Some New Epigraphy Material from the Hashemite Kingdom of the Jordan

The aim of this research is to present a new collection of ANA inscriptions (Safaitic) discovered in 2017 in the Jordanian northeastern Badia in the area of Tall Al-Hafit. The research attempts to add a new meaning to the interpretation of the verb ʿwr in the Safaitic inscriptions. This research also introduces a new inscription bearing a reference to the town of Salkhad, which is located in southern Syria. This is the fifth inscription mentioning the name of this town. In addition, the research attempts to shed light on the importance of interpreting Safaitic inscriptions in relation to their geographical locations (the places where the inscriptions were discovered). This is because it is believed that these inscriptions and the meanings their authors wanted to convey can be better understood when interpreting these inscriptions in relation to their geographical contexts.

indicating that the author of the inscription had escaped and hid away from the main road or the exposed valleys 1

mṭr bn ḫl bn whbʾl bn ʾdm h-ḫṭṭ w h rḍy qrʿ ḏ-yʿwr m ʿl-ḥw{q}
Translation By Mṭr son of Ḫl son of Whbʾl son of ʾdm is the carving and O Rḍy inflict baldness/ harm whoever scratches out what is on the stone

Commentary
The basalt stone, on which this inscription was engraved, has been subject to some fracture as shown in the picture of this stone. The inscription is carved round drawings of a male and female camel apparently with rich trappings. It appears that the drawing of the she-camel and the male camel had been made before the inscription was engraved as the letters of the inscription are encircling the drawing. All the letters of the inscription are clear and easy to read apart from the last two letters. However, it has been possible to figure out these two letters by comparison with the other similar inscriptions. After stating his genealogy, the author mentioned that the beautiful drawing of the camel on the stone, then he requested from the deity Rḍy to inflict baldness on whoever scratches out the inscription. For qrʿ we have compared Arabic qaraʿu ar-Rāsi which is known to translate to "to completely lose hair on the head". It is also defined in some sources as "to lose hair as a result of a disease" (Ibn Manẓūr 3594). The last word in the inscription can be compared to inscription AMSI 131 and, thus, can be translated to mean "stone".

Commentary
This inscription was engraved on a basalt stone in a spiral pattern. The author framed the inscription with a line in a circular form and engraved seven lines that are commonly believed by researchers to be a form of sorcery for the sake of protection of the inscription (Al-Manaser 2008: 51). It seems that the author had drawn the framing line before engraving the script; this is inferred from the limited space available for the letters of the inscription within the frame. There is also another inscription below this one. The author dated his inscription to the year of ʿbdt who could have been a famous person or a regular person but relevant to the author. In this regard, there is another Safaitic inscription dated to reign of Nabataean king Obadat (ANKS 1). The author also requested from (prayed for) the deity Lt to grant security and safety, and requested from the deity Yṯʿ to grant peace and inflect harm on whoever scratches out the inscription whether being a human or a herd animal. It is noteworthy to mention that the phrase ʾns¹ w nʿm was mentioned in another Safaitic inscription (KRS 1179). It is also possible that this phrase refers to personal names as it is difficult to interpret nʿm as a herd of animals.

Commentary
This inscription was engraved on a basalt stone and some of it letters were vandalized but it can be read completely. The stone also shows various engravings such as seven dots, circles and seven lines. The inscription is surrounded by a circular frame; possibly for the sake of protection of the handwriting. This inscription is Safaitic and it was a common practice among Safaitic authors to encircle their inscriptions with various kinds of frames (RSIS 17; CSI.S 12). It appears that the author of the inscription long waited for the rain and he requested from the deity Bʿl s¹mn for relief from drought (KRS 1988;ASWS 185;RWQ 281). At the end of the inscription, the author requested from the deity to harm whoever harms or scratches out the inscription. There are many examples in the Safaitic inscriptions indicating the main function of the various deities. For example, Bʿl s¹mn is commonly referred to by the authors when they seek relief from drought 2 .

Commentary
This inscription was engraved on a basalt stone, and it is clear that many of its letters have been damaged. This is likely because the stone was transferred from its original location to be used in a cairn; where it was positioned face-down. The transliteration of this inscription was based those letters which have been preserved, and our familiarity with the Safaitic words and the commonly used phrases. It appears that the author of this inscription fed [his animals] on dry fodder. It is worth notingthat the author did not specify what types of animals he possessed. It could have been sheep, goats, or camels….etc. It is a common for the authors ofthe Safaitic inscriptions not to specify the type of animals when using the verb «ʿlf « to feed on dry fodder» on dry fodder (C 3933; SIT 12; AbHYN 1; AAEK 67). The author also asked the deities Lt and Ḏs² r to grant him security and safety and to harm whoever scratches out the inscription.

Translation
By Ṣyd son of Tm son of Nẓr son of Qḥs² and he went to water at cavities where water collects and he was watching for the abundant rains and O Lt [grant] security and [inflict] blindness/ harm on whoever scratches out this inscription.

Commentary
This inscription was engraved on multiple sides of a basalt stone. All the letters are well-preserved and can be easily read. On one of its sides, there is a drawing of a female camel. It appears that the author went to the gbʾt area with his herd, and he waited there for abundant rain to come. The word gbʾt is commonly used by the inhabitants of the Jordan Badia to refer to a rocky area with cavities where water collects. The word gbʾt could be compared with Arabic ǧibaʾah the plural of ǧabʾ «a hollow or cavity in a mountain where water of the rain stagnates or collects» (Lane 372c). The Badia Epigraphic Survey team noticed, during the field surveys, that the areas close the gbʾt area are generally characterized by an abundance of rock art drawings and Islamic-Arabic inscriptions, in addition to the presence of some Islamic mosques (Al-Manaser and Ellis 2018: 72). This is likely due to the stagnation of water in these areas for at least three months, and thus they are more attractive for longer residence for the Bedouins than the dry areas in the desert. By the end of the inscription, the author requested from Lt to grant security and inflict harm on whoever scratches out this inscription 3 .

Translation
By Qs¹ y son of S¹ lm son of Nys¹ r son of S¹ lm son of Qs¹ y son of Ḫṭs¹ t and he raided in the ḥarrah and so O Rḍy [grant] security and blind/ harm whoever scratches out the inscription

Commentary
This inscription was engraved on a basalt stone using thin letters. The inscription was also accompanied by a circular drawing implementing the Safaitic letter y. This kind of drawing is frequently used in Safaitic inscriptions. The inscription reveals revealed that the author raided in the ḥarrah and so he requested from the deity Rḍy to grant security and harm whoever scratches out the inscription. It is noteworthy to mention that the author used the letter ʾ as a definite article instead of the commonly used h-letter (see LP 150).

Translation
By Zḥk son of Ḥṭn son of Zḥk son of Ṣʿd son of Zḥk and blind/ harm whoever scratches out this "inscription" of the lineage of Qmr

Commentary
Three Safaitic inscriptions are engraved on this stone, with the longest being the one in the middle. The inscription in the middle showed that the author requested from the deity to harm whoever scratches out this inscription of the lineage of Qmr. The tribe of Qmr is well-known in the Safaitic, with its name being mentioned in more than twenty Safaitic inscriptions (C 8; WH 729; SIJ 840).

Commentary
This inscription was engraved on the multiple faces of the stone. The corners of this stone are damaged. The inscription shows that the author pastured the camels and requested from the deity Lt to grant abundance and security and to inflict lameness on whoever obscures the inscription. The word ʿrg, translated as lameness (Lane 1996b), appeared in many Safaitic inscriptions indicating that it was common amongst the authors of Safaitic inscriptions to pray for their deities to inflict physical harm on those who damage their inscriptions (see C 1186; WH 368; SIJ 296; AbSWS 18).

Commentary
This inscription was engraved on all sides of the stone. There is also a drawing of a camel accompanying this inscription. The inscription revealed that the author camped there after travelling to a watering-place from the inner desert and so he requested from the deity Lt to grant security and to inflect harm, dumbness, blindness, and mange on whoever scratches out the inscription (see C 2779; WH 368; RSIS 351). For ʿmy we have compared Arabic ʿaman (maṣdar of ʿamiya "to be blind in both eyes", Lane 2160c), for grb we have compared Arabic ǧarab "mange, scab" or "disease upon the eyelids" (Lane 403a).  Commentary This is the fifth Safaitic inscription (including the two written by authors who claim to be of the ʾl ṣlḫd) that refers to Salkhad (Damascus Museum 26750, KRS 301, 2813) which is located in southern Syria, 20 km to the east of Bosra. The author dates this inscription to the activity he performed in the year of Salkhad. This is a common way used by 'Safaitic' authors to date their inscriptions by using the term snt "year" (see OCIANA, s¹ nt) followed by an event that took place or a relatively important activity done by the author during that year. The author of this inscription indicates that he watered from the valley that is shown in Figure 14. The author wanted to highlight that he had watered his herd animals from this valley. It might be suggested that the author might have been on a visit to Salkhad, which was considered a center of worship for the deity Lat in the first century CE (Alpass 2011: 234-236). Alternatively, it could be suggested that the region was perhaps suffering a year of scarce rain (drought), and thus watering from this valley in that year was an important event to him. Regarding the word ʾtr, it is difficult to find its precise meaning but it could be proposed that the author of the inscription had moved away from the war in the year he visited the town of Salkhad. Salkhad was known in the first century CE as a center for the worship of the deity Lat, where a temple was built for Lat. The stones of this temple were used later in the construction of some buildings in the present town. The presence of this temple can be inferred through the Nabataean inscription whose author indicates that he built the temple for the deity Lat. This inscription reads as follows:

ʿmh
"This is the temple which was built by rwḥw, son of mlkw, son of 'klbw, son of rwḥw, for Allat their goddess who is at Salkhad, and which was founded by rwḥw, son of qṣyw, great grandfather of this rwḥw mentioned above. In the month of Ab, in the seventeenth year of Malichus, king of the Nabataeans, son of Aretas, king of the Nabataeans, who loves his people" (Alpass 2011: 234). 4 Knowing the location where the inscription was discovered and linking it directly with the interpretation of the inscription clearly contributes to a clearer understanding of the message or information that the inscription wanted to communicate to the one who will read the inscription after him. In Safaitic inscriptions, the authors tried to convey a specific picture to who will come after them about their emotions, the events they came across, the way of their life, the way they spend their time. Therefore, it is important for scholars who discover such inscriptions to report a complete picture of location of the inscription because the author might have wanted to deliver specific information through the place where he wrote his inscription.

Commentary
The author of the inscription indicates that he pastured the valley, which appears in the Figure 16. The author tries to stress on the significance of the act he did by residing and grazing his herd animals in this valley. This inscription was discovered on one of the rocks of a cairn that overlooks the valley. It appears that the author wrote this inscription during grazing his animals in that valley.

Discussion
This research introduces a group of inscriptions through which it attempts to reinterpret the verb, ʿwr, based on the sensual meaning rather than the literal meaning. This is based on the authors" belief that the accurate interpretation of this word, which is still commonly used among the inhabitants of the Badia in the Levant and the Gulf regions, in the religious context in Safaitic inscriptions is more likely to be the broad meaning of harm rather than the particular loss of one eye. It is clearly noticed from the afore-mentioned inscriptions and from the Safaitic inscriptions in general that the authors of Safaitic inscriptions used to request from their deities that, in order for their original inscriptions to be protected, for harm to be inflected upon those who choose to vandalize their inscriptions (Al-Manaser, 2008, p. 68). These requested harms are usually in the form of permanent and apparent physical disabilities or diseases that had no remedies at that time such as lameness, blindness, dumbness, and mange. However, the most commonly used request in this regard is the verb, ʿwr. In fact, most examples of the use of the verb, ʿwr, has since been translated by scholars and academicians to mean "go blind!". Additionally, it is also believed that this Safaitic verb is, in actuality, related to the Arabic verb, ʿawar, which is known to translate to "to lose an eye, be or become one-eyed" (Lane 2193c).
This translation is believed by authors to be more consistent with what is meant by this word when used by the Bedouins in the Levant and the Gulf regions. For example, the Bedouins extensively use a derivative of the verb,ʿwr, when they want to warn someone not to harm himself (see Lane 2193c ʿāra-hu "he destroyed him"; 2194b ʿawar "weakness,... disgrace, or disfigurement"). Interestingly, this verb is still widely and explicitly used in the Jordanian dialect. Furthermore, another translation of, ʿwr, is often referenced as "scratches out" (HCH 85; NST 3; AAEK 109). However, it is still not entirely clear to researchers, scholars and academicians particularly focused on this field of study, whether or not, ʿwr, should be strictly taken and used as a verb or rather as a "substantive term". Nonetheless, the original meaning and significance of this term still remains intact when applied in a religious context, specifically with regards to prayer and worship. However, on the contrary, if one is to understand this term as a verb instead then, it could be the case that it exists as a "precative imperative (ʿwr ḏ yʿwr : imperative / ʿwr l-ḏ yʿwr : substantive) as well (Al-Manaser, 2018, pp. 101-110).
It is important when interpreting the inscriptions to know the geographical location in which the inscription was found. This knowledge contributes to a clearer understanding of the meaning of the inscription and the message that the author of inscription wanted to convey to whoever reads the inscription later. In many cases, the geographical location carries an accurate explanation and a clearer picture of the information that the author wanted to communicate. For instance, the verb, nẓr/tẓr, appears to be most commonly found in inscriptions that are discovered in elevated areas, which are likely observation areas. It also appears that the author of such inscriptions wanted to convey a message that he waited at this elevated place for the purpose of observation. Likewise, the text "w rʿy hnḫl" is often found near the course of a valley or an area that has water.
The substantial increase in the number of the so far discovered and documented Safaitic inscriptions during the last five years and the re-interpretation of a large number of previously published inscriptions-clearly indicate that the sensual interpretation of such scripts is far more accurate than the literal translation in this context (Macdonald & Al-Manaser, 2015, p. 36;Macdonald & Al-Manaser, 2019, p. 205