HCH 84

Siglum: HCH 84
Transliteration: l rbb ʾl{k}ʾlk{f}{r}ḥy w bny ʿl- hnʾ w wgm
OCIANA
Translation: By Rbb ʾl{k}ʾlk{f}{r}ḥy and he built for Hnʾ and he grieved
OCIANA
Language and Script: Safaitic

Interpretation

Commentary: The available print is not good enough to check the reading of the beginning satisfactorily. A possible explanation is that the first name is rbb and then the author wrote ʾl and the first letter of his lineal name a k. He then realised that he had inscribed the letter incorrectly by placing the horizontal lines in the middle of the vertical stroke rather than at the top. He inscribed ʾl again and the correct form of the letter k. The next letter seems to be a f and the next either a r or a b. It would be unusual for someone to introduce his lineal name without using the pronoun ḏ. Alternatively it is possible that the seventh letter should be emmended to ḏ. The following letter is probably a ḥ as read by HCH although it is slightly in shadow in the photograph and then there is a y. If the above explanantion is correct then the lineal name might be kf or kf{r} but it would not explain the last two letters before the w.

[HCH] Harding, G.L. The Cairn of Haniʾ. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 2, 1953: 8-56, pls 1-7.

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