South-east Arabian inscriptions: The current state of research

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to provide a description of the issues related to the numerous undeciphered inscriptions found in Dhofar, Oman, and to a lesser extent in the Yemeni governorate of al-Mahra, Soqotra, and northern Oman, on the walls of caves in the monsoon hills and on rocks and pebbles in the adjacent dry areas. Known as the Dhofar Inscriptions, they are re-labelled here as South-east Arabian Inscriptions, as the former definition does not account for the fact that they are found not only in Dhofar, but also in other geographical areas. As will be illustrated below, the presence of these inscriptions is consistent with the presence of speakers of the Modern South Arabian Languages (MSAL), either currently or historically. Their study has long been neglected, although their discovery on the part of western travellers dates back to the end of the 19th century. Whilst dealing with the history of scholarship concerned with these inscriptions, this paper also aims to present recent advances in the field. Its structure consists of five sections: The first one presents the script(s) and the context in which the inscriptions are found, as well as the challenges associated with their interpretation. A review of the relevant literature follows in the second section. In the third section, previously unpublished materials from a private image collection are presented. The fourth section is devoted to the presentation of results obtained by the radiocarbon dating of three inscriptions. The fifth section sets forth and discusses some research avenues in light of the facts presented in the preceding sections. Finally, the conclusions section provides remarks on future research in the field.