Early Islamic and Ancient North Arabian graffiti and petroglyphs in Tabūk province — Saudi-Japanese al-Jawf/Tabūk Archaeological Project (JTAP), March 2017 field season (poster)
Keywords:
Arabic, Ancient North Arabian, Hismaic, Graffiti, PetroglyphAbstract
This paper provides an overview of early Islamic and Ancient North Arabian (ANA) graffiti and petroglyphs discovered by the Saudi-Japanese mission in Tabūk province, Saudi Arabia. Along with excavations in Wādī al-Muḥarraq, the March 2017 field season also focused on the epigraphic survey of Wādī al-Khirqah (c.75 km north-west of Tabūk), which yielded 105 new early Islamic Arabic graffiti and thirty-three ANA graffiti with some petroglyphs. Although no dated graffiti were found, we were able to establish the relative chronology of twenty-eight early Islamic graffiti by using the genealogies shown in the personal names. As for the ANA graffiti, the majority are Hismaic, but some show characteristics of Thamudic D. In addition to some graffiti, the team also found numerous petroglyphs of animals and humans in Wādī al-Ghubayy, al-Suwaylimiyyah, and Wādī Ḍamm. The importance of these petroglyphs is immense, as they provide us with clues for approaching the lives and spiritual aspects of the ancient hunters and pastoral people in the Ḥismā highlands.
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Archaeopress Publishing, Oxford, UK