Recent Rock Art and Epigraphic Investigations in Saudi Arabia

RECENT ROCK ART AND EPIGRAPHIC INVESTIGATIONS IN SAUDI ARABIA
Author(s): Majeed Khan

Source: Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, Vol. 21, Proceedings of the Twenty
Fourth SEMINAR FOR ARABIAN STUDIES held at Oxford on 24th - 26th July 1990 (1991), pp.
113-122
Published by: Archaeopress
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113
RECENT ROCK ART AND EPI GRAPH 1 INVESTIGATIONS
IN SAUDI ARABIA
Dr
Majeed
Khan
During
this
century,
a
great
deal of theoretical
reconstruction of the evolution of ancient Arabian
scripts
has been
put
forward
by European philologists, suggesting
that the Arabs borrowed
writing
from outside. In view of the
variety
of
scripts
and forms that are
found in the Arabian Peninsula, most of which are
closely
related to each
other, such as
Thamudic, Lihyanite
and al-Musnad al-Janubi
(ESA),
it
appears
more
logical
to trace the
origin
of these
scripts
within the
boundaries of the Peninsula.
Recent methodical and
comprehensive
rock art
investigations
in Saudi Arabia
(Khan et. ai_
1985
,
86 ,
87
, 88)
have
suggested
that a hitherto
unexplored body
of evidence can shed
light
on the
origin
of
writing
and
its
possible
evolution. It
suggests
a difference source
-
one to which
philologists
have
paid
little or no attention
-
that is "rock art11 itself.
During
the five
year
rock art and
epigraphic survey
of Saudi
Arabia
(1985-1990)
over 1000 rock art sites were recorded from different
parts
of the
country.
It is
suggested
that rock art was used as a means of
communication in
prehistoric
Arabia
(see
Khan
1989).
The relative,
tentative
chronology
of rock art in Saudi Arabia
suggests
that the earliest
rock art
(Phase 1)
is
distinguished by having large-sized
human and animal
figures depicted
in bas or low relief with detailed realistic
physical
features, except
the
faces, which are usual
ly obscure, (Pl.l).
In the later
period
of Phase 2 a
change
occurred in art
style
and no more
large-sized
human and animal
figures
with realistic
physical
features were
depicted. Instead, the human and animal
figures
became
smaller and more schematised
compared
to Phase 1
(see Pl.l).
In the
subsequent
third
phase
of Saudi rock art
large compositions
of human and
animal
figures
associated with
non-representational
and
geometrical
motifs
suggest
that rock art
gradually changed
its course and
was, perhaps,
used
for
recording
some kind of abstract
messages.
The
figures
became
schematic,
outlined
and, for the first
time, the stick human
figures appeared
in rock
art
compositions.
This marked the
appearance
of a new trend in rock art in
which
highly
schematic stick-like animal and human
figures
were
depicted
in
association with several
geometrical
and other
non-representational
motifs.
The limbs of human
figures
were further
simplified
and schematised.
Schmatisation
implies simplification
of
reality.
The mode of
schmatisation
generally
involved the elimination of fine realistic details
and the
simplification
of contours to use such motifs for
symbolic
communication. The rock art of Saudi Arabia shows a tradition of continuous
schmatisation in each cultural
period
from the earliest
phase
of rock art
to the last
phase, preceding
the
literary period. Ultimately,
the
114
prehistorie
artist of Arabia reached a
point
from which further
simplification
of human and animal
figures
was
possible.
At this
period
the
rock art was not used
just
to
portray
certainmodels but, perhaps,
to record
certain abstract
messages,
the artist
split
the limbs and then used them as
signs
and
symbols. Thus,
in some
cases, the arms are absent
(X)/
while on
others the
legs
are not shown
(V).
In some one arm is absent
(ft
)
and on
others the
leg
is absent
(4J),
so that a difference is created
by reducing
or
deleting
some limbs or,
in some
cases, by changing
the limb
positions
such as
upraised arms,
stretched
arms,
"U"
shaped
arms and "V
shaped
arms.
The
following panel
is located at Wadi
Damm,
near Tabuk in
northwestern Saudi Arabia
(P1.3):
In this
illustration, human stick
figures
are situated in
close association with each
other, each one
showing
a variation in its
arm, leg
and
body posture.
The artist has differentiated one
figure
from the
other, through positions
of arms and
legs
and
through
the
attitude. It
appears
that the
figures
in this
composition
are
arranged
in a formulatic manner. The artist has assembled a constellation of
motifs, which
gives
the
impression
that if the
figures
have been
arranged
with some
specific purpose
and
intention,
then the limb
positions
are indicative of a
systematic
formulation which is intended
to communicate abstract ideas.
Another
example
comes from Al-Ula, northwestern Arabia, with
the
following composition:
~
^
rf
^
Below is another
example
from
Raniya,
southern Arabia:
From the above
compositions,
it
appears
that in
prehistoric
Arabia there was a
system
of communication which
may
be
compared
to a
pictographic-cum-ideographic writing system.
In each of the above
compositions,
some
signs
are almost identical to some of the Thamudic
*
(Bedouin) alphabetic
letters such as : v
o
-"
^ ^k
*
The term "Thamudic"
writing,
named after an ancient Arabian
tribe, does not seem to be
appropriate
for a
script
which is
located,
not
only
over a
large part
of the Arabian
Peninsula, but also as far as
Jordan and
Syria.
Of
course, there were several tribes
living
in these
areas who were
using
the same
script.
As the
writing
is
mostly
located
in the deserts of Arabia it is more
appropriate
to call it a 'BEDOUIN
SCRIPT1.
Furthermore, this term also
suggests
the evolution of the
so-called "Thamudic" from the "Proto-Bedouin" . I therefore
propose
to
rename "Thamudic" as "Bedouin"
script.
115
It is
possibly
the first
pictographic-cum-ideographic system
of
writing
known in Arabia which I called "Proto-Bedouin" . Proto-Bedouin
compositions
are
usually
located in northwestern Arabia with a few
examples
in central and southern
regions.
Although
the Proto-Bedouin
writing system
as
yet
cannot be
read, we have established that in its
compositions
each human
figure
or
each
specific
arm and
leg position
had some
symbolic meaning.
So
far,
human
stick
figures
with 72 different arm and
leg positions
and attitudes have
been recorded
(see
Pi.
2).
If the human stick
figures
with different forms
of limbs and in different attitudes
were,
in the
beginning, pictograms
or
ideograms, they
later seem to have become
"word-signs"
or
logograms (that
is
signs
for words of the
language)
or a mixture of the two. We
seem,
therefore, to be
discussing
a
system
of
prehistoric communication,
in which
each motif does not
represent
an
object only,
but also
expresses
its
function
and/or activity
such as
hunting, fighting, worshipping, searching,
giving, taking
or
carrying.
Thus a
syllabary
of
compound
"word
signs"
was
developed
in which human activities were indicated
by
schematised human
stick
figures depicted
in various attitudes
(see pl. 2).
Other
signs
resemble certain
objects
like sun
(/JpC
),
snake
(^ ),
head
( ), eyes
(
g)
) , arms
( ^ ),
man
(
X
)
and animal
(
>j
)
. Further
simplification
of these
compound
"word
signs" and/or ideograms
and the introduction of
other
geometric
and
non-representational signs obviously
resulted in the
evolution and
development
of
alphabets.
The further
development
of
pictograhic-cum-ideographic
writing
and the evolution of word
signs
from this
system
should
ultimately
lead towards a cursive form of
writing,
as can be seen from this
early
cursive
composition:
-
The
following
is
possibly
the earliest
development
of Bedouin
or the so-called Thamudic cursive
script (Pi. 4):
The different
phases
of rock art can be
recognised
on the
basis of
superimpositions, overlapping, patina
difference
(when
various
phases
occurred on the same
rock)
and can
tentatively
be dated
by
relation
to
archaeological
artefacts located
near, on or in the vicinities of rock
art sites. Thus the earliest or Phase I
(Pl.l)
could
tentatively
be
attributed to the Neolithic and Phase 2 to the Late Neolithic. Phase 3
should, however, more
safely
be dated to the Chalcolithic
period
of Saudi
Arabia. Chalcolithic sites are
widely
located in northern Saudi Arabia
(Parr et. al 1973; Zar ins
eJL au_ 1979; 1980; Gilmore
et_ aJL 1982)
. On almost
every
Chalcolithic site in Saudi Arabia rock art is located either or. the
structural remains or
nearby
rocks and hills. Based on stone artefacts of
typical
Chalcolithic
style
located at the vicinities of sites where
"Proto-Bedouin"
compositions
it
may
be
suggested, perhaps,
that the initial
evolution of the "Proto-Bedouin"
system
occurred sometime
during
the late
Chalcolithic or
Early
Bronze
Age
ca. 2500-1800 B.C. If we
accept
that the
"Proto-Bedouin" is the transitional
system
of
writing
between the
early
pictographic system
of communication and the evolution of
alphabets,
the
development
of the "Bedouin" or the so-called Thamudic
alphabets
from the
"Proto-Bedouin"
system
of
writing
demands a
long period
of evolution.
Therefore,
we
may suggest
a tentative
dating
for the
development
of the
"Bedouin" or the so-called "Thamudic"
script
between 1800 B.C. and 1200
B.C.
116
The
possibility
of an
independent
Arabian evolution of the
so-called Thamudic or Bedouin
script
has not hitherto been considered
by
epigraphists
or
philologists.
Rather Musnad al-Janubi
(ESA)
has been
considered as the oldest
script
of the Arabian Peninsula and it has been
generally suggested
that it
might
have evolved either from Proto-Sinatic or
Phoenician.
I have
presented
here
ample
evidence to demonstrate that the
Thamudic or the Bedouin
writing
evolved within the Arabian Peninsula
without outside influence. The
chronology
of rock art
clearly
indicates
that motifs and
signs
like
triangles, squares, dots, circles, rectangles,
meandering
lines as well as some human stick
figures
with
reduced,
simplified
or modified limbs, were
already
in use
by
the Arab Bedouins even
before the
origin
of
any scripts
in Arabia.
Therefore,
we have no reason to
suppose
that the
alphabets
of the so-called Bedouin or Thamudic
scripts,
which include
signs
identical to a number of forms found as
signs
or
symbols
in rock art
compositions pre-dating writing,
evolved from
Proto-Sinatic,
Phoenician or
any
other
writing system, particularly
when we
do not have
convincing
evidence of evolution of these
signs
in
Proto-Sinatic or Phoenician
scripts.
Thus we witness a
chronological
sequence
of transitional elements and the evolution and
development
of
images, signs
and motifs from one
phase
to another within the internal
structure of Arabian rock art.
In the Bedouin or the so-called Thamudic
script
there are
several forms for each
alphabetical
letter.
Thus, for fla" there are six
different
forms; similarly
for "w" there are six forms and so on. One can
actually
see an evolution and
development
of
alphabets
within the Bedouin
or Thamudic
script.
This
might suggest
a
script
which was still
undergoing
development.
The oldest
inscription
of Musnad al~Janubi so far located
dates to about 800 B.C. This
inscription
is in a well
developed
form.
Perhaps
the Arab nomads who settled in
villages
and towns
developed
their
earlier Thamudic or Bedouin
writing
into Musnad al-Janubi.
Supposing
that
Musnad ai-Janubi is an offshoot or a
developed
form of Bedouin or
Thamudic,
then its
origin
can
safely
be
placed
between 1200 B.C. and 800 B.C.
I therefore
suggest
that the Bedouin or so-called Thamudic
was the oldest
script
of the Arabian Peninsula and that it evolved
independently
within Arabia from an earlier rock art
system
of
communications .
117
REFERENCES
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1951
The. Ri_s
e
oj.
the
No.
r t
h.
Arabic Script . L ond on
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W.F.
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Chronology
of Ancient South Arabia in the
Light
of the
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Campaign
of Excavation in
Qataban1
. Bui letin
of.
the
American School of Oriental Research N0.119 Oct. 1950.
1966 'The Proto-Sinatic
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and their
Decipherment'.
Harvard Theological Studies
(XXII) Cambridge,
Mass.
Al-Ansari, Abdul rahman al
Tayyib.
1966 A Critical and Comparative
Study,
of Lihyanite Personal names .
university
of Leeds Ph. D Thesis.
1974
'Inscriptions
f rom
Qaryat al-Fau',
Bulletin of the Faculty of
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(Ar).
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Philby
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David
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The. Alphabets^
A
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to the
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,G.R.
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tjo the.
Journal of the American Oriental
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, A.
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Egyptian
of the Semitic
Alphabet1. J.our.na.1. of_ Egxptian.
Archaeol ogy 3
,
1
-
6 .
Gelb, I.
1963 A Study of Writing.
Chicago.
Harris
,Roy
.
1986 The Origin of Writing. London.
Healey , John
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Savignac
1914
M_
is
si_on.
A
r.ch
e 1
_qg^.<iu e_
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118
Jamme,A.
1948 Cl assi
i_ca
t i on des
rip
ti ve
s.ener
a
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des i ns r
.i?
t i
ons.
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Semii.ici.23.
Khan,
M. Kabawi,Al Zahrni, A.
1986
'Preliminary Report
on the Second Phase of
Comprehensive
Rock
Art and
Epigraphic Survey
of Northern Province1.
AtlJLL ,
82-93.
Khan,
M .
Dabawi,A. Zahrni, A.
Samir,M. Mubarak,
A.
1987
'Preliminary Report
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Atla.L/10.
Xhan,M. Kabawi ,A. Sahrani,A. Mubarak,A. Samir^M.
1988
'Preliminary Report
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At.Lal_,
11.
Khan,
M .
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Northern Saudi Arabia.
Atlal.*
11.
Livingstone,
A.
Khan, M . Zahran, A. Sal luk, S.
Shaman, M.
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'Epigraphic Survey'. AUai., 9, 129-144.
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London .
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The. Formation,
of
.
A
iphab
e
t.s
. London.
119
Plate 1:
Chronology
of Saudi Arabian rock art.
S^^w
r~
______ ___^

x
- -

___ __~ ______ ___^
hbD
^
f '
Jpl
+
#
^>
in
|'
- *: a

l
3

4>
- - __
.^
^___. ____
D-
^"

li
rQ
MWMM.MM__ U ___. (,

4> "
^^
fO
^ f- ftl *
^*7
^^

fO
$>-
^ f-
=

ftl

*
:

5 -

5

-

5
-
-^
(
^
-

_____

-
m
- -
m
-

*

120
Plate 2: Proto-Bedouin
"word-signs".
X

ft

# *

_^_
/
.
|
^

4
t
I _
t
"
"
t_

^ > /+
/
1^^ JL
"^ ^

_
V
Q
1~
Plate 3
121
A
composition
of human
stick
figures
in
different
attitudes,
from the Tabuk area.
A
composition
of
Pro to- Bedouin
pictographic-cum-
ideographic writing
(
note lower
panel ) ,
from the Bisha area.
Proto-Bedouin
composition
from
the Al-Ula area.
122
Proto-Bedouin
writing system
An
early stage
of the
cursive form of Bedouin
or so-called Thamudic
script
.
The
early
and later
stages
of Bedouin
or so-called
Thamudic
writing.
Plate 4

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