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Pre-Islamic Arabian inscriptions refer to inscriptions (writings inscribed on stone or other hard surfaces) from pre-Islamic Arabia, or the Arabian Peninsula prior to the origins of Islam in the early seventh century. They include inscriptions in both the Arabic and non-Arabic languages that were used in pre-Islamic Arabia. Over 65,000 pre-Islamic Arabian inscriptions have already been discovered from surfaces ranging from stone, metal, pottery, and wood, demonstrating high rates of literacy among both nomadic and settled populations.

Pre-Islamic inscriptions can be categorized into one of two types: graffiti, which are "self-authored personal expressions written in a public space", and monumental inscriptions, which are inscriptions whose creation would have been commissioned to serve an official role. Both served a public role. Unlike modern graffiti, the graffiti described in the study of pre-Islamic inscriptions are usually signed (as opposed to being anonymous) and were not used for an illicit or subversive purpose. Graffiti are usually just scratchings on the surface of rock, but both graffiti and monumental inscriptions could be produced by painting, or the use of a chisel, charcoal, brush, or the use of other methods. Inscriptions are typically lapidary (as opposed to portable) and engraved (instead of painted).

Pre-Islamic Arabian inscriptions are an important source for the learning about the history and culture of pre-Islamic Arabia. They also inform the study of the Quran in the field of Quranic studies.

Scripts and languages

There are three scripts that were used to write down pre-Islamic inscriptions.

1. Ancient South Arabian (ASA): includes Sabaic, Minaic, Qatabanic, and Ḥaḍramitic
2. Ancient North Arabian (ANA): includes all South Semitic scripts not covered by ASA, such as Taymanitic or Thamudic B
3. Nabataean

The ASA script was written in one of two forms, known as the monumental and the minuscule form. The monumental form was created on hard surfaces (as proper inscriptions) such as bronze or rock. The minuscule form was created on perishable surfaces like palm-bark or sticks (examples of these were only discovered in recent years from South Arabia). More perishable surfaces were the ones utilized for day-to-day documents. Unlike ASA, ANA is not a homogeneous group. The designation refers to a wide number of scripts representing many languages which have yet to be properly classified and distinguished.

Arabic

Studies and discoveries of Nabataean inscriptions have led to a broad agreement that the Arabic script evolved from the Nabataean script through a Nabataean Arabic intermediary.

The Arabic language has been attested in many pre-Islamic Arabian scripts, beginning in the early first millennium BC (in cuneiform inscriptions). Arabic in the pre-Islamic Arabic can be called Old Arabic. Old Arabic was mainly written down in these scripts: Safaitic, Hismaic, Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean Arabic, and Paleo-Arabic. Several other scripts were also used to write Arabic, but much more occasionally, including: the Greek script, Ancient South Arabian scripts, and Dadanitic.

Poetry

To date, eight poems are known from pre-Islamic inscriptions discovered in Yemen. Summarized by Daum, Abdullah, and Mutahhar ibn al-Iryani:

"Six have been published: ZI 11 from Mārib, the Hymn to the Sun from Qāniya (dated by Stein to the late first century AD), a building text from Wadi Šurjān—so pronounced, not Širjān (van Lessen 24 = Jamme 2353), a cursive text from the Munich collection (X. BSB 187—Stein, 2010, p. 607ss.), an inscription from Ḫawlān al‐ Ṭiyāl (MS‐Šiǧā’ 2), engraved together with other inscriptions that deal with the ritual hunt, and inscription MA 16 from Mārib (Multhoff, 2021, p. 315s.). Two more texts from the Awām temple, discovered in 2004 by the AFSM, numbered MB 2004 I‐95 and MB 2004 SI‐8 (personal communication of Mohammed Maraqten), remain unpublished. The poems span the period from the fifth or third century BC to the third century AD."

One of the earliest is the Hymn of Qāniya, a first century poem addressed to the goddess Shams that is 27 lines long. Every line in the poem ends in the rhyme -hk. Another poem comes from a Middle Sabaic vote inscription ZI 11 from Marib. A rock inscription VL 24 = Ja 2353 from Wadi Shirjān contains a rhymed poem 10 lines long. The first line is introductory, followed by nine lines of text.

One poem has been discovered by Ahmad Al-Jallad in a Safaitic inscription. According to Al-Jallad, the poem is six lines long and is a war song. Aside from this text, only one other literary composition is known in Safaitic, which is a fragment of the Baal Cycle.

Limitations

Certain challenges exist in studying pre-Islamic Arabia with inscriptions. First, not all communities expressed themselves through a culture of inscribing their writings on rock. Second, the content of inscriptions is often formulaic. Nevertheless, many formula were used and the phrasings become formula (widely employed) because they help encode the beliefs and attitudes of the authors. Third, inscriptions can be destroyed by weather or human activity. Therefore, inscriptions known today may not be a full representation of those originally created.

See also

• Pre-Islamic Arabic poetry

References

Citations

1. MacDonald 2015, p. 1.
2. Al-Jallad 2022, p. 7.
3. MacDonald 2015, p. 3.
4. MacDonald 2015, p. 3–4.
5. Lindstedt 2023, p. 12–14.
6. Al-Jallad 2020b, p. 121–124.
7. Sinai 2023, p. 7–8.
8. ^ Donner 2022, p. 1–4.
9. MacDonald 2015, p. 2.
10. Al-Jallad 2020b, p. 112–113.
11. Donner 2022, p. 1–7.
12. Al-Jallad 2020, p. 37–38.
13. Daum, Abdullah & Al-Iryani 2023.
14. Stein 2008.
15. Al-Jallad 2017.
16. Lindstedt 2023, p. 11–12.

Sources

• Al-Jallad, Ahmad (2017). "Pre-Islamic 'Ḥamāsah' verses from north-eastern Jordan: a new Safaitic poetic text from Marabb al-Shurafāʾ, with further remarks on the ʿĒn ʿAvdat inscription and KRS 2453". Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies. 47: 117–128.
• Al-Jallad, Ahmad (2020). "Pre-Islamic Arabic" (PDF). In Lucas, Christopher; Manfredi, Stefano (eds.). Arabic and contact-induced change. Language Science Press. pp. 37–55.
• Al-Jallad, Ahmad (2020b). "The Linguistic Landscape of pre-Islamic Arabia: Context for the Qur'an". In Shah, Mustafa; Haleem, Muhammad Abdel (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Qur'anic Studies. Language Science Press. pp. 111–127.
• Al-Jallad, Ahmad (2022). The Religion and Rituals of the Nomads of Pre-Islamic Arabia: A Reconstruction Based on the Safaitic Inscriptions. Brill.
• Daum, Werner; Abdullah, Muhammad; Al-Iryani, Mutahhar (2023). "A third century AD rhymed hymn from Yemen: The origins of Arabic poetry and literature?". Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy. 34 (1): 140–157.
• Donner, Fred (2022). "Scripts and Scripture in Late Antique Arabia: An Overview". In Donner, Fred; Hasselbach-Andee, Rebecca (eds.). Scripts and Scripture: Writing and Religion in Arabia circa 500–700 CE. Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures. pp. 1–15.
• Lindstedt, Ilkka (2023). Muhammad and His Followers in Context: The Religious Map of Late Antique Arabia. Brill.
• MacDonald, Michael C.A. (2015). "On the Uses of Writing in Ancient Arabia and the Role of Palaeography in Studying Them". Arabian Epigraphic Notes. 1: 1–50.
• Sinai, Nicolai (2023). Key Terms of the Qur'an: A Critical Dictionary. Princeton University Press.
• Stein, Peter (2008). "The "Himyaritic" Language in pre-Islamic Yemen. A Critical Re-evaluation". Semitica et Classica. 1: 203–212.

External links

• DASI (Digital Archive for the Study of pre-Islamic Arabian Inscriptions)
• DiCoNab (The Digital Corpus of the Nabataean and Developing Arabic Inscriptions)
• OCIANA (Online Corpus of the Inscriptions of Ancient North Arabia)

v t e Pre-Islamic Arabia
Settlements	Eastern Arabia Magan Dilmun Gerrha Awal Tylos Lakhmid Parthia Beth Qatraye Beth Manuzaye South Arabia Saba Kahlan Maʿīn Ḥaḍramawt Awsān Qatabān Himyar Aksum Hejaz Thamud Mecca Yathrib North Arabia Qedar Achaemenid Arabia Lihyan Nabataea Hatra Tanukh Ghassanids Salīḥids Arabia Petraea Central Arabia Kinda Al-Magar
Society and culture	Tribes Calendar Nasi' Marriage Slavery Poetry Women Nabataean culture Nabataean art Nabataean architecture Ancient South Arabian art
Literature	Poetry Inscriptions
Languages	Scripts Arabic alphabet Nabataean Arabic Paleo-Arabic Arabic script Aramaic alphabet Nabataean script South Semitic scripts Ancient North Arabian Dadanitic Dumaitic Hismaic Safaitic Taymanitic Thamudic Ancient South Arabian Hasaitic Geʽez Languages Arabic Old Arabic Dadanitic Hismaic Aramaic Hatran Aramaic Old South Arabian Ḥaḍramautic Minaean Qatabanian Sabaean
Religion	Polytheism Deities Al-Lat Al-‘Uzzá Dushara Hubal Manāt Book of Idols Monotheism Judaism Christianity Samaritanism Mandaeism Manichaeism Zoroastrianism Buddhism
Islamic perspective	Jahiliyyah

• Epigraphy
• Inscriptions by region
• Pre-Islamic Arabia
• Pre-Islamic Arabian inscriptions