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© LAÏLA NEHMÉ

LORD OF THE WORLD. At Umm Jadhayidh, about 100 miles north of Hegra, a rock inscribed in Nabatean Aramaic gives two personal names, neither of which is distinctly Jewish. However, the inscription’s Jewish context is apparent in the reference to the deity as “the Lord of the world,” a common Jewish expression of monotheistic belief, and in the mention of “the day of the feast of the unleavened bread,” a clear reference to Passover. The inscription’s author, Šullay son of Awšu, who passed through here around 300 CE, therefore, was almost certainly Jewish.