Wādī Salmā Runestone Jordan 0-200 CE

Image © Ahmad Al-Jallad; CC BY

Wādi Salma Runestone Translation in Druid Akkadian (Levant Text 18)

(February 16, 2025) This graffiti text is assigning the cause of a drought to a lack of magical emotion powers capable of disabling the astrological powers of fate. "Considerations" are focused emotions used in emotion magic.

Wādi Salma was a good north-south trade route during the spring rainy season when the ground was covered in forage for the animals. A recent survey of this wadi recorded more than 10,000 graffiti inscriptions south of the Syrian border. (Al-Manaser and Macdonald 2019)

The letter style is the late international trading style being a mix of Iberian, Etruscan, and Greek styles. The letter chart used is the Aegean Letter Chart. Its date would be early Roman empire period.

The text reads:

Emotion-powers are being inhibited. The inhibitions are involving the divine-motion-powers and the
nourishments. Considerations can emotionally-empower the foundation (earth). Associate the emotions.
Push-away the involvement of the emotion-owls. Channeling will result in fertility-fluids. Shouldn't we expect that?
Thu will result in fertility-fluids. The Woman (Selu/Selene) will not disable the associating. Expect emotion-powers to gain-attention.
Priest-parents can consider that. That will instigate the emotion-powers for their eagle-vultures.
The emotion-powers and that will disable the astrological-fate-powers. That will result in nourishments. Emotion-owls are lacking that.
Nourishments can confuse emotion-powered considerations.

Previously Attempted Translation

This was done by Al-Jallad in 2020 using Greek lettering and the Arabic language. The result is mostly names and a list of names are not a translation.

Transliteration

ΑΥΣΟΣ ΟΥΔΟΥ ΒΑΝΑΟΥ ΧΑΖΙΜΜΟΥ ΑΛ- ΙΔΑΜΙ ΑΘΑΟΥΑ ΜΙ- ΣΕΙΑ ΖΑΘΑΟ ΕΩ ΒΑΝAΑ Α- ΔΑΥΡΑ ΑΟΥΑ ΕΙΡΑΥ ΒΑΚΛΑ ΒΙ- ΧΑΝΟΥ[Ν]

Translation

ʾAws son of Hūd (?) son of Bannāʾ son of Kazim, the ʾIdāmite, came from Sīʿ to spend the winter with Bannāʾ in this place and they pastured on fresh herbage during Kānū[n]

Reference

Online Corpus of the Inscriptions of Ancient North Arabia [OCIANA] at Ohio State University: https://ociana.osu.edu/inscriptions/44045

Al-Jallad, A.M. & Al-Manāsīr [Al-Manaser], A.Y.Kh. New Epigraphica from Jordan I: a pre-Islamic Arabic inscription in Greek Letters and a Greek inscription from north-eastern Jordan. Arabian Epigraphic Notes 1, 2015: 51-70. pp 51-59 Plate 2, 3

Ali Al-Manaser and Michael C . A . Macdonald (2019) Report on the Wādī Salma Area Epigraphic Survey. Online at: https://doi.org/10.1080/17527260.2017.1556918

Location of Wadi Salma

Flooded Low Spot in Wādi Salma

A flooded mud flat between Al-Ṣafāwī and Wādī Salmā. Photo taken during April 2015. (Al-Manaser and Macdonald 2019)

Translation of Lines 1 and 2 in Akkadian (Levant Text 18)

(read right to left. Capital letters on object. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels. Verbs are italic bold. Dual use letters are E/H, I/Y, U/W, and '/A in which vowel appears at beginning of words except for Yahu which is keeping its traditional Hebrew transliteration.
Runic Letter Style is Mostly Phoenician. Letter Chart Used: Levant Lineage

AWu Se'u. Se'u Ku Di'u U
Bu. ANu A'u UŠu. AZu IMu

In English

Emotion-powers are being inhibited. The inhibitions are involving the divine-motion-powers and the
nourishments. Considerations can emotionally-empower the foundation (earth). Associate the emotions.

Translation of Lines 3 and 4 in Akkadian (Levant Text 18)

(read right to left. Capital letters on object. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels. Verbs are italic bold. Dual use letters are E/H, I/Y, U/W, and '/A in which vowel appears at beginning of words except for Yahu which is keeping its traditional Hebrew transliteration.
Runic Letter Style is Mostly Phoenician. Letter Chart Used: Levant Lineage

Ma'u Ku AKu. IDu A Mu. Yu AQu A
Ṭu A Mu. ISu E Ya AZu. AQu A'u EWu

In English

Push-away the involvement of the emotion-owls. Channeling will result in fertility-fluids. Shouldn't we expect that?
Thu will result in fertility-fluids. The Woman (Selu/Selene) will not disable the associating. Expect emotion-powers to gain-attention

Translation of Lines 5 and 6 in Akkadian (Levant Text 18)

(read right to left. Capital letters on object. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels. Verbs are italic bold. Dual use letters are E/H, I/Y, U/W, and '/A in which vowel appears at beginning of words except for Yahu which is keeping its traditional Hebrew transliteration.
Runic Letter Style is Mostly Phoenician. Letter Chart Used: Levant Lineage

ABu ANu A. A ADu AWu R A
A'u U A E IRu. A Ku Bu. AKu Lu A

In English

Priest-parents can consider that. That will instigate the emotion-powers for their eagle-vultures.
The emotion-powers and that will disable the astrological-fate-powers. That will result in nourishments. Emotion-owls are lacking that.

Translation of Line 7 in Akkadian (Levant Text 18)

(read right to left. Capital letters on object. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels. Verbs are italic bold. Dual use letters are E/H, I/Y, U/W, and '/A in which vowel appears at beginning of words except for Yahu which is keeping its traditional Hebrew transliteration.
Runic Letter Style is Mostly Phoenician. Letter Chart Used: Levant Lineage

Bu IŠu ANu 'U

In English

Nourishments can confuse emotion-powered considerations