CEDS 173

Image © OCIANA CC BY
Siglum
CEDS 173
Transliteration
l ngm bn ḥṣd h- ṯrn w ṭrd -h h- ḫr
OCIANA
Translation
By Ngm son of Ḥṣd are the two bulls. And his maternal uncle drove them
OCIANA
Language and Script
Safaitic 1

Interpretation

Commentary

The inscription is accompanied by a drawing of a man with a plough which is drawn by two bulls.The verb ṭarada in Classical Arabic means “to drive away“, "pursue", "hunt", etc., though ṭarada al-ʾibl can mean "he drove, or brought or gathered the camels together" (Lane 1838b). Here it would seem to mean driving the bulls pulling the plough. The -h after trd would refer to the bulls.

There is also a stick-figure human with 8 dots.

There is a b below the g of the first name and another g above it suggesting that another author used the g in this inscription to carve his name, bgg.

Michael C.A. Macdonald

Editio Princeps
Ed. pr.
Field Collector
Vincent Clark

Technique
chiselled
Direction of Script
Boustrophedon starting left to right

Associated Remains
Cairn

  • [KEAS] Al-Khraysheh, F. Evidence of agriculture in the Safaitic inscriptions and drawings. Abhath Al-Yarmouk: Humanities & Social Sciences 13:2.A, 1997: 17–22. pp 18-19
Site
EDS 80-3, Jordan
Current Location
In situ
Subjects
Genealogy, Drawing of a domestic animal, Agriculture
Old OCIANA ID
#0018804
Updated 04 Oct, 2026 by Michael Macdonald

Cite this Site

Michael C.A. Macdonald and OCIANA, 'CEDS 173,' ed. A. Al-Jallad and M.C.A. Macdonald, OCIANA, 04 Oct, 2026. https://ociana.osu.edu/inscriptions/9246. Accessed: 29 Oct, 2026.