Arabic Graffito On The Darb Zubayda Caravan Route, 52 AH / 672 CE

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First Composed: 22nd November 2005

Last Modified: 15th April 2013

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Assalamu ʿalaykum wa rahamatullahi wa barakatuhu:

(a)

(b)

(c)

Figure: (a) Inscription, (b) copy of the original and (c) its content.

Date

52 AH / 672 CE.

Script

Kufic.

Contents

The translation of the inscription is:

  1. O Allah grant pardon to Hadyah
  2. bin ʿAlī bin Hinaydah, and
  3. written in the year fifty two.

Comments

This inscription was found on the Darb Zubayda caravan route at al-Khashna during an archaeological survey in 1970s. The inscription was read correctly from 56 AH to 52 AH.[3]

Location

Al-Khasna, Darb Zubayda, Saudi Arabia.

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References

[1] A. H. Sharafaddin, "Some Islamic Inscriptions Discovered On The Darb Zubayda", Atlal (The Journal Of Saudi Arabian Archaeology), 1977, Volume 1, pp. 69-70, Plate 50.

[2] B. Gruendler, The Development Of The Arabic Scripts: From The Nabatean Era To The First Islamic Century According To The Dated Texts, 1993, Harvard Semitic Series No. 43, Scholars Press: Atlanta (GA), p. 154.

[3] ʿA. I. Ghabban (Trans. & Remarks by R. G. Hoyland), "The Inscription Of Zuhayr, The Oldest Islamic Inscription (24 AH/AD 644–645), The Rise Of The Arabic Script And The Nature Of The Early Islamic State", Arabian Archaeology And Epigraphy, 2008, Volume 19, p. 217, footnote 16.

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