Sigla: C 4982; Dunand 965 a  Script: Safaitic

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Transliteration
l ʾḥlm bn ʿbdʾl bn s²ddt w wgd s¹fr l- mġṯ (f) bky w {g}{r}{z} ʿl- -h s¹lm f h lt s¹lm l- ḏ s¹ʾr w h ʾlt dṯn bʾs¹ l- ḏ yʿwr h- ḫṭṭ

Translation
By ʾḥlm son of ʿbdʾl son of S²ddt and he found an inscription by Mġṯ and so he wept and he was slain may he have security and so O Lt [grant] security to him who remains and O ʾlt Dṯn [inflict] misfortune on whoever scratches out the carving

Apparatus Criticus
C: w wgd s¹frn mġṯ "and he found the inscriptions of Mġṯ" for w wgd s¹fr l- mġṯ "he found an inscription by Mġṯ"; s¹lm l- ḏ s¹ʾr "security to the one who leaves [it] unimpaired"

Commentary
C's reading w wgd s¹frn mġṯ "and he found the inscriptions of Mġṯ" is, of course, impossible. As he noted in his commentary, the -n of s¹frn would be dropped in annexation. We have therefore suggested reading not n but l and to read w wgd s¹fr l- mġṯ "he found an inscription by Mġṯ". In this, l- would echo the beginning of most inscriptions and in particular C 4983 (l mġṯ bn lʿṯmn) which is also the only inscription by a Mġṯ recorded in this vicinity, another reason to doubt the reading s¹frn.

For grz compare Classical Arabic ǧaraza-hu "he slew him" (Lane 408c), here in the passive. The expression ʿl- -h s¹lm probably stands for *ʿl- -h h- s¹lm in which the definite article has been assimilated to the preceding 3rd person singular enclitic pronoun. Compare Arabic ʿalay-hi al-salām. For the meaning of of s¹ʾr see Al-Jallad 2015: 339–340. On ʾlt dṯn see Macdonald, Al Muʾazzin & Nehmé 1996: 474–476 and n. 117.

Subjects
Genealogy Finding inscription(s) Grieving Prayer Deity Curse

Country: Syria
Region: Al-Suwaydah or Rif Dimashq
Site: On the right bank of Wādī al-Gharz, near the track from Ǧabal al-Drūz to al-Namāra
Present Location: In situ
Find date: 1920s and 1930s
Field collector: Maurice & Mireille Dunand
Notes: Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing where on the right bank of Wādī al-Gharz these inscriptions were found.

References:
[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_0008186.html