Jews of Arabia: Ancient Inscriptions Reveal Jewish Diaspora

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In the wake of two disastrous revolts against Rome, many Jews left Judah for neighboring lands, including the verdant oases of ancient North Arabia, where inscriptions bear silent witness to the lives of the early Jews who made Arabia their home. Explore what these inscriptions reveal about the Jewish presence at major oasis centers like Tayma, Al-Ula, and Hegra.

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Endnotes

1. My gratitude to Ahmad Al-Jallad (Ohio State University) for reading a draft of this article and for his ongoing assistance in all matters related to inscriptions from the Arabian desert.

2. Laïla Nehmé, “The Nabataean and Nabataeo-Arabic Inscriptions,” in Laïla Nehmé, ed., The Darb al-Bakrah: A Caravan Route in North-West Arabia Discovered by Ali I. al-Ghabban: Catalogue of the Inscriptions (Riyadh: Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, 2018), pp. 185–186.

3. For a more complete survey of the available evidence, see Robert G. Hoyland, “The Jews of the Hijaz in the Qurʾān and in Their Inscriptions,” in Gabriel Said Reynolds, ed., New Perspectives on the Qurʾān: The Qurʾān in Its Historical Context 2 (London: Routledge, 2011), pp. 91–116.