The Development of Arabic as a Written Language.

• Author: Versteegh, Kees
• Position: Book review

The Development of Arabic as a Written Language. Edited by M. C. A. MACDONALD. Supplement to the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, vol. 40. Oxford: ARCHAEOPRESS, 2010. Pp. x + 169. [pounds sterling] 30.

The fee ling I had when reading the collection of articles under review here, edited by Michael Macdonald, is that the field of pre-Islamic/early Islamic epigraphy and palaeography is one that constantly renews itself. One cannot afford to neglect the stream of publications even for a short period of time, because SO much new material is being discovered on a regular basis. This material is crucial for a number of hot issues in Arabic and islamic studies. not least among them the codification of the Quran, the nature of pre-Islarnic Arabic, the emergence of the Classical Standard, and, obviously, the development of the Arabic script itself. The problem is that because of the nature of this material, only those with specialized knowledge are able to interpret it. We should therefore he thankful for the editor of this collection, which allows relative outsiders a glimpse into the kitchen of epigraphic/palaeographic studies and at the same time explains the scope and relevance of these exciting new discoveries.

In his preface. "The Development of Arabic as a Written Language" (pp. 1--4). Christian Robin stresses the point of the wealth of new material that has come to light. SpecifIcally he refers to four examples. [ii the first place. there are the inscriptions in a language that is recognizably Arabic. or at least an Arabian language that uses the article al-. This category used to consist of just a few inscriptions. such as those from Zebed and Harr[a.bar]n. but has now expanded considerably thanks to new discoveries. Then there are the graffiti from Saudi Arabia that Constitute a missing link between Nabatean and Arabic script: and three rhymed poems discovered in South Arabia (first--fourth century C.E.). Finally, (here are three inscriptions from Saudi Arabia (Yanbu', Mad[a.bar]'in S[a.bar]lih, and Najr[a.bar]n). all dating from the twenties oF the hijra. which show that Arabic script had spread all over the peninsula at a very early date.

One characteristic ot all inscriptions from the Arabian Peninsula and the Syro-Mesopotamian desert is that they tend to he very brief. An extreme example is Robert Hoyland's study "Mount Nebo, Jabal Ramm, and the Status of Christian Palestinian Aramaic and Old Arabic in Late Roman Palestine and Arabia" (pp. 29--46). which basically deals with one single word in an inscription on Mount Nebo that has not received much attention so lar. The question is whether this one word is Arabic or Aramaic; in the former case, this inscription should be added to the small series of pre-Islamic inscriptions in Arabic language and script (Zebed, Jabal Usays. etc.). Actually...