Writing script
Text of theZabad inscription :May [the Christian] God be mindful of Sirgu son of Abd-Manafu and Ha{l/n}i son of Mara al-Qays and Sirgu son of Sadu and Syrw and S{.}ygw . Paleo-Arabic (orPalaeo-Arabic , previously calledpre-Islamic Arabic orOld Arabic[ 1] [ 2] Arabic . It began to be used in the fifth century, when it succeeded the earlierNabataeo-Arabic script, and it was used until the early seventh century, when the Arabic script was standardized in the Islamic era.[ 3] [ 4] [ 5]
Evidence for the use of Paleo-Arabic was once confined toSyria andJordan . In more recent years[when? ,Paleo-Arabic inscriptions have been discovered across theArabian Peninsula including:South Arabia (theChristian Hima texts ),[ 6] Taif in theHejaz [ 7] Tabuk region of northwesternSaudi Arabia .[ 8]
Most Paleo-Arabic inscriptions were written byChristians , as indicated by their vocabulary, the name of the signing author, or by the inscription/drawing of a cross associated with the writing.[ 9]
The term "Paleo-Arabic" was first used byChristian Robin in the form of theFrench expression "paléo-arabe".[ 10]
Paleo-Arabic refers to the Arabic script in the centuries prior to the standardization Arabic underwent in the Islamic era. According toAhmad Al-Jallad and Hythem Sidky, Paleo-Arabic can be distinguished from the script that occurs in later periods by a number of orthographic features, including:[ 11]
Wawation (the addition of a seemingly superfluouswaw [ 12] Use of Arameograms, i.e.fossilized Aramaic forms of Arabic words such as Aramaicbr for Arabicbn ('son') or Aramaic’nh for Arabic’na ('I; me') Absence ofʾalif ā Occasional phonetic spelling of the definite article, i.e.eye spelling ofal (ال) to match assimilatedsun letters instead of retaining thelam Occasional use of dots to distinguish thedāl rē Syriac script Known Paleo-Arabic inscriptions fall into one of three categories:[ 7]
simple signatures with no confessional statements monotheist invocations specifically Christian texts As such, they reflect the dominance attained by the spread ofmonotheism in pre-Islamic Arabia from the fourth to sixth centuries in the pre-Islamic period.[ 7]
Paleo-Arabic inscriptions most commonly refer to "God" asal-ʾilāh or by its orthographic variantillāh , though the termRabb for "Lord" also appears as is seen in theAbd Shams inscription ,Jabal Dabub inscription , and theRi al-Zallalah inscription .[ 7]
Introductory formulae [ edit ] The present corpus of Paleo-Arabic inscriptions attests the following introductory formulae:[ 13]
b-sm-k rb-nʾ / In your name, our lordbrk-[k]m rb-nʾ / May our lord bless youb-sm-k ʾllhm / In your name, O GodSeveral Paleo-Arabic inscriptions, including theJebel Usays inscription and theHima Paleo-Arabic inscriptions typically date events according to theBostran era , whose beginning is the equivalent of the year 106 in theGregorian calendar . However, at least one, theZabad inscription (known from Syria) uses theSeleucid era .
List of Paleo-Arabic inscriptions [ edit ] The current list of known Paleo-Arabic texts and inscriptions is given in a table and appendix of a paper jointly written byAhmad Al-Jallad and Hythem Sidky.[ 7]
Name Location Number of texts Date Publication Zabad inscription Zabad,Syria 1 512 [ 14] Jebel Usays inscription Jebel Usays ,Syria 1 528 [ 14] Harran inscription Harran ,Syria 1 562 [ 14] Umm al-Jimal Paleo-Arabic inscription Umm el-Jimal ,Jordan 1 undated [ 15] Yazid inscription Qasr Burqu ,Jordan 1 undated [ 16] Hima Paleo-Arabic inscriptions Hima,Saudi Arabia 25 470, 513 [ 4] Ri al-Zallalah inscription Ri al-Zallalah,Saudi Arabia 1 undated [ 7] None Medina ,Saudi Arabia 2 undated Unpublishedbut see[ 1]
Umm Burayrah (Abd Shams) inscription NorthwestHejaz ,Saudi Arabia 9 + 2 undated [ 8] [ 17] Dumat al-Jandal inscription Dumat al-Jandal ,Saudi Arabia 2 548 [ 15] [ 18]
^a b Lindstedt 2023 , p. 49–50.^ Alhatlani & Al-Manaser 2024 , p. 4–5.^ Nehmé 2010 , p. 47–48.^a b Robin, al-Ghabbān & al-Saʿīd 2014 .^ Nehmé 2020 .^ Fisher 2020 , p. 186–187.^a b c d e f Al-Jallad & Sidky 2021 .^a b Alhatlani & Al-Otibi 2023 .^ Alhatlani & Al-Manaser 2024 , p. 6.^ Robin, al-Ghabbān & al-Saʿīd 2014 , p. 1039.^ Al-Jallad & Sidky 2024 , p. 4.^ https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Stages-in-the-development-of-wawation_fig1_367852828 ^ Al-Jallad & Sidky 2024 , p. 8.^a b c Fiema et al. 2015 , p. 377.^a b Nehmé et al. 2018 .^ al-Shdaifat et al. 2017 .^ "نقوش عربية بــ"لكنة" نبطية!" .فريق الصحراء . 2019-09-05.^ Nehmé 2017 .Al-Jallad, Ahmad; Sidky, Hythem (2021)."A Paleo-Arabic inscription on a route north of Ṭāʾif" .Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy .33 (1):202– 215.doi :10.1111/aae.12203 . Al-Jallad, Ahmad; Sidky, Hythem (2024)."A Paleo-Arabic Inscription of a Companion of Muhammad?" Journal of Near Eastern Studies .83 (1):1– 14.doi :10.1086/729531 . al-Shdaifat, Younis; Al-Jallad, Ahmad; al-Salameen, Zeyad; Harahsheh, Rafe (2017)."An early Christian Arabic graffito mentioning 'Yazīd the king' .Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy .28 (2):315– 324.doi :10.1111/aae.12105 Alhatlani, Abdullah Saad; Al-Otibi, Ajab Mohammad (2023)."A Palaeo-Arabic inscription from the Ḥismā Desert (Tabūk region)" .Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy .34 (1):183– 193.doi :10.1111/aae.12235 . Alhatlani, Abdullah Saad; Al-Manaser, Ali (2024)."From Nabataeo-Arabic to Palaeo-Arabic: Two new pre-Islamic graffiti from the Jordanian Ḥarrah" Palestinian Exploration Quarterly :1– 10.doi :10.1080/00310328.2024.2363676 . Fiema, Zbigniew; Al-Jallad, Ahmad; MacDonald, Michael C.A.; Nehmé, Laila (2015)."Provincia Arabia: Nabataea, the Emergence of Arabic as a Written Language, and Graeco-Arabica" . In Fisher, Greg (ed.).Arabs and Empires Before Islam . Oxford University Press. pp. 373– 433.doi :10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199654529.003.0008 .ISBN 978-0-19-965452-9 Fisher, Greg (2020).Rome, Persia, and Arabia: shaping the Middle East from Pompey to Muhammad ISBN 978-1-000-74090-5 Lindstedt, Ilkka (2023).Muhammad and His Followers in Context: The Religious Map of Late Antique Arabia . Brill. Nehmé, Laila (2010)."A glimpse of the development of the Nabataean script into Arabic based on old and new epigraphic material" . In MacDonald, Michael C.A. (ed.).The development of Arabic as a written language: Papers from the special session of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held on 24 July, 2009 . Archaeopress. pp. 47– 88. Nehmé, Laila (2017)."New dated inscriptions (Nabataean and pre-Islamic Arabic) from a site near al-Jawf, ancient Dūmah, Saudi Arabia" .Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy .3 : 121‒164. Nehmé, Laila; Briquel-Chatonnet, Françoise; Desreumaux, Alain Jacques Paul; Al-Ghabban, Ali I; MacDonald, Michael; Villeneuve, François F. (2018).The Darb al-Bakrah. A Caravan Route in North-West Arabia Discovered by Ali I. al-Ghabban. Catalogue of the Inscriptions Nehmé, Laila (2020)."The religious landscape of Northwest Arabia as reflected in the Nabataean, Nabataeo-Arabic, and pre-Islamic Arabic inscriptions" Semitica et Classica .13 :127– 154.doi :10.1484/J.SEC.5.122984 . Robin, Christian; al-Ghabbān, ʿAlī Ibrāhīm; al-Saʿīd, Saʿīd Fāyiz (2014)."Inscriptions antiques de la région de Najran (Arabie Séoudite meridionale): nouveaux jalons pour l'histoire de l'écriture, de la langue et du calendrier Arabes" .Comptes rendus de l'Académie des Inscriptions & Belles-Lettres .158 (3):1033– 1128.doi :10.3406/crai.2014.94960 . 
