C 974

Siglum: C 974
Alternative Sigla: Vogüé 93 b
Transliteration: l ḥny bn qs¹m bn ḥn{y} bn lʿṯm bn zʾkt bn ʾs¹lm bn mbdy bn kwnt w mtʿ l- ḫlqt b- h- mʿzyn b- r(ʾ)y ʾʾly f rʿy h- bq[l] w ḫr[ṣ] s²nʾ f h lt s¹(l)(m)
Translation: By Ḥny son of Qs¹m son of Ḥny son of Lʿṯm son of Zʾkt son of ʾs¹lm son of Mbdy son of Kwnt and it [a planet ?] shone brightly in a portion of Orion during the {rising} of Taurus so may he pasture on {fresh herbage} and {he kept watch} for enemies and so O Lt [grant] {security}

Interpretation

Provenance: Note that the co-ordinates are estimates. De Vogüé gives the fullest description of al-ʿUdaysīyah. He writes: "Strictly speaking, the name al-ʿUdaysīyah refers to a point on the [southern] end of the Ruḥbah where there are rough ruins: one can distinguish a small tower, and some surrounding walls in dry-stonework. All around these remains, are traces of stoneworking: fragments, quarried blocks, unfinished slabs strewn all over the ground. Tradition has it that this was the quarry for Khirbat al-Bayḍā. At Al-ʿUdaysīyah itself there are no inscriptions, but within a fairly short radius of this point there are several nameless cairns which are covered with them. We explored four of these which furnished us with texts [V 56–130 = C 924–1016]. Near to one of them we found another quarry" (1868–1877: 144).
Original Reading Credit: C
Original Translation Credit: OCIANA

Ryckmans, G. Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum: Pars Quinta, Inscriptiones Saracenicae Continens: Tomus I, Fasciculus I, Inscriptiones Safaiticae. Paris: E Reipublicae Typographeo, 1950–1951.
Al-Jallad, A.M An Ancient Arabian Zodiac. The Constellations in the Safaitic Inscriptions. Part II. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 27, 2016: 84–106.
de Vogüé, M. Syrie Centrale. Inscriptions sémitiques. Paris: Baudry, 1868-1877.

Site: Al-ʿUdaysīyah, at the southern end of the Ruḥbah, on the left [i.e. west] bank of Wādī al-Šām” ( C p.126), Rif Dimašq Governorate, Syria