BES15_MS 361

Siglum
BES15_MS 361
Transliteration
l ḫr bn grmt ḏ- ʾl ʿmrt w qṣṣ f ʾs¹lm s¹nt ʾty ʾl mḏ b- s¹ʿd ʾlt
Phillip Stokes
Translation
By Ḫr son of Grmt of the tribe of ʿmrt, and he patrolled then surrendered in the year that the Persians came with help of ʾlt
Phillip Stokes
Language and Script
Safaitic

Interpretation

Commentary
ʾL-MḎ – I have chosen to translate ʾl mḏ as “Persians,” although there are several features of this form that deserve comment. Macdonald (1993: 328–9) has rightly cautioned against assuming that references to Rm, and, by extension, mḏ(y), must be understood as referring to Romans or Persians. The present context is similar to those in which Romans and Persians are mentioned; that is, an event (the act of patrolling) is dated to the year in which ʾl mḏ came. Additionally, there are two inscriptions (SIJ 88; RMSK 1) in which h-mḏ as “Persians” fits the context. Thus it is sensible to interpret mḏ as a reference to Persians. Unique (so far) in the corpus of Safaitic inscriptions is the use of ʾl with mḏ(y). Previous attestations of mḏ and mḏy as “Persians” are all accompanied by the particle, presumably the definite article, h (C 4448; SIJ 78; SIJ 88; RMSK 1; Al-Mafraq Museum 14). It is thus tempting here to interpret ʾl as the definite article, attested elsewhere in the Safaitic corpus (C 5137; C 2446; HCH 194). It is also possible that ʾl should be interpreted as “clan, people” /ʾāl/, which is apparently paralleled in the use of ʾl with rm, “Romans” (cf. C 4448 l mḥwr bn ġṭfn bn ʾḏnt w ṣyr b-ġnmt-h s¹nt ḥrb h-mḏy ʾl rm b-bṣry… “By Mḥwr son of Ġṭfn son of ʾḏnt and he returned to a place of water with his goats the year the Persians waged war upon the people of Rome at Bostra…”). Interestingly, in the one inscription in which both Rm and Mḏy are mentioned together (C 4448 = Dussaud M 554), ʾl is used with Rm, but Mḏy is prefixed with the article h. This could suggest a difference between referents of ʾl and h. While it is likely impossible to prove, this distribution could suggest that ʾl is used to refer to local tribes allied with Rome or Persia, whereas h- is used to refer to non-local military contingents of those respective empires. Possible support of such a reading can be found in KhNSJ 6: l {ṣ}{b}{ḥ} bn ḏl bn ʾs¹ bn ḏl ḏ-ʾl ʿbs²{t} m-mrd ʿl ʾl rm --- qyẓ ʿlf {t}yt s¹nt brḥ qṣr l-bṣry “By {Ṣbḥ} son of Ḏl son of ʾs¹ son of Ḏl of the lineage of ʿbs²{t} and he rebelled against the Romans ---- he spent the dry season using dry fodder ---- the year Caesar hastened to Boṣrā…” It is possible to interpret the reference to revolt against the Romans as revolt against the local tribal ally of Rome, which then prompted Caesar, or potentially his representatives - a Roman military unit – to be sent to subdue the rebellion and reestablish control. A possible counterargument to such an interpretation is the lack of reference to ms¹rt, “military unit” (Macdonald 1993: 374). Another aspect of this form that deserves some remark is the absence of y on mḏ (instead of expected mḏy). The same form, without the expected final y, is attested in two other inscriptions (SIJ 88; RMSK 1). It is possible that, in each of these cases, the author simply neglected to write the final y. Another possibility is that the form mḏy is underlying /maḏay/ “Persia; the Persians,” whereas the form mḏ is a gentilic /maḏī/ “Persian” (cf. Hebrew māḏî “idem”). If the y-less form is indeed a gentilic form, then the current inscription would read “…the year that the Persian came with the help of ʾlt.” However, gentilics are typically written plene in Safaitic (Al-Jallad 2026, ch. 3). Another possibility is that the form mḏ represents the occasional contraction of final diphthong *-ay to -ē, representing underlying /maḏē/, which is attested elsewhere, although this reduction is still marked in Safaitic (ibid., §3.2.3). One final possibility is that mḏ is a less common byform of mḏy, reflecting underlying maḏā, perhaps borrowed from Persian, in which the final vowel is ā (HALOT §4831, 3).

  • [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 361,' ed. A. Al-Jallad and M.C.A. Macdonald, OCIANA, 19 Oct, 2026. https://ociana.osu.edu/inscriptions/47045. Accessed: 25 Oct, 2026.