Languages of Pre-Islamic Arabia

Beeston, A. F. L.

doi:10.1163/157005881x00203

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…We used as one benchmark an Old Arabic (Kufic) inscription at Ain Jamal (#1366-1381, see Figure 6a, Table 1, and Supplemental material, available online). Arabic scripts came into use around 1600 BP (400 CE) (Beeston, 1981; Healey and Porter, 2003; Shah, 2008). This inscription was photographed during the Philby-Ryckmans-Lippens expedition and interpreted by Grohmann (1962; Photograph 41 L 5, Z 297), who dated it to 1300–1350 BP based on its style.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rock varnish on petroglyphs from the Hima region, southwestern Saudi Arabia: Chemical composition, growth rates, and tentative ages

2019

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We investigated rock varnish formed on sandstone and petroglyphs in the Hima area, southwestern Saudi Arabia. To characterize the rock varnish, we made in-situ measurements by portable x-ray fluorescence (pXRF) and analyzed samples by femtosecond laser-ablation inductively coupled–plasma mass spectrometry (fs LA-ICP-MS). Detailed chemical analysis of the rock varnish samples and adjacent soil or aeolian dust yielded information about the varnish’s geochemical context and formation mechanism. Untypically low positive Ce anomalies in the rock varnish samples correlated with negative Ce anomalies in the dust, supporting the hypothesis that the dust is the source of the varnish material. To study the varnish development, we made use of the fact that engraving the petroglyphs exposes a fresh bare sandstone surface without varnish, on which varnish regrows subsequently. We determined by pXRF the areal density of manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe) that had been deposited as rock varnish since the creation of the rock art. The rates of Mn deposition in the newly formed varnish were then estimated by correlating the areal density of Mn in Ancient Arabian and Old Arabic inscriptions with their known age ranges. The observed deposition rates showed substantial variability resulting from differences in exposure conditions of the rock surface, but were in a range comparable with that of our previous measurements in northwestern Arabia. This variability could be reduced significantly by referencing the measurements to the intact varnish adjacent to the individual petroglyphs. This normalization provided a much clearer relationship between varnish deposition and age, and enabled tentative ages to be assigned to rock art motifs without previously known ages. These tentative ages spanned most of the Holocene period and were consistent with the culturally or ecologically derived ages of the animal and human figures depicted in the rock art and the styles of scripts used in different periods.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rock varnish on petroglyphs from the Hima region, southwestern Saudi Arabia: Chemical composition, growth rates, and tentative ages

2019

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“…On the other hand, the large overlap between the ranges, where Thamudic writing and camel depictions are plotting, is to be expected since both were mainly engraved after the onset of the desertification in this region. The Thamudic writing was introduced about 2500 BP (Beeston, 1981; Shah, 2008) and was replaced by Arabic writing about 1600 BP (Healey and Porter, 2003), and thus represents a specific, relatively narrow time period. Camels are native in southeastern Arabia and the first camel engravings depict them as prey (Magee, 2015).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Paleoenvironmental records provide us with a date of about 10,000 BP for the onset of the wet period and beginning of the Early period (Crassard et al, 2013; Engel et al, 2012; Hilbert et al, 2014) and 4000 BP for increased aridity in Arabia (Parker et al, 2006). Furthermore, the appearance of Thamudic writing is dated to about 2500 BP (Beeston, 1981; Shah, 2008) and the last occurrence of the Thamudic and transition to Arabic writing to about 1600–1400 BP (Healey and Porter, 2003). Using the normalized regrowth rate of 0.012% a –1 (Figure 6), this suggests densities normalized to intact varnish of 120 ± 30% (line 4 in Figure 7), 48 ± 12% (line 3 in Figure 7), 30 ± 7.5% (line 2 in Figure 7), and 17 ± 4% (line 1 in Figure 7), respectively, for these transition times.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They seem to have stopped at specific sites during their travels, to rest and engrave images of camels, their names or wusum, and some words for following travelers. There were several different types of the Thamudic language, such as Thamudic B, C, and D, which, however, all belong to a branch of scripts known as South Semitic (Jennings et al, 2013), and were written in Arabia from about the middle of the first millennium BCE to the arrival of Islam in the early 7th century CE (Beeston, 1981; Shah, 2008). The sites the travelers chose were no longer defined by their closeness to water sources, but they might very well be landmarks sticking out in a scarce landscape, which were useful as reference points in the desert (Jennings et al, 2013) and to take a rest in the shadow.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Growth of desert varnish on petroglyphs from Jubbah and Shuwaymis, Ha’il region, Saudi Arabia

et al. 2018

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Petroglyphs, engraved throughout the Holocene into rock varnish coatings on sandstone, were investigated in the Ha’il region of northwestern Saudi Arabia, at Jabal Yatib, Jubbah, and Shuwaymis. The rock art has been created by removing the black varnish coating and thereby exposing the light sandstone underneath. With time, the varnish, a natural manganese (Mn)-rich coating, grows back. To study the rate of regrowth, we made 234 measurements by portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) on intact varnish and engraved petroglyphs. Since many petroglyphs can be assigned to a specific time period, a relationship between their ages and the Mn surface densities (DMn) of the regrown material could be derived. This relationship was improved by normalizing the DMn in the petroglyphs with the DMn of adjacent intact varnish. In turn, we used this relationship to assign a chronologic context to petroglyphs of unknown ages. Following the removal of the varnish by the artist and prior to the beginning of Mn oxyhydroxide regrowth, a thin Fe-rich film forms on the underlying rock. This initial Fe oxyhydroxide deposit may act as catalyst for subsequent fast Mn oxidation. After a few decades of relatively rapid growth, the regrowth of the Mn-rich varnish slows down to about 0.017 µg cm–2 a–1 Mn, corresponding to about 0.012% a–1 Mn of the intact varnish density, or about 1.2 nm a–1, presumably due to a change of the catalytic process. Our results suggest that petroglyphs were engraved almost continuously since the pre-Neolithic period, and that rock varnish growth seems to proceed roughly linear, without detectable influences of the regional Holocene climatic changes.

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“…Thamudic rock art is found primarily in desert environments of northern and central Arabia and to a lesser extent in southern Arabia, the Transjordan Plateau, the Negev Desert and Egypt (Al-Theeb 1999, Anati 1999MacDonald 2010). The writing belongs to a branch of scripts known as South Semitic, which were written in Arabia from about the middle of the first millennium BC to the arrival of Islam (Beeston 1981;Shah 2008). They are usually divided into Groups A-E but these divisions are widely accepted as needing revision (see Al-Theeb 1999;MacDonald 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rock art landscapes beside the Jubbah palaeolake, Saudi Arabia

et al. 2013

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RiyadhN 0 km 1000 The authors have undertaken a systematic survey of rock art along the Jubbah palaeolake in northern Saudi Arabia and interpret the results using GIS. They conclude that the overwhelming majority of prehistoric rock art sites overlook contemporary early Holocene palaeolakes, and that the distribution of later Thamudic rock art offers insights into human mobility patterns at Jubbah in the first millennium BC.

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Languages of Pre-Islamic Arabia

Cited by 10 publications

References 0 publications

Rock varnish on petroglyphs from the Hima region, southwestern Saudi Arabia: Chemical composition, growth rates, and tentative ages

Rock varnish on petroglyphs from the Hima region, southwestern Saudi Arabia: Chemical composition, growth rates, and tentative ages

Growth of desert varnish on petroglyphs from Jubbah and Shuwaymis, Ha’il region, Saudi Arabia

Rock art landscapes beside the Jubbah palaeolake, Saudi Arabia

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