This article is an edition and commentary on an early Christian Arabic inscription discovered near Qaṣr Burquʿ in northeastern Jordan. The text mentions a certain yzydw ʾl-mlk 'Yazid the king' and could date to the sixth or seventh century. We discuss the text's palaeography, its relevance for the history of the Arabic script, and attempt to identify the historical figure to which it refers. K E Y W O R D SArabic palaeography, Christian Arabic, graffiti, pre-Islamic Arabic, Umayyad | INTRODUCTIONThe rock inscription discussed here was discovered during the first season of the El-Khḍer ı archaeological and epigraphic survey project in north-eastern Jordan. The inscription comes from as-Samr un ıyy at (site number S5), located 12 km south-west of Qaṣr Burquʿ, and was the only text found at the site. In terms of archaeological remains, the site contains a tailed tower tomb on its southern slope and a number of stone-circle structures scattered on its northern side. These ancient structures have been reused in recent times as seasonal camps by nomadic pastoralists. The inscription consists of a four-word early Arabic graffito, perhaps from the sixth or seventh century, accompanied by a cross. The text contains several unique palaeographic features and a reference to a certain yzydw ʾl-mlk or 'Yaz ıd the king'. The present article will provide a reading and interpretation of the inscription, a discussion of its palaeographic and linguistic features, and an attempt to identify the historical figure mentioned in the inscription. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

Fifteen Greek inscriptions recently discovered in the Land of Moab (southern Jordan) are published here. All are Christian epitaphs, engraved on limestone funerary stelae of an extremely common type at Al-Karak (ancient Charakmoba) and on the surrounding plateau, which bring new information on the onomastics and funerary customs of the local communities in Late Antiquity. An epigram that contains phrases directly borrowed from the epic code of the time is also remarkable. Like the other, less sophisticated, inscriptions discussed here, it testifies to the late and partial Hellenization that characterized the history of the Land of Moab in the Byzantine period.

This paper deals with a new ancient North Arabian (Safaitic) inscription discovered by Rafe Harahsheh during his epigraphical survey in the Jordanian Ḥarrah. This new text contains a reference to a person who was protecting Palmyrenes and helping them in following the traces of something (probably a caravan). It contains the verb qyf and the tribal name mslq which have not been recorded in the published Safaitic inscriptions yet. The paper includes a discussion of al-qiyāfah “following the traces” among the Arabs, and the Palmyrene caravans as attested in the published inscriptions and the historical sources.

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