Pirenne reads ymṣʾ. The third letter however is a ẓ. The epigraphic explanation suggested by Pirenne (in CIAS 49.10/o 1 n. 2, for the line 3: "on constate que l'on écrit ṣ avec son arc de cercle complet lorsque la lettre précédente laisse, en bas, un vide où l'excès de largeur du ṣ peut se compenser: c'est le cas après le Y de Yaṣduq'il") has to be rejected, as the other example quoted by her, CIAS F59/s 4 49.10 n. 4 shows, in fact, the name of the same king with ṣ instead of ẓ. We probably deal with a fluctuation of the phonemes ṣ and ẓ, which is well attested in ASA languages, instead of with two graphic variants for the phoneme ṣ.

Line: 7

"This is an interesting text, also for understanding the somewhat obsessive psychology of the Awsanite king Yṣdqʾl Frʿm S²rḥʿt.. The fears of the king, even regarding his successors, are an exceptional window on a man and his desire not to be forgotten and see his place taken by others. Much more than the "Roman style" dress (see CIAS F 58/s 4/49.10 n. 3), this wish to safeguard his "individuality" and not to be obscured by the social group turns him into a potentially interesting personality in Arabian history." (Avanzini 2004 a: 542).

Topic: Society