User:Vuara/Famous old Negev
The photograph above is of the most famous "old Negev" script found in North America. Heavily chalked and scrutinized by the likes of Barry Fell and other epigraphers, no logical translation has ever been made and published of this script. Until now.
We are using McGlone's own drawings of this panel and have duplicated this below to allow the script to be seen more clearly.
You will note that we have broken the script into word groups, starting from the right and working towards the left. Translations can be verified by using the on-line negev translation program. We will explain each section here.
Section 1 consists of a ligature formed by the letters Tsadeh and Lamed.
Tsel =shadow, shade, protection.
Section 2 consists of a large Yod. This is interpreted as a shorthand for OY! or a sign of exclamation. Thus, the first word group is being emphasized (i.e. "Shade!")
Section 3 begins with a horizontal Lamed. This indicates that the Lamed is to be read as a preposition "of, at, to, for..." The remaining ligature consists of a Khaf+two Lameds, followed by a large Yod. KLLY= for the public, general, commonplace person...
Section 4 consists of two vertical Lameds.
LUL=were it not for... or because of... provided by...
Section 5 shows a curved Resh followed by an extended ligature of Khaf plus Alef plus Lamed.
Rakka El = temple of El.
Section 6 consists of a single Lamed, followed by two Nun.
Lina = lodgings or accommodations (literally, "stay the night!").
So far, this group of signs appears to be a sort of advertisement for staying, in effect, ...at the temple of "El" protection, shade and accommodations are provided to the general public... All of these translations were made by converting the "old Negev" symbols into their corresponding Hebrew sounds and then using a Hebrew to English lexicon which is encoded in the Negev translation program. Although the program is not entirely complete, most of the common words will be found if it is used correctly. Hopefully this will further the effort to gain acceptance by traditional historians by first gaining the support of non-scholastics who can translate these important links to our past with a minimum of bias.
Viewzone would like to hear from any attempts at translating in the field. We hope to share more detailed transcripts in the near future.