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Petroglyphs accompanying many Safaitic inscriptions are considered as a direct source of information about ancient Safaitic tribes, specifically their culture and society. Animals , wild and domestic, possible hunting scenes, anthropomorphs, presumed battle scenes and geometric symbols appear frequently in the Safaitic rock art. This research is co...
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Context 1
... can be both a main source of food and an expression of social and religious activities (al-Ajramai 1992: 179). First, it provides people with sources of meat for food in addition to the meat of domestic animals (e.g. CIS V 3170: f hrḍw hfṭ ṭcmt mn ṣd; 'O Raḍw grant food from hunting'. Secondly, hunting of some predators like lions and hyenas (see Fig. 20) provides them with protection and safety. Thirdly, hunting was practised as a kind of hobby or sport (e.g. Clark 1980: 381: s¹ bn yṣḥḥ w ṣydʿr mn-ngd; 'by ʾs son of Yṣḥḥ and he hunted onagers from Ngd'). Finally, it constituted an important part of religious life of people in the pre-Islamic ...
Context 2
... for example, into a large circle of wall. These kites were erected, most probably, in the Neolithic period (Kempe and Al-Malabeh 2010), but most desert kites have been dated through scientific methods to be between three and five thousand years old ( Kennedy and Bewly 2012: 60). Kites of different shapes were discovered in the area surveyed (Fig. ...
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Citations
... He demonstrates what should have been evident to us all along, that in specific world regions, rock inscriptions can provide some of the most valuable ethnographic evidence about the meaning of rock art we can ever hope to glean (Achrati 2006). Since then, others have used this information source (Alzoubi et al. 2016;Bednarik , 2021. However, as a discipline, we have left much of this potential untapped in the nascent state of this field of research. ...
Rock inscriptions purportedly related to Dutch shipwrecks and other early exotic visitors on the west coast of Western Australia are examined. The question of authenticity is investigated by microscopic analysis of weathering phenomena, such as the retreat rate of carbonate cement in calcareous sandstone. Dated rock inscriptions are of great value in developing quantitative and repeatable methods of estimating the age of petroglyphs. In this context, they can be of considerable importance in scientific studies of rock art. Moreover, the study of rock art should not be arbitrarily divorced from the analysis of rock inscriptions, as similar scientific methods study the two forms of rock markings and can provide mutually complementary information. Introduction Rock inscriptions are not rock art, but we should also concern ourselves with inscriptions on rock to study rock art. There are several good reasons for this, one of which is eloquently discussed by Ahmed Achrati. He demonstrates what should have been evident to us all along, that in specific world regions, rock inscriptions can provide some of the most valuable ethnographic evidence about the meaning of rock art we can ever hope to glean (Achrati 2006). Since then, others have used this information source (Alzoubi et al. 2016; Bednarik 2017, 2021). However, as a discipline , we have left much of this potential untapped in the nascent state of this field of research. There are, however, various other reasons why rock art scientists need to concern themselves with ancient or even more recent scripts on rock surfaces. One of them relates to their frequent use in the calibration of methods of rock art age estimation (e.g.
... Some depictions of what can be termed practical or utilitarian fibre objects have also been documented, such as 'rope' in the rock art of Jordan (Alzoubi et. al. 2016), and in the rock art of Chile (Niemeyer Fernandez and Ballereau 2004;Sepúlveda 2011;Vilches and Cabello 2011). Fishing net motifs have been documented in Venezuela (Williams 1985), Italy (Anati 2014), and Easter Island (Lee 1992). Other examples include 'hunting enclosures' in archaic North American rock art (Sundstrom 1989) and 'basket ...
This paper discusses the complexities of the place of fibre objects in rock art research globally and presents a local Indigenous perspective on fibre in rock art from western Arn-hem Land (Northern Territory, Australia). The case studies use multiple strands of evidence, including rock art imagery, ethnographic data and museum collections. The findings show that the rock art contains depictions of fibre objects that have various culturally important roles and are indicators for ceremonial practices, and that these practices were taking place long into the past as well as recently. It highlights that depictions of fibre objects are deserving of a greater focus in rock art research in Australia and other parts of the world.
... Even more detailed 'indirect ethnography' has been extracted from a series of boulder petroglyphs and inscriptions in neighbouring Jordan (Alzoubi et al. 2016). The authors of this report have provided stunningly detailed information. ...
... Here the implored deity is the goddess Rdy, but the same concern over the future of the engravings is evident. It did not, however, deter vandalism, and the impact damage incurred dates from more recent times (Alzoubi et al. 2016 : Fig. 3); perhaps the perpetrators could not read the message, or perhaps they were motivated by religious fervour. ...
... The report by Alzoubi et al. (2016) confirmed for me that ancient rock inscriptions could in many instances provide a bridge to elicit parts of the meanings of rock art, and I applied this principle at Saudi sites. Bearing in mind that there are hundreds of thousands of rock inscriptions in the Middle East, many of them occurring with rock art, this proposed new method of accessing rock art meaning ethnographically has considerable potential. ...
Several research developments of recent years imply the possibility that knowledge about the original meaning, significance and production of rock art may be available from various parts of the world besides Australia. It has been well known since the 19th century that ethnographically accessible interpretation of rock art is often obtainable from Australian Aboriginal Elders. Here, possibilities are presented, in some cases credibly demonstrated, that such knowledge may have survived among traditional societies in various continents. Of particular relevance are such recent findings from Saudi Arabia. Another new development in the ethnography of rock art is the realisation of the possibility of accessing the motivation and cognitive world of rock art producers through the presence of accompanying rock inscriptions making direct reference to the rock art. Where these can be deciphered, they can become messages illuminating the world in which the rock artists existed. Such messages are up to a few millennia old, and they are as valuable to science as the accounts of living consultants. They provide a new form of access to the ethnographic interpretation of rock art not defined before.
Islam is the only biblical religion that still practices animal sacrifice. Indeed, every year more than a million animals are shipped to Mecca from all over the world to be slaughtered during the Muslim Hajj. This multi-disciplinary volume is the first to examine the physical foundations of this practice and the significance of the ritual. Brannon Wheeler uses both textual analysis and various types of material evidence to gain insight into the role of animal sacrifice in Islam. He provides a 'thick description' of the elaborate camel sacrifice performed by Muhammad, which serves as the model for future Hajj sacrifices. Wheeler integrates biblical and classical Arabic sources with evidence from zooarchaeology and the rock art of ancient Arabia to gain insight into an event that reportedly occurred 1400 years ago. His book encourages a more nuanced and expansive conception of “sacrifice” in the history of religion.
This article presents the first examples of rock drawings showing wild boars with Safaitic inscriptions. In one of the drawings, the animal is described as 'hzr', the word for 'pig' which is widespread in the Semitic languages. The study ends with a summary of the various types of rock drawing in the north-eastern Jordanian Badia.
