BES15_MS 276

Siglum
BES15_MS 276
Transliteration
l mʿll bn ʾṣbḥt w s¹ʿd h rḍw ʿl wbt ʿrft {ʿ/w}lk
Phillip Stokes
Translation
By Mʿll son of ʾṣbḥt and Rḍw, help against the attack of ʿrft {and to you}...
Phillip Stokes
Language and Script
Safaitic

Interpretation

Commentary
WBT – This inscription is terse, and the words following Rḍw constitute hapax legomena. The interpretation here is therefore necessarily tentative. The reading s¹ʿd h Rḍw is clear, and can either be interpreted as 3ms perfect “he helped” with a 3ms object suffix “him,” or as an imperative “Help!”, in which case the h can either be a 3ms suffix “Help him” or a vocative, in which case “Oh, Rḍw!” I have opted for the latter, because the formula of vocative + deity is well-attested. The word wbt is a hapax legomenon in the Safaitic corpus. The root wbt is attested in the ClAr lexica, meaning “to stay, abide” (Lane 2976), but that does not make much sense given the context of invoking the deity’s help against (ʿl) someone or something. I have interpreted it instead as deriving from the root wbb, which Lisān al-ʿArab mentions with the meaning “attack,” or “invade” (perhaps vocalized /wabbat/). Until the same word in clearer contexts is discovered, the interpretation must remain preliminary.

  • [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 276,' ed. A. Al-Jallad and M.C.A. Macdonald, OCIANA, 19 Oct, 2026. https://ociana.osu.edu/inscriptions/46960. Accessed: 29 Oct, 2026.