ABSTRACT

It is easily seen that the letters preceding the name Nagran are problematic. Only the fourth and sixth words are agreed upon:jl ... madlnat(i), 'in the town'. The first word must be a conjunction or a sentence-initial particle, since it occurs as such also in the last line, although its meaning remains obscure. 132 In the last line it is followed directly by a finite verb. This makes it likely that the following letters in line IIc should be read wagaP(a) bi, 'smite with' and not 'bring' (wa-gaP(a) bi).133 The next group has been read as bi-zagaPly, 'with success', 'victoriously' etc. but the interpretation is very uncertain. 134

The other main problem is the relationship between the two personal names MR? ?LQYS and SMR and the following phrase in IIIc, WMLK M~DW. Depending on the function of W, it can be read 'and he ruled Ma~add' or '[Shammar], the king of

lId-IV c. Opinions remain divided on the following part:

who distributed the tribes among his sons and installed these as cavalry in the service of the Romans. 135

who installed his sons over the tribes and entrusted them to Persians and Romans. 136

who entrusted his sons to the tribes and made them (the tribes) cavalry for the Romans. 137

and [who] when the tribes separated from him [Shammar] for Persia had handed them over to Rome.139