Jordan Journal
For History and Archaeology Volume 51, No.3, 2025
- 79 -
© 2021 DSR Publishers/The University of Jordan. All Rights Reserved.
A Sort of Sepulchral Construction in Wadi Umm Ṭulayḥa,
Southeastern Badia, Jordan?
Ibrahim Saleh Sadaqah
1
, Mohammad Barakat Tarawneh
2
,
Fawzi Qasem Abudanah
3
https://doi.org/10.54134/jjha.15.3.5
Abstract
This paper presents a linguistic and etymological analysis of three North
Arabian inscriptions carved on a relatively small stone. The stone was found
east of al-Jafr in southern Jordan, near the Jordanian-Saudi border. The
content of the three inscriptions in terms of writing style, topic, and
vocabulary is similar to other North Arabian inscriptions. Nevertheless, the
three inscriptions include new words that have not been attested before in
other inscriptions of the same type. Some rock drawings were also found in
the same rujm.
Keywords: Wadi Umm Ṭulayḥa, Ḥismaic inscriptions, Ancient North Arabia,
funeral culture.
Description of the Stone:
The inscriptions published in this article were found in Rujm Umm Ṭulayḥa. The site
lies in Wadi Umm Ṭulayḥa, which runs west-east through the Jordanian-Saudi border to
the south of the Mushash Hudruj police station. The inscriptions were in situ, carved on a
sandstone rock that was found alongside Rujm Umm Tulayha (part of Wadi Umm Tulayha)
by the eastern Bayir archaeological survey team after the Bedouin told them about the
location of this rock. Since 2011, the project has been part of a collaboration combining
two former archaeological research projects (1. Al Thulaythuwat Archaeological Survey
and Excavation Project, and 2. Eastern Bayir Archaeological Project) into one joint
research program on the settlement of the desert areas of southeastern Jordan during the
protohistoric periods (Tarawneh et. al. 2017).
1
Corresponding author: email, ibrahim.sadaqah@gmail.com, (I. Sadaqah). Orcid number: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-
2683-5079, Independent Researcher, Jordan.
2
Second author: email, mohnaram_tara@yahoo.com, (M. Tarawneh). Orcid number: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1217-
6092, Petra College of Tourism and Archaeology, Al-Hussein Bin Talal University, Jordan.
3
Third author: email, fawziabudanh@yahoo.co.uk, (F. Abudanah). Orcid number: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2556-
3115, Petra College of Tourism and Archaeology, Al-Hussein Bin Talal University, Jordan.
Received on 31/7/2021 and accepted for publication on 9/9/2021.