Paleo-Arabic
Paleo-Arabic is a pre-Islamic script used to write Arabic. It began to be used in the fifth century, when it succeeded the earlier Nabataeo-Arabic script, and it was used until the early seventh century, when the Arabic script was standardized in the Islamic era.
Evidence for the use of Paleo-Arabic was once confined to Syria and Jordan. In more recent years, Paleo-Arabic inscriptions have been discovered across the Arabian Peninsula including: South Arabia, near Taif in the Hejaz and in the Tabuk region of northwestern Saudi Arabia.
Most Paleo-Arabic inscriptions were written by Christians, as indicated by their vocabulary, the name of the signing author, or by the inscription/drawing of a cross associated with the writing.
The term "Paleo-Arabic" was first used by Christian Robin in the form of the French expression "paléo-arabe".
Linguistics
Distinguishing features
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:- Wawation
- Use of Arameograms, i.e. fossilized Aramaic forms of Arabic words such as Aramaic br for Arabic bn or Aramaic ’nh for Arabic ’na
- Absence of ʾalif to represent the long ā
- Occasional phonetic spelling of the definite article, i.e. eye spelling of al to match assimilated sun letters instead of retaining the lam.
- Occasional use of dots to distinguish the dāl from rē as a relic from the Syriac script
Categories
- simple signatures with no confessional statements
- monotheist invocations
- specifically Christian texts
Introductory formulae
- b-sm-k rb-nʾ / In your name, our lord
- brk-m rb-nʾ / May our lord bless you
- b-sm-k ʾllhm / In your name, O God
Spelling of "God"
Religion
Christian authors wrote Paleo-Arabic inscriptions found in Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and South Arabia. According to Ahmad Al-Jallad and Hythem Sidky, all known Paleo-Arabic inscriptions are monotheistic and, when it is possible to specify further, Christian. 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.Calendar
The Bostran era is used, whose starting point is equal to 106 AD in the Gregorian calendar, is used in the Dumat al-Jandal inscription, the Jebel Usays inscription, and the Hima Paleo-Arabic inscriptions. The Seleucid era is used in the Zabad inscription.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.| Name | Location | Number of texts | Date | Publication |
| Zabad inscription | Zabad, Syria | 1 | 512 | |
| Jebel Usays inscription | Jebel Usays, Syria | 1 | 528 | |
| Harran inscription | Harran, Syria | 1 | 562 | |
| Umm al-Jimal Paleo-Arabic inscription | Umm el-Jimal, Jordan | 1 | undated | |
| Yazid inscription | Qasr Burqu, Jordan | 1 | undated | |
| Hima Paleo-Arabic inscriptions | Hima, Saudi Arabia | 25 | 470, 513 | |
| Ri al-Zallalah inscription | Ri al-Zallalah, Saudi Arabia | 1 | undated | |
| - | Medina, Saudi Arabia | 2 | undated | Unpublished but see |
| Umm Burayrah inscription | Northwest Hejaz, Saudi Arabia | 9 + 2 | undated | |
| Dumat al-Jandal inscription | Dumat al-Jandal, Saudi Arabia | 2 | 548 |