Nabatean at Hima in Saudi Arabia

NABATEAN (NABATAEAN) WATCH: Ancient rock art complex Hima listed as Saudi Arabia's sixth Unesco World Heritage site. Global heritage body's decision boosts Saudi government's efforts to promote an open image of the country (Gareth Harris, The Art Newspaper).

Unesco says online that Hima is “located in an arid, mountainous area of southwest Saudi Arabia, on one of the Arabian Peninsula’s ancient caravan routes, Ḥimā Cultural Area contains a substantial collection of rock art images depicting hunting, fauna, flora and lifestyles in a cultural continuity of 7,000 years.” Inscriptions are in different scripts, including Musnad, Aramaic-Nabatean, South-Arabian, Thamudic, Greek and Arabic.

I have a couple of posts on the history and languages of this region (which is also known as Bir Hima) here and here. For some ancient rock art in Jordan with a similar linguistic profile, see here.

For more posts on Aramaic in Saudi Arabia, see here, here, here and links.

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