Paleo-Arabic

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Paleo-Arabic (or Palaeo-Arabic, sometimes also referred to as pre-Islamic Arabic or Old Arabic [1] ) is a script that represents a pre-Islamic phase in the evolution of the Arabic script at which point it becomes recognizably similar to the Islamic Arabic script. It comes prior to Classical Arabic, but it is also a recognizable form of the Arabic script, emerging after a transitional phase of Nabataean Arabic as the Nabataean script slowly evolved into the modern Arabic script. [2] [3] [4] It appears in the late fifth and sixth centuries and, though was originally only known from Syria and Jordan, is now also attested in several extant inscriptions from the Arabian Peninsula, such as in the Christian texts at the site of Hima in South Arabia. [5] More recently, additional examples of Paleo-Arabic have been discovered near Taif in the Hejaz [6] and in the Tabuk region of northwestern Saudi Arabia. [7]

Contents

The term "Paleo-Arabic" was first used by Christian Robin in the form of the French expression "paléo-arabe". [8]

Classification

Paleo-Arabic refers to the Arabic script in the centuries prior to the standardization Arabic underwent in the Islamic era. According to Ahmad 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 [9] :

Genres

Known Paleo-Arabic inscriptions fall into one of three categories [6] :

As such, they reflect the dominance attained by the spread of monotheism in pre-Islamic Arabia from the fourth to sixth centuries in the pre-Islamic period. [6]

Terminology

God

Paleo-Arabic inscriptions most commonly refer to "God" as al-ʾilāh or by its orthographic variant illāh, though the term Rabb for "Lord" also appears as is seen in the Abd Shams inscription, Jabal Dabub inscription, and the Ri al-Zallalah inscription. [6]

Introductory formulae

The present corpus of Paleo-Arabic inscriptions attests the following introductory formulae [10] :

Calendar

Several Paleo-Arabic inscriptions, including the Jebel Usays inscription and the Hima Paleo-Arabic inscriptions typically date events according to the Bostran era, whose beginning is the equivalent of the year 106 in the Gregorian calendar. However, at least one, the Zabad inscription (known from Syria) uses the Seleucid era.

List of Paleo-Arabic inscriptions

The current list of known Paleo-Arabic texts and inscriptions is given in a table and appendix of a paper jointly written by Ahmad Al-Jallad and Hythem Sidky. [6]

PageLocationNumber of textsDatePublication
Zabad inscription Zabad, Syria 1512 [11]
Jebel Usays inscription Jebel Usays, Syria 1528 [11]
Harran inscription Harran, Syria 1562 [11]
Umm al-Jimal Paleo-Arabic inscription Umm el-Jimal, Jordan 1undated [12]
Yazid inscription Qasr Burqu, Jordan 1undated [13]
Hima Paleo-Arabic inscriptions Hima, Saudi Arabia 25470, 513 [3]
Ri al-Zallalah inscription Ri al-Zallalah, Saudi Arabia 1undated [6]
None Medina, Saudi Arabia 2undatedUnpublished

but see [1]

Umm Burayrah (Abd Shams) inscription Northwest Hejaz, Saudi Arabia 9 + 2undated [14] + [7]
Dumat al-Jandal inscription Dumat al-Jandal, Saudi Arabia 2548 [12] [15]

See also

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The Umm al-Jimāl inscription is an undated Paleo-Arabic inscription from Umm al-Jimal in the Hauran region of Jordan. It is located on the pillars base of a basalt slab in the northern part of the "Double Church" at the site of Umm al-Jimal and was partly covered with plaster on discovery.

The Umm Burayrah inscription is a Paleo-Arabic inscription discovered in the Tabuk Province of northwestern Saudi Arabia. Among Paleo-Arabic inscriptions it contains a unique invocation formula, a prayer for forgiveness, and the personal name ʿAbd Shams. It was originally photographed and published by Muhammed Abdul Nayeem in 2000, and was recently redocumented by the amateur archaeologist Saleh al‐Hwaiti.

The practice of polytheistic religion dominated in pre-Islamic Arabia until the fourth century. Inscriptions in various scripts used in the Arabian Peninsula including the Nabataean script, Safaitic, and Sabaic attest to the practice of polytheistic cults and idols until the fourth century, whereas material evidence from the fifth century onwards is almost categorically monotheistic. It is in this era that Christianity, Judaism, and other generic forms of monotheism become salient among Arab populations. In South Arabia, the ruling class of the Himyarite Kingdom would convert to Judaism and a cessation of polytheistic inscriptions is witnessed. Monotheistic religion would continue as power in this region transitioned to Christian rulers, principally Abraha, in the early sixth century.

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 Lindstedt 2023, p. 49–50.
  2. ↑ Nehmé 2010, p. 47–48.
  3. 1 2 Robin, al-Ghabbān & al-Saʿīd 2014.
  4. ↑ Nehmé 2020.
  5. ↑ Fisher 2020, p. 186–187.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Al-Jallad & Sidky 2021.
  7. 1 2 Alhatlani & Al-Otibi 2023.
  8. ↑ Robin, al-Ghabbān & al-Saʿīd 2014, p. 1039.
  9. ↑ Al-Jallad & Sidky 2024, p. 4.
  10. ↑ Al-Jallad & Sidky 2024, p. 8.
  11. 1 2 3 Fiema et al. 2015, p. 377.
  12. 1 2 Nehmé et al. 2018.
  13. ↑ al-Shdaifat et al. 2017.
  14. ↑ "نقوش عربية بــ"لكنة" نبطية!". 2019-09-05.
  15. ↑ Nehmé 2017.

Sources

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