Page 139 - History of The Quranic Text | Kalamullah.Com

THE HISTORY OF ARABIC PALAEOGRAPHY 119

H(iHf\H,'\rTH~t
rOVCOA/\E.OY
.,.PO.:p Eoyc rA~1
tv1 Ae ov BI\. c\f\cvc
0A NOYHNW!'S

Figure 9.2: A bilingual Nobataean-Greek inscription on the tombstone if
Fihr; Umm al-Jimal, c. 250 C.E. Source: Cantineau, Le Nabateen, ii:25.

2. The Raqush tombstone in Mada'ln Saleh, dated to the year 162 after
Bosra (corresponding to 267 C.E.). Both Cantineau and Gruendler
catalogue it as a 'Nabataean text', II though the latter mentions, "The
text is noteworthy for its many Arabisms. O'Conner describes it as
an eccentric mixture of Nabatean and Arabic ... Blau labels it a
border dialect and Diem assigns it to a Nabatean-Hijazi sub-
group."12 In their 1989 paper, Healey and Smith hailed it as the
earliest dated Arabic document. 13

J!.r.£ ~ JP;~
":;';J!J-';)~?
-.?'J ..... 1 p-¥
J~IJ~
~J~~
.rlJ jy cft! 01-;J
J.;;i!I ~ <f ~ I.,?.r"
[J] ~~<fJI~
-.;.. J-[..A,!JJ ~<f.rlJ o..0J

Figure 9.3: The recently re-interpreted Raqiish tombstone, the oldest dated
Arabic inscription, corresponding to c. 267 C.E., along withthe Healey and
Smith reading (lineJOr line). Note thatthere isa short Thamudic summary
written oertically to the right. Source: al-Adal, ool. xii, Plate 46 andp. 105
(Arabic section).

One of their salient points is that this inscription contains skeletal
dots on the letters dhal, ra' and shin.

11 Cantineau, LeNabaieen, ii;38-39; Gruendler, TheDeoelopmentoftheArabic Script, p. 10.
12 Gruendler, TheDevelopment of theArabic Script, p. 10.
13 See].E Healey and G.R. Smith, 'Jaussen-Savignac 17- The Earliest Dated Arabic
Document (A.D. 276)", al-Ailal(The]ournal ofSaudi Arabian Archaeology), vol. xii, 1410
(1989), p. 77. The authors mention that this inscription has generally been classifiedas
an Aramaic text [ibid, p. 77].