King Fahd Library…a historical presentation of the origins of writing and its development throughout the ages

On Tuesday evening, King Fahd National Library organized a dialogue session entitled: “Ancient Arabic Writings in the Arabian Peninsula,” delivered by the former professor of ancient writings at King Saud University, Professor Suleiman bin Abdul Rahman Al-Dheeb.
In the session, Al-Dheeb discussed many topics, most notably the emergence of writing in the world, and the ancient and diverse writings in the Arabian Peninsula in the period before the Arabic script, such as “Thamudian writing,” “Lihyanite,” “Safaitic,” “Aramaic,” and “Nabataean.” , and “Al-Musnad Al-Janoubi”.

Theories of the origin of language

Al-Dheeb explained that the origin of language since before the present era did not emerge from two theories, namely the “theological theory,” which states that language is an inspiration that descended upon man, as he taught pronunciation and the names of things.
The philosophical theory that believes that language was created by improvising words.

He added: Later, two theories emerged that prompted some to deny the previous two theories, namely the “biological theory,” which assumed that language gradually descended from the development of expressive movements and sounds resulting from the emotions of animals and humans.
The “anthropological theory” indicates that there is a relationship between the sound source and its meaning.

Stages of writing development

The lecturer pointed out the stages of development of writing, starting with the stage of drawings, then the stage of writing with symbols of meanings, sounds, and assignments of meanings and numbers.
Next comes the stage of syllabic writing, then the stage of semi-syllabic writing, then alphabetic writing, and the stage of semi-alphabetic writing, represented by two writings: “Achaemenid Persian” and “Sudanese Meroitic”.

Al-Dhiyib went on to mention the most prominent inscriptions that are widely spread in our country, including the “Thamudian inscriptions,” mentioning that they are among the oldest scripts in the Arabian Peninsula, and have no relation to the people of Thamud mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, but were named that, based on the frequent occurrence of the word (H). w m d) in it.

Introducing Professor Suleiman Al-Dheeb

Professor Suleiman Al-Dheeb is considered one of the most prominent specialists in ancient inscriptions and writings. He has many books in this field, including: “An Analytical Study of Ancient Aramaic Inscriptions in Tayma,” “An Analytical Study of Nabataean Inscriptions from Northwestern Saudi Arabia,” and “Nabataean Stone Inscriptions.” And “Thamudian inscriptions from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
“The Nabataean Dictionary,” “A Study of Thamudic Inscriptions from Jubbah Hail,” “The Ugaritic and Phoenicians: A Historical Introduction,” “Grammar of the Nabataean Language,” “Social Life in the Hail Region Through Thamudic Inscriptions,” and “Ancient Arabic Inscriptions.” And Islamic from the Najran region” and others.