Chapter 18 - The Influence of Aesthetics on Orthographic Decisions in the Early Islamic Graffiti of Wadi al-Khirqa, Northern Hijaz

Summary

The Wadi al-Khirqa graffiti site lies in the Óisma plateau in the northern Hijaz, which has been known as maktabat al-'Arab (‘library of the Arabs’) due to its numerous works of rock art and inscriptions left by human beings throughout history. Many early Islamic graffiti of the plateau have been found along the pilgrim route connecting Syria and the two holy cities in the Hijaz; however, their existence is not only confined to the areas along major pilgrim routes but also sometimes found in places far removed from them. One such graffiti site, Wadi al-Khirqa, is situated about 75 km northwest of Tabuk [Figure 18.1], which is far from any major route throughout history. The nearest route from this point was the ancient caravan route called Darb al-Bakra, but it runs some 10 km east of it.

In March 2017 a survey of the Wadi al-Khirqa graffiti was realised as a part of the Saudi–Japanese al-Jawf/Tabk Archaeological Project, a joint mission of Kanazawa University (Japan) and the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage. Our team registered 105 early Islamic Arabic and 33 Ancient North Arabian graffiti.

Wadi al-Khirqa is a small wādī running from south to north. The graffiti site is divided into three groups, which are on the sandstone rock on its east bank [Figure 18.2]. Group I consists of a concentration of early Islamic graffiti [Figure 18.3]. Ninety Islamic graffiti are inscribed on a gentle slope. Group II, situated about 130 m south of Group I, is that of Ancient North Arabian graffiti, but contains thirteen early Islamic graffiti. Group III, located between Group I and Group II, contains only two early Islamic graffiti.

The early Islamic graffiti of Wadi al-Khirqa, as a whole, present the textual and palaeographical features of the first two centuries after the hijra (beginning of the seventh century to the beginning of the ninth century). None of the graffiti includes dates or nisba (affiliation) in personal names, but some include long genealogies, which enabled me to classify twenty-eight graffiti into four generations extending over two family trees: the Hurmuz family (sixteen graffiti) and the ‘Abd al-Wahhāb family (twelve graffiti). These classifications show that the Islamic graffiti of Wadi al-Khirqa were left by local people over generations, which means that the linguistic background of the inscribers is relatively homogenous.