BES15_MS 225

Siglum
BES15_MS 225
Transliteration
l zhyn bn nḍr w ḫbb b- ḏkr{n} {m}- ḥrn
Phillip Stokes
Translation
By Zhyn son of Nḍr and he fled when the sun was in Aries from the Ḥawrān
Phillip Stokes
Language and Script
Safaitic

Interpretation

Commentary
ḪBB – This root is so far otherwise unattested in the Safaitic corpus. Its meaning in CAr is “to be deceitful; to amble, trot, run; to sink down (in the sand)” (Hava 146). Although this form could represent either a nominal or verbal pattern, a verbal meaning fits the context better than a nominal one. Given that the root is geminate (C² = C³), this SC could either represent a form in which metathesis of V² has not occurred, i.e., ḫababa, or a D-stem verb, i.e., ḫabbaba. In the CAr dictionaries, the D-stem meaning is given as “to deceive s.o.; to corrupt s.o.; to bind one’s arm, hand, with a piece of rag like a fillet” (Lane 691). Of the root’s attested meanings, the G-stem “to run, trot (of a horse)” is most appropriate for the context of this inscription. If this form represents a D-stem, it would be another example of the trend in some varieties of Arabic for G-stem verbs to be reanalyzed as D-stem (cf. rāḥ = rawwaḥ “to go,” in a number of Levantine varieties). ḎKR – The zodiac sign/month of Aries (Al-Jallad 2014: 218), corresponding to March-April, at the end of the late rains (dṯʾ in Safaitic – see Macdonald 1992).

  • [BES15_MS] Stokes, P. The Badia Epigraphic Survey: The Safaitic Inscriptions of Marabb al-Shurafāt BES 2015. OCIANA: Zenodo, 2026. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23482253.
Site
Marabb al-Shurafāt, Al-Mafraq Governorate, Jordan
Date Found
Jun-15
Current Location
In situ
Updated 19 Oct, 2026 by OCIANA

Cite this Site

Phillip Stokes, 'BES15_MS 225,' ed. A. Al-Jallad and M.C.A. Macdonald, OCIANA, 19 Oct, 2026. https://ociana.osu.edu/inscriptions/46909. Accessed: 24 Oct, 2026.