Jabal Dabub inscription
The Jabal Ḏabūb inscription (also known as Jabal Ḏabūb 1) is a South Arabian graffito inscription composed in a minuscule variant of the late Sabaic language and dates to the 6th century, notable for the appearance of a pre-Islamic variant of the Basmala. It was found on a rocky facade at the top of the eastern topside of mount Thaboob in the Dhale region of Yemen and first published in 2018 by M.A. Al-Hajj and A.A. Faqʿas.{{Cite journal |last=Al-Hajj |first=M.A. |last2=Faqʿas |first2=A.A. |date=2018 |title=Naqš Jabal Ḏabūb: Naqš Jadīd bi-Ḫaṭṭ al-Zabūr al-Yamānī fī l-istiʿānah bil-lāh wa-taqwī-hi lil-ʾīmān |journal=Al-ʿIbar lil-Dirāsāt al-Tārīḫiyyah wal-ʾāṯāriyyah |volume=2 |pages=12–43}}
Content
The inscription is two lines long. The editio princeps reads:{{Cite journal |last=Al-Jallad |first=Ahmad |date=2022 |title=A pre-Islamic basmala: reflections on its first epigraphic attestation and its original significance |journal=Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam |volume=52 |pages=1–28}}
bs¹mlh | rḥmn | rḥmn | rb | s¹mwtr{z}{q}n | mfḍlk | wʾṯrn | mḫh | s²kmt ʾymn
Dating
The inscription is paleographically dated to the latest phase of South Arabian documentation, in the 6th century or early 7th century, but is considered pre-Islamic or paleo-Islamic given its lack of standardized Arabic phraseology known from early Islamic inscriptions, especially in the early Islamic graffiti.
Interpretation and significance
The editio princeps interpreted the inscription as follows:
بسم للاه الرحمن الرحيم ربه السمواته الرزاق ) الذيه( مفضلك ) أيها االنسان( والمردف نعمهه عليكه ) بأنه( أعطاك االيمانهبسم للاه الرحمن الرحيم ربه السمواته (أسألكه( الرزق من فضلك وأن تمنحه عقله ) قبلهه( قوة)حالوة( االيمان
A later study offered a revised reading:
بسم الله الرحمن
ارحمنا رب السموات
ارزقنا من فضلك
و آترنا مخّه سكمت ايامنا
In the name of Allāh, the Raḥmānhave mercy upon us, O lord of the heavens
satisfy us by means of your favor
and grant us the essence of it at the end/gift of our days
The author may have been Jewish.{{Cite book |last=Lindstedt |first=Ilkka |title=Muhammad and his followers in context: the religious map of late antique Arabia |date=2023 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-68712-7 |series=Islamic history and civilization |location=Leiden Boston |pages=315}} Significantly, this inscription contains a pre-Islamic Arabian reference to the Basmala, invoking the monotheistic deity Rahmanan.{{Cite book |last=Grasso |first=Valentina A. |title=Pre-islamic Arabia: societies, politics, cults and identities during late antiquity |date=2023 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-009-25296-6 |location=Cambridge |pages=192}} However, while this inscription is apparently the first attested case where "In the name of Allāh/God" is combined with "the Merciful," the Qur'anic form of the Basmalah contains a phraseological expansion into a tripartite form to include the final adjective al-raḥīm. It is possible that this expansion was made to facilitate the common Qur’anic rhyme ī/ū + m/n.{{Cite book |last=Sinai |first=Nicolai |title=Key terms of the Qur'an: a critical dictionary |date=2023 |publisher=Princeton university press |isbn=978-0-691-24131-9 |location=Princeton (N.J.) |pages=131–132}}
The request, "have mercy upon us, O lord of the heavens" resembles the biblical phrase "Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us" in Psalm 123:3. Likewise, the request to "grant us the essence of it at the end of our days" may also be a reference to another Psalmic passage, where the reader asks "So teach us to number our days, that we may obtain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12). The particular phrasing of rabb al-samāwāt is also known from the Quran (rabbu s-samāwāti wa-l-ʾarḍi, Q 19:65). In its use of both the terms "Allāh," which was the proper name of the one monotheistic God in pre-Islamic North Arabia, and "Rahmān," the proper name of the one South Arabian monotheistic God, this inscription may reflect a syncretism that resulted from an alliance between multiple Arabian tribes to symbolize their political unity.
Alongside the ʿAbd- Shams inscription and the Ri al-Zallalah inscription, the Jabal Dabub inscription implies that the use of the term rabb was widely used by Arabian monotheists.{{Cite journal |last=Al‐Jallad |first=Ahmad |last2=Sidky |first2=Hythem |date=2022 |title=A Paleo‐Arabic inscription on a route north of Ṭāʾif |url=https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/256605457/Arab_Archaeol_Epigr_2021_Al_Jallad_A_Paleo_Arabic_inscription_on_a_route_north_of_if.pdf |journal=Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy |language=en |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=202–215 |doi=10.1111/aae.12203 |issn=0905-7196}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://dasi.cnr.it/index.php?id=80&prjId=1&corId=7&colId=0&navId=66213812&recId=11081 Jabab Dabul 1 (Corpus of Late Sabaic Inscriptions)]
Category:6th-century inscriptions