Umm Burayrah inscription

The Umm Burayrah inscription (also known as the Abd Shams inscription) is a Paleo-Arabic inscription discovered in the Tabuk Province of northwestern Saudi Arabia. Among Paleo-Arabic inscriptions it contains a unique invocation formula, a prayer for forgiveness, and the personal name ÃÂ¿Abd Shams (ÃÂ¿Abd ÃÂ ams). It was originally photographed and published by Muhammed Abdul Nayeem in 2000, and was recently redocumented by the amateur archaeologist Saleh alÃ¢ÂÂHwaiti.

Though no date is found on the inscription, one proposal places it in the late sixth or early seventh century.

Text

The following transliteration and translation comes from the 2023 edition of the inscription. The text can be divided into three parts: the opening formula, the personal pronoun "I" (anÃÂ) plus the personal name, and the closing formula.<blockquote>Vocalized transliteration

biÃ¢ÂÂsmika AllÃÂhumma anÃÂ ÃÂ¿Abd ÃÂ ams br alÃ¢ÂÂMuÃÂ¡ÃÂ«rah, yastaÃÂ¡fir Rabbahu

Translation

In your name, God, I, ÃÂ¿Abd ÃÂ ams, son of alÃ¢ÂÂMuÃÂ¡ÃÂ«rah, seek forgiveness from my Lord.</blockquote>

Monotheism

The inscription is certainly monotheistic, calling for ÃÂ¾istiÃÂ¡fÃÂr (the seeking of forgiveness) unattested in prior inscriptions and the use of rabb as a title for the deity AllÃÂh. The use of the title rabb for the one monotheistic God is also found in two other Paleo-Arabic inscriptions: the Jabal Dabub inscription and the Ri al-Zallalah inscription. The inscription may be Jewish, although the absence of Christian symbolism (like a cross) speaks against it being Christian.

Abd Shams

Although the name ÃÂ¿Abd ÃÂ ams was common in pre-Islamic Arabia, an individual named Abd ÃÂ ams who is the son of another figure named alÃ¢ÂÂMuÃÂ¡ÃÂ«rah is less common, although two Islamic-era sources describe a figure by this name and genealogy from the Quraysh tribe: (1) ÃÂ¿Abd ÃÂ ams, son of ÃÂ¿Abd ManÃÂ«f, son of QuÃ¡Â¹Â£ayy, son of KilÃÂb and (2) ÃÂ¿Abd ÃÂ ams, son of alÃ¢ÂÂ MuÃÂ¡ÃÂ«rah, was the son of ÃÂ¿Abd AllÃÂh, son of ÃÂ¿Umar, son of MaÃ¡Â¸Â«zÃÂ«m. Of the two, the latter is a likelier candidate for the ÃÂ¿Abd Shams of the inscription as he was a contemporary of Muhammad. It is also possible that the figure in the inscription is unattested elsewhere in the historical record.

Linguistics

The inscription contains the vocative form AÃ¡Â¸Â·Ã¡Â¸Â·ÃÂhumma Ã¢ÂÂÃÂ§ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃ¢ÂÂ including the lÃÂm. This is also known from one other inscription: FaS 4a.

References