The role of Aramaic on the Arabian Peninsula in the second half of the first millennium BC

Abstract

Epigraphic records from ancient Arabia comprise not only inscriptions in the local languages and scripts of the region, but also texts in Aramaic. Only recently, places such as TaymāΜ in the north and Mleiha (MulayΉah) in the east of the Peninsula have been shown to be remarkable examples of places where the Aramaic language and script were used during the Achaemenid and Seleucid periods. The evidence from these sites raises several questions, which will be addressed in this paper: when did writing in Aramaic begin in these places, and why there specifically? How much mutual influence can be seen between Aramaic and the local languages and scripts in each of those regions? What is the relationship between the foreign and local languages in terms of their use for administrative, social, and religious purposes?