HCH 79

Siglum: HCH 79
Transliteration: l ʿqrbn bn ks¹ṭ bn s¹ʿd h- dmyt zmrt
OCIANA
Translation: By ʿqrbn son of Ks¹ṭ son of S¹ʿd is the drawing she played the reed pipes
OCIANA
Language and Script: Safaitic

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus: HCH: translation of h dmyt zmrt "The beautiful woman played the reed pipes". RyMA p. 123: h- dmyt zmrt "this drawing: a flute player". MDFD p. 56: l ʿqrbn ... h- dmyt zmrt "By ʿqrbn (was made) this drawing (which is) a musician.
Commentary: The translation here is offered tentatively. Al-Jallad has suggested taking h as presentative particle: "behold, a drawing of a flute player" and taking dmyt as a first person singular verb of the suffix conjugation: "behold, I have drawn a flute player", though first person verbs, however, are exceedingly rare in Safaitic. A similar awkward expression is l N h- s²ḥt h- {d}myt in C 2861 (Dn 304).

Al-Manāsīr [Al-Manaser], A.Y.Kh. Traditional music or religious ritual? Ancient rock art illuminated by Bedouin custom. Pages 81–95 in L. Nehmé & A.Al-Jallad (eds), To the Madbar and back again. Studies in the languages, archaeology, and cultures of Arabia dedicated to Michael C. A. Macdonald. (Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics, 92). Leiden: Brill, 2018.
[HCH] Harding, G.L. The Cairn of Haniʾ. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 2, 1953: 8-56, pls 1-7.
[HSD] Harding, G.L. A Safaitic Drawing and Text. Levant 1, 1969: 68-72, pl. 19.

Site: Cairn of Haniʾ about 20 m north of the north-eastern group of texts (HCH p. 17)., Al-Mafraq Governorate, Jordan

Updated 16 Sep, 2024 by OCIANA