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Pre-Islamic Arabian inscriptions are an important source for the learning about the history and culture of pre-Islamic Arabia. In recent decades, their study has shown that the Arabic script evolved from the Nabataean script and that pre-Islamic Arabian monotheism was the prevalent form of religion by the fifth century.
Old Arabian inscription from 3rd century BC South Arabia, in an Old South Arabian language. İstanbul Archaeology Museums. Old Arabian art experienced its first flourishing at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC at the time of the South Arabian classical culture, [2] centred on the kingdoms of the Sabaeans and Minaeans in modern Yemen.
Other inscriptions include verses of poetry, and inscriptions recording ownership or donation. Two of the main scripts involved are the symbolic kufic and naskh scripts, which can be found adorning and enhancing the visual appeal of the walls and domes of buildings, the sides of minbars , and metalwork. [ 14 ]
The Namara inscription (Arabic: نقش النمارة naqš an-Namārah) is a 4th century inscription in the Arabic language, making it one of the earliest.It has also been interpreted as a late version of the Nabataean script in its transition to Arabic script.
The Thamud (Arabic: ثمود) was an ancient civilization in Hejaz, documented in sources from the eighth century BCE until the fifth century CE. They are attested in contemporaneous Mesopotamian and Classical, and Arabic inscriptions from the eighth century BCE, all the way until the fifth century CE, when they served as Roman auxiliaries.
Old Arabic and its descendants are classified as Central Semitic languages, which is an intermediate language group containing the Northwest Semitic languages (e.g., Aramaic and Hebrew), the languages of the Dadanitic, Taymanitic inscriptions, the poorly understood languages labeled Thamudic, and the ancient languages of Yemen written in the Ancient South Arabian script.
The city was originally known per the corpus of inscriptions in the site as Qaryat Dhu Kahl. Kahl was the main deity worshiped by the Arab tribes of Kindah and Madh'hij. [5] It is also known by the names of Qaryat al-Hamraa (Red City) and Dhat al-Jnan (City of Gardens) by the inhabitants in its period of prosperity.
Calligraphy was a valued art form, and was regarded as both an aesthetic and moral pursuit. An ancient Arabic proverb illustrates this point by emphatically stating that "Purity of writing is purity of the soul." [6] Beyond religious contexts, Islamic calligraphy is widely used in secular art, architecture, and decoration. [7]