spirit” (cf. Lane 2639). The context in the present inscription suggests an adjective in the accusative /kaʾība/. ḤMN – The identity of this word is not completely certain. It is possible that it refers to a tribe, or even a personal name. Given the context of the inscription, however, it seems preferable to interpret it as a noun, either /ḥoman/ “heat” (cf. ClAr ḥuman, idem) or ḥiman “a place of herbage, or pasture, and of water, prohibited to the people (i.e., the public)” (Lane 651c; Al-Jallad and Jaworska 2019: 81). Although either is possible, it seems preferable to interpret the phrase as “he fled from the heat” rather than “he fled from a place of herbage.” A further aspect of the current form deserves special note here. If the current interpretation of ḥmn is correct, then the final n likely represents tanwīn. With few exceptions, Safaitic dialects lack tanwīn (Al-Jallad 2026: §4.5). Classical Arabic ḥuman is the result of a simplification of triphthong *aya > ā, which, when followed by tanwīn, resulted in reduction in the length of *ā > a: *ḥumayan > ḥumān > ḥuman. In Safaitic, we would expect either ḥmy /ḥomay/ or ḥm /ḥumē/. The lack of tanwīn on the adjective kʾb in the same inscription suggests that the variety behind this inscription likewise lacked tanwīn in most contexts. It is possible that the term ḥmn represents a supra-dialectal term, referring to a specific situation. Given that the author seems to be fleeing the heat for bql, fresh herbage, perhaps this term refers to a situation in which the heat has scorched herbage, requiring flight to other grazing ground. QHL – This term is so far a hapax legomenon in the Safaitic corpus. Indeed, it is rather rare in other Arabic corpora as well, where it typically means “to be dry or shriveled; to be ungrateful; to be dirty, disheveled” (Steingass 861). The laconic nature of the present inscription notwithstanding, these meanings do not help make sense of the context. A cognate, qahhel “to gather together, to summon,” is attested in Syriac (HALOT §8276). Such a reading makes some sense of the current context, and thus I have opted to translate it as “to summon.” ḤBB-HM – The reading ḥbb-hm is straightforward; however, given the use of the 3mpl pronominal suffix -hm, it is possible that the form is a plural /ḥobūb/ “loved ones” (Lane 500c).