Sigla: C 2840; Dunand 294 b  Script: Safaitic

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Transliteration
l s²mt bnt s¹r h- ʿr w h s²ʿhqm s¹lm l- -n h- s¹nt w mḥlt l- ḏ yʿwr h- ʾs¹fr

Translation
By S²mt daughter of S¹r is the mule [or hinny] and O S²ʿhqm [grant] security to us [in] this drought and [send] dearth to whoever scratches out these inscriptions

Apparatus Criticus
C: s²mt bn ts¹r for s²mt bnt s¹r; h- ʿr "this ass" for "this mule"; mḥnt "misfortune" for mḥlt "dearth"; h- s¹fr "this inscription" for h- ʾs¹fr "these inscriptions".

Commentary
See Macdonald (in press, a) for the reasons for translating ʿ(y)r in Safaitic as a hybrid, that is a "mule" (the offspring of a male donkey x female horse) or a "hinny" (the offspring of a male horse x female donkey).

Subjects
Genealogy Drawing of a domestic animal Women Prayer Deity Curse

Country: Syria
Region: Rif Dimashq
Site: Zalaf (j) "In the neighbourhood of Zalaf, near Wādī al-Shām " (C p. 304).
Latitude: 32.9269
Longitude: 37.3296
Present Location: In situ
Find date: 1920s and 1930s
Field collector: Maurice & Mireille Dunand
Notes: Zalaf itself consists of three, or possibly more, wells and some trees, but the Dunands used its name to cover a large area surrounding the place itself. This is subdivided into areas to which we have given the names Zalaf (a) to Zalaf (m). C (p. 199), following the Dunands, says that Zalaf is about 10 km south of Riǧm Qaʿqūl, but in fact it is more like 5.5 km to the south-south-west. Since "Zalaf" is used in C of a wide area, and the descriptions of the sub-areas are often very vague, the co-ordinates given here are necessarily approximate.
Associated Inscriptions: C 2839, 2841–2843

References:
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. Pages: 1448a

Macdonald, M.C.A. Horses, asses, hybrids, and their uses in the ancient rock-art of the Syro-Arabian desert. in K. Linduff & P. Raulwing (eds), Equids in the Ancient Near East, Egypt, and Arabia. Proceedings of a conference in memory of Mary Aitken Littauer. Oxford: BAR, 2019.

[C] Ryckmans, G. Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum: Pars Quinta, Inscriptiones Saracenicae Continens: Tomus I, Fasciculus I, Inscriptiones Safaiticae. Paris: E Reipublicae Typographeo, 1950–1951.

[Dunand] Safaitic inscriptions copied by Maurice and Mireille Dunand in the basalt desert of southern Syria in the 1920s and 1930s and published in G. Ryckmans (ed.), Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum. Pars V. Inscriptiones Saracenicas continens, Tomus 1. Inscriptiones Safaiticae. (2 volumes). Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 1950-1951.

URL of this record (for citation): http://krc.orient.ox.ac.uk/ociana/corpus/pages/OCIANA_0006044.html