WH 3929

Interpretation

Apparatus Criticus: WH: ytẓr ḥyt "he was watching animals"
Commentary: The first two letters of the second name are clearly ġ l which have been joined at one end and in the middle by a later line which also joins the l to the ṯ. The name is unattested but compare Classical Arabic ġāliṯ "one who fights vehemently" (Lane p. 2281b under ġaliṯ). The name could also be ġlṯy (compare Classical Arabic ġalṯà "a bitter herb with which one tans" Lane p. 2281b) however given the lack of a connective between the name and the statement it seems more likely that the y belongs to the following verb which would be a circumstance clause (ḥāl) "while he was waiting for some animals".

Provenance: WH worked from photographs taken by Mr Barry Park in 1955 who gave them to Gerald Lankester Harding. Unfortunately, these have since disappeared, and the photographs here were taken during a survey of Jabal Qurma and Tell Farah by Michael C.A. Macdonald, Geraldine King, Ann Searight and David Jacobson in 1982.
Original Reading Credit: OCIANA

Associated Drawings

Three ostriches chased by a hound

Associated Inscriptions

Winnett, F.V. & Harding, G.L. Inscriptions from Fifty Safaitic Cairns. (Near and Middle East Series, 9). Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1978.
Lane, E.W. An Arabic-English Lexicon, Derived from the Best and Most Copious Eastern Sources. (Volume 1 in 8 parts [all published]). London: Williams & Norgate, 1863-1893.