Safaitic dialect

Spoken in

• Afro-Asiatic languages Semitic languages West Semitic languages North Arabian languages Early North Arabian language Safaitisch

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Sem ( other Semitic languages)

Xna

Safaitisch is the name of altnordarabischen dialect that has been passed down through inscriptions in südsemitischer font. The inscriptions were created by bedouin and semi-nomadic inhabitants of the Syrian desert. Be dated the inscriptions to the period between the 1st century BC and the 4th century AD. Safaitische The dialect has been wiped from the 7th century AD by the classic Arabic.

Dissemination

Safaitische inscriptions are named after the area in which they were first rediscovered in 1857: Es- Safa, an area of basalt desert southeast of Damascus in Syria. Since that time, there was more extensive finds in southern Syria, eastern Jordan and northwestern Saudi Arabia. Isolated finds there were in Palmyra in Syria, in Lebanon, in the Wadi Hauran in western Iraq and in Ha'il in the north of Saudi Arabia. The most widely used, there were apparently in the Hauran region to which a black basalt desert is one that extends from the Jebel al-Druze in the north- west over Jordan to Saudi Arabia. Approximately 30,000 inscriptions have been discovered, though certainly some will remain hundreds or thousands of undiscovered, due to the remoteness and the harsh environment in which they were found. Typically, the inscriptions on rocks or riprap in the desert, or on the stones of tumuli, found. In many cases it is unclear whether the inscriptions on the tombs were placed before or after the construction of the grave sites.

Language and writing

Safaitisch is a branch of early language südzentralsemitischen early North Arabic. Within the Arabic language family there are a number of dialects, which use the h- instead of 'al for the definite article; this includes: safaitisch, dedanitisch, lihyanitisch, Thamudic and hasaitisch. The safaitische alphabet contains 28 letters. Three different alphabets are recorded, but all arranged differently, which allows the presumption was that Scripture taught only incidentally and not systematically informed.

Several different fonts were classified, including Safaitisch, square Safaitisch and Südsafaitisch. The inscriptions were carved, usually as a regular furrows, but sometimes also in a zigzag technique, and occasionally they were pointwise hacked. The inscriptions were often written boustrophedon: the writing direction from left to right (or vice versa) and moved to the next line, etc.

Content

Most saifatischen inscriptions themselves were attached texts ( graffiti), and acted on the current concerns of the writer - the availability of fodder for his camel herd, mourning over recently deceased relatives, or simply a collection of the ancestor, and the determination of who placed the inscription has. Others describe raids, and pray for big booty, or described religious rites. A few inscriptions of women authors are known. The inscriptions were partly accompanied by rock painting depicting hunting scenes and battles, camels and horses and their riders, scenes in the Bedouin camp, or occasional female figures.

Tools

Apart from the inscriptions and rock paintings that were bequeathed to us, very little is known about the art of tool making the saifatischen people. Several factors play a role: the Bedouin life had little need for tools, and the non-sedentary lifestyles have meant that very little was obtained for archaeological research. The conditions for successful conservation of objects were not good. The life of saifatischen people was only poorly understood, and few excavations have been made.