Arabic Writing Was Penned by a Christian

[aris2chat]

History did begin before Mohammad, christian use of Arabic 150 before Islam

Archaeologists Discover that Earliest Known Arabic Writing Was Penned by a Christian
www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/archaeologists-discover-earliest-known-arabic-writing-was-penned-christian-020778

21 March, 2016 - 23:51 Sam Bostrom
(Read the article on one page)

The oldest known Arabic writing found in Saudi Arabia, from ca. 470 AD belong to a Christian context and predates the advent of Islam with 150 years.

In December 2015, researchers from a French-Saudi expedition studying rock inscriptions in southern Saudi Arabia published a 100-page-long report in France’s Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres that reported that the oldest Arabic text, carved on a large rectangular stone that was found in Saudi Arabia, is simply of a name, “Thawban (son of) Malik,” decorated with a Christian cross. The same cross systematically appears on the other similar stelae dating more or less to the same period.

The discovery is sensational since it shows that the origins of the Arabic alphabet used to write the Koran belongs to a Christian context. This pre-Islamic alphabet is also called Nabatean Arabic, because it evolved from the script used by the Nabateans, the once-powerful nation that built Petra and dominated the trade routes in the southern Levant and northern Arabia before being annexed by the Romans in the early 2nd century.

Example of Nabatean script to the god Qasiu. Basalt, 1st century AD. Found in Sia in the Hauran, Southern Syria. (Public Domain)

The ancient text is a legacy of a once flourishing Christian community in the area also linked to the rise of an ancient Jewish kingdom that ruled over much of what is today Yemen and Saudi Arabia

• Oldest Arabic inscription provides missing link between Nabatean and Arabic writing
• Are the Reclusive Shihuh People of Musandam the Original Arabians?

Christians in the Desert
The Muslim tradition preserved in the book of Koran portrays the pre-Islamic region as chaotic and filled with unrest that Mohammed manages to unify with the help of the powerful message of Islam

However, the Islamic text makes no mention of the numerous Christian and Jewish communities across the Saudi peninsula that flourished during the days of Mohammed.

Recent studies of works by ancient Christians and Muslim records have re-shaped our image of the societies that existed in the region and shed new light on the complex history of the region before the advent of Islam. One of the important kingdoms in Arabia at the time was the Jewish kingdom of Himyar.

A bronze statue of Dhamar Ali Yahbur II, a Himyarite King who probably reigned in late 3rd or early 4th century AD. Displayed in Sana'a National Museum. (CC BY 2.0)

The kingdom was founded in the 2nd century AD, and around 380 AD the elites of the kingdom of Himyar converted to some form of Judaism. By the 4th century,

Himyar had become an important player in the struggle for regional power. The Kingdom of Himyar’s headquarters was situated in what is today Yemen, from where its expansionist rulers led a series of campaigns conquering into its neighboring states, including the legendary biblical kingdom of Sheba.

• The Qasr al-Farid, the Lonely Castle of the Nabataeans
• Is there truth to the Bedouin Legend of the Great River in the Desert?

Royal inscriptions found in the Saudi capital of Riyadhand and Bir Hima, north of Yemen, attest how the Himyarite kingdom during the 5th century expanded its influence into central Arabia, the Persian Gulf area, and into the region of Mecca and Medina, known as Hijaz.

Pre-Islamic rock art of Arabia at Bir Hima, carved into the eastern foothills of the Asir Mountains of Saudi Arabia. (CC BY 2.0)

According to ancient Christian sources, the Christians of the nearby city of Najran suffered a wave of persecution by the Himyarites in 470. The name of Thawban son of Malik appears on eight inscriptions, along with the names of other Christians. The French experts believe these inscriptions are a form of commemoration of Thawban and his fellow Christians that were martyred as they refused to convert to Judaism.

The researchers believe that the Christians choice of the early Arabic script to memorialize their comrades was an act of resistance that stood in sharp contrast to the inscriptions left by Himyarite rulers in their native Sabaean. To adopt a new writing system was a way of manifesting a separation from Himyar, and at the same time, a means to approach the rest of the Arabs to unify against their common enemy.

A portion of a war scene from the Himyarite era. (CC BY SA 3.0)

The growing resistance and outside pressure eventually brought down Himyar. In the years around 500, it fell to Christian invaders from the Ethiopian kingdom of Aksum. For the next century, Himyar was a Christian kingdom that continued to exert control over Arabia. During the latter half of the 6th century, one of its rulers, Abraha, marched through Bir Hima, conquering, Yathrib, the desert oasis that 70 years later would become known as Medina – The City of the Prophet.

Featured Image: A photo showing some stelae found with Arabic inscriptions. Source: Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA)

By Sam Bostrom

 

[aris2chat]

Arabs wanted everyone to convert in every faith.

 

[Pogo]

You do understand that "Arabic" is not a religion --- right?

 

[aris2chat]

You do understand that "Arabic" is not a religion --- right?

they obsess about their religions

 

[Pogo]

You do understand that "Arabic" is not a religion --- right?

they obsess about their religions

None that I've ever met.

And in any case, if said writing was found before Islam got invented ---- then it could not possibly have been written by a Muslim ---- could it?

Arabic is a language. And a culture, or more correctly group of cultures.. Not a religion. Those would have developed long before Islam, just as English and German and French and Spanish etc developed before they got Christianized.

 

[irosie91]

You do understand that "Arabic" is not a religion --- right?

of course Arabic is not a religion----it was spoken by lots of people but INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH-----muslims have developed a kind of misapprehension
that ARABIC IS MUSLIM. There are lots of historic figures called "muslim"
in the Islamic version of history simply because they wrote in Arabic. Did
anyone say Arabic is a "religion"

 

[Pogo]

You do understand that "Arabic" is not a religion --- right?

of course Arabic is not a religion----it was spoken by lots of people but INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH-----muslims have developed a kind of misapprehension
that ARABIC IS MUSLIM. There are lots of historic figures called "muslim"
in the Islamic version of history simply because they wrote in Arabic. Did
anyone say Arabic is a "religion"

The bizarre comparison in the OP between "Arabic writing" (which is a language) and "Christian" (which is a religion) heavily implies that, yes. Obviously an Arab may be a Muslim or not, and certainly was not before Islam existed. And just as obviously a Christian may or may not be an Arab. The two entities have nothing to do with each other, so what the point of this thread is remains an unknown.

muslims have developed a kind of misapprehension that ARABIC IS MUSLIM

Again, no idea where you're pulling this from, but no Arab I've ever met ever claimed or implied that, even when they were teaching me Arabic phrases. We spoke much (in English or French) about the language, but never about the religion. Moreover that would be impossible, as it would mean that before Islam, Arabs didn't speak. Which is absurd.

 

[aris2chat]

Many muslims like to believe history began with islam.
It does not matter that Mohammad was taught about christianity and jesus by a monk, or the torah and psalms by rabbis.
Anything before Islam was jahiliyyah, period of ignorance

 

[Pogo]

Many muslims like to believe history began with islam.

--- Link?

 

[aris2chat]

Many muslims like to believe history began with islam.

--- Link?

ibadurrahman: Jahiliyyah Period: Arabs before Islam

Calendar begins with the hajj.
Only a handful of arabs, apart from jews and christians could read or write.
The final destruction of the great library was at the hands of muslims in 642 on orders of Omar.
Muslims have systematically destroyed may things before islam, erasing all history.
We still see the destruction of history in afghanistan, iraq, syria and Israel
Most of the muslim world's history was buried in the sand for millennia.

Everything before Islam is irrelevant or ignorant

 

[Coyote]

Many muslims like to believe history began with islam.

--- Link?

ibadurrahman: Jahiliyyah Period: Arabs before Islam

Calendar begins with the hajj.
Only a handful of arabs, apart from jews and christians could read or write.
The final destruction of the great library was at the hands of muslims in 642 on orders of Omar.
Muslims have systematically destroyed may things before islam, erasing all history.
We still see the destruction of history in afghanistan, iraq, syria and Israel
Most of the muslim world's history was buried in the sand for millennia.

Everything before Islam is irrelevant or ignorant

Aren't many religions kind of ethnocentric like that? Nothing matters before the start of theirs? Destroy pagan idols and blasphemous imagery? There is a long sad history of that and it's not just Islam - Islam is the most recent acter on the stage.

Sad though, to see so much history, that had been protected for so long (by Muslims no less) - destroyed by such evil as ISIS, Talibon.

 

[Pogo]

Calendar begins with the hajj.
Only a handful of arabs, apart from jews and christians could read or write.
The final destruction of the great library was at the hands of muslims in 642 on orders of Omar.
Muslims have systematically destroyed may things before islam, erasing all history.
We still see the destruction of history in afghanistan, iraq, syria and Israel
Most of the muslim world's history was buried in the sand for millennia.

Everything before Islam is irrelevant or ignorant

As Coyote noted, it was Muslim adademia that kept ancient knowledge ALIVE while Europe was bumbilng around looking for "witches".

Calendar begins with the hajj.
...

Everything before Islam is irrelevant or ignorant

And --- what event does our calendar begin with? Even for non-Christians?

 

[Coyote]

Calendar begins with the hajj.
Only a handful of arabs, apart from jews and christians could read or write.
The final destruction of the great library was at the hands of muslims in 642 on orders of Omar.
Muslims have systematically destroyed may things before islam, erasing all history.
We still see the destruction of history in afghanistan, iraq, syria and Israel
Most of the muslim world's history was buried in the sand for millennia.

Everything before Islam is irrelevant or ignorant

As Coyote noted, it was Muslim adademia that kept ancient knowledge ALIVE while Europe was bumbilng around looking for "witches".

Calendar begins with the hajj.
...

Everything before Islam is irrelevant or ignorant

And --- what event does our calendar begin with? Even for non-Christians?

Yup...AD and BC.....

 

[Sunni Man]

Everything before Islam is irrelevant or ignorant

Leave it to Ass2chat to try and twist anything to do with muslims.

The word, "Jahiliyyah, (period of ignorance), didn't mean that everyone was stupid before Islam came on the scene.

It meant that Arabs (pagan, christians, jews) were engaging in acts that were an abomination to god. Such as infanticide of baby girls and other barbaric practices. ......

 

[irosie91]

You do understand that "Arabic" is not a religion --- right?

of course Arabic is not a religion----it was spoken by lots of people but INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH-----muslims have developed a kind of misapprehension
that ARABIC IS MUSLIM. There are lots of historic figures called "muslim"
in the Islamic version of history simply because they wrote in Arabic. Did
anyone say Arabic is a "religion"

The bizarre comparison in the OP between "Arabic writing" (which is a language) and "Christian" (which is a religion) heavily implies that, yes. Obviously an Arab may be a Muslim or not, and certainly was not before Islam existed. And just as obviously a Christian may or may not be an Arab. The two entities have nothing to do with each other, so what the point of this thread is remains an unknown.

muslims have developed a kind of misapprehension that ARABIC IS MUSLIM

Again, no idea where you're pulling this from, but no Arab I've ever met ever claimed or implied that, even when they were teaching me Arabic phrases. We spoke much (in English or French) about the language, but never about the religion. Moreover that would be impossible, as it would mean that before Islam, Arabs didn't speak. Which is absurd.

you have not met enough arabs or muslims in general. I have described a naïve
but prevalent misapprehension amongst muslims world wide---which is----people who spoke or wrote in Arabic were------"ISLAMIC" This particular misapprehension is actually taught to school children in muslim schools. Another ---somewhat obscure idea is that Hebrew as a language is a dialect of Arabic.
It is an ethnocentric concept

 

[irosie91]

Calendar begins with the hajj.
Only a handful of arabs, apart from jews and christians could read or write.
The final destruction of the great library was at the hands of muslims in 642 on orders of Omar.
Muslims have systematically destroyed may things before islam, erasing all history.
We still see the destruction of history in afghanistan, iraq, syria and Israel
Most of the muslim world's history was buried in the sand for millennia.

Everything before Islam is irrelevant or ignorant

As Coyote noted, it was Muslim adademia that kept ancient knowledge ALIVE while Europe was bumbilng around looking for "witches".

Calendar begins with the hajj.
...

Everything before Islam is irrelevant or ignorant

And --- what event does our calendar begin with? Even for non-Christians?

Yup...AD and BC.....

Yup----Europe became LITERATE much much later than did the
middle and far east. The muslims became literate much much later
than did the non muslims of the middle and far east---MUCH MUCH MUCH
much later. "ISLAM" has nothing to do with keeping literacy and
the knowledge of the ancients alive. In fact literate muslims were
a rarity until very recently. It is very likely true that there were more non
muslims literate in Arabic than muslims in countries like Egypt and Syria for
quite a while

 

[irosie91]

Everything before Islam is irrelevant or ignorant

Leave it to Ass2chat to try and twist anything to do with muslims.

The word, "Jahiliyyah, (period of ignorance), didn't mean that everyone was stupid before Islam came on the scene.

It meant that Arabs (pagan, christians, jews) were engaging in acts that were an abomination to god. Such as infanticide of baby girls and other barbaric practices. ......

actually---the practice of infanticide in arabia -----was an ARAB thing----Christians
and jews did not so engage in the barbarism of the people of arabia who eventually
became the barbaric muslims

 

[Sunni Man]

actually---the practice of infanticide in arabia -----was an ARAB thing----Christians
and jews did not so engage in the barbarism of the people of arabia who eventually
became the barbaric muslims

You do realize that the Pagan, Jewish, and Christian tribe's living in the Arabian peninsula were ethnic arab people who spoke in arabic and practiced shared arab customs? .....

 

[irosie91]

actually---the practice of infanticide in arabia -----was an ARAB thing----Christians
and jews did not so engage in the barbarism of the people of arabia who eventually
became the barbaric muslims

You do realize that the Pagan, Jewish, and Christian tribe's living in the Arabian peninsula were ethnic arab people who spoke in arabic and practiced arab customs? .....

wrong again. Arabia was a diverse land in which Pagan, and Jewish, and
Christian tribes MAINTAINED their own DIFFERENT customs especially in terms
of religious practice. Of course there were some superficial "meldings"----as in
cuisine, crafts and styles of dress. The confusion those more superficial
"meldings" have produced have even led to the idiot concept that there is something properly called "Islamic architecture"-------Islamic architecture is a tent in the desert. BYZANTINE architecture is NOT "Islamic"

 

[Sunni Man]

wrong again. Arabia was a diverse land in which Pagan, and Jewish, and
Christian tribes MAINTAINED their own DIFFERENT customs especially in terms
of religious practice. Of course there were some superficial "meldings"----as in
cuisine, crafts and styles of dress. The confusion those more superficial
"meldings" have produced have even led to the idiot concept that there is something properly called "Islamic architecture"-------Islamic architecture is a tent in the desert. BYZANTINE architecture is NOT "Islamic"

It's easy to know when I have caught you in a BS lie.

You start posting wildly inaccurate off topic nonsense to cover your tracks.

Quite amusing.......