BES15_MS 25

HN ʾḪS¹ – This phrase is challenging to interpret, although, thankfully, it is situated in a well-known formula for announcing a leader in a troop: ngy + Name + b-ms¹rt. We would therefore expect a name following the verb ngy. It is possible that the first three consonants should be read as the name Hnʾ (/Hāneʾ/), which is well-attested in Safaitic and elsewhere. Such a reading would leave two final consonants ḫ and s¹, which would require interpretation as a verb, /ḫassa/, “to be vile.” I have chosen instead to parse them as the definite article followed by the superlative of the same root (/han-ʾaḫass/), “the vile(est) one.” The n glyph is inserted into a small space between the h and ʾ glyphs, which might suggest the inscriber initially forgot it and inserted it into the small space left between the two glyphs. It is not rock damage, however, so its reading as an n is relatively secure. If this reading is correct, then it provides support to the idea that, in some dialects, the *hn article was preserved before pharyngeals and laryngeals, but assimilated elsewhere: hn-G but h-C (CITE). ʿR – I interpret the noun here as a creative juxtaposition of a noun (/ʿār/) derived from ʿyr “disgrace,” with the preceding ʿwr (probably nominal /ʿawār/, “blindness”).