WTay 05

Siglum: WTay 05
Alternative Sigla: Ph 266.au (lines 1–5)
Transliteration: zʾb/b ḥgg/kʾl/{s²}mt ʾṯt/w ndrt knʿ yʾzn {-k} zt hnʾn {b} gml ʿyr
Translation: Zʾb son of Ḥgg purchased {a black female-camel} of a woman and it died Knʿ exhorts {you} Zt Hnʾn [to give in exchange for] a camel an ass

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus: TEXT Line 1. Kootstra: s¹ʾl nmt [...] rather than kʾl {s²}mt. Lines 1–3. Winnett & Reed: ḏʾb bḥgg kʾl s²mt ʾṯt w ndrt klʿ yʾḏnk ḏt rather than zʾb b ḥgg s1ʾl nmt ʾṯt w ndrt b nʿy ʾznk zt. van den Branden takes it as 5 short texts: (1) ḏʾb bw{l}s¹ b ʾḫrm (2) ʾt twb (3) s¹n? ḏʾyʿlb (4) ḏt rfʾ (5) s¹gm lbʿ rather than zʾb b ḥgg s1ʾl nmt ʾṯt w ndrt b nʿy ʾznk zt hnʾn b gml ʿyr. Line 7. Kootstra: w gml rather than {b} gml. TRANSLATION Winnett & Reed: "Ḏʾb son of Ḥgg purchased the black camel of a woman and it died. Klʿ exhorts thee Ḏt Hnʾn (to give) in exchange for the camel an ass" van den Branden: (1) "Ḏʾb son of Wls¹ son of ʾḥrm"; (2) "Tawāb's sign"; (3) "S¹n! ... has drawn [this]"; (4) "This is Rfʾ"; (5) "S¹gm at Bʿ". Lines 2–7. Kootstra: "ʾtṯ/wives and I vowed to you my nʿ by your permission [grant] this: our health and a sprightly camel".
Commentary: As Winnett reads it, the lines are right-to-left, except line 3 which runs left-to-right boustrophedon from line 2. The interpretation is extremely difficult and, faute de mieux, we have followed Winnett's translation with a few small changes. The first letter of line 5 looks more like a ṣ than a b. However, it is possible that the horizontal stroke across the middle is not part of the letter [?].

Winnett, F.V. & Reed, W.L. Ancient Records from North Arabia. with contributions by J.T. Milik and J. Starcky. (Near and Middle East Series, 6). Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1970. pp 96–97 Plate 18, 21
Van den Branden, A. Les textes thamoudéens de Philby. (2 volumes). (Bibliothèque du Muséon, 39 and 41). Louvain: Institut orientaliste, 1956.