Archaeological work carried out in various regions of Saudi Arabia has brought to light thousands of rock inscriptions that illuminate the early periods of Islam. These inscriptions contain direct and concrete information about the life of early Islamic society, trade networks and the evolution of Arabic script.
The Saudi Heritage Commission announced that in June alone it recorded 1,774 archaeological finds in the Medina region. Among these finds are numerous Islamic inscriptions, including one bearing the name of Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab. Between 2020 and 2024, the commission identified pre-Islamic and early Islamic inscriptions and rock art in areas such as Hail, Al-Ula and Khaybar.
Early trade and pilgrimage routes of the Islamic world documented
Researcher Müfid Yüksel says the distribution of the inscriptions across the Arabian Peninsula is linked to the region’s historical role as a hub of trade and caravan movement. Noting that the route between Damascus and Sanaa formed the southern branch of the Silk Road, Yüksel points to the critical role of Mecca and Medina within this network.
Yüksel states, "Overland routes connected to the Red Sea ports of Yanbu and Jeddah, and to the Yemeni ports of Hudaydah and Aden. From there, ships sailed to East Africa, Ethiopia, Sudan, India and the Indian subcontinent. This intense mobility led travellers to leave inscriptions on rocks." Some of the discovered inscriptions predate Islam by four to five centuries and are written in various scripts such as Aramaic, Safaitic, Thamudic, Nabataean and the South Arabian Musnad script.
The development of Arabic script can be traced on stone
Yüksel says the inscriptions offer unique scientific material for tracking the development of Arabic script. He notes that Arabic script evolved from the Nabataean script and began to become distinct roughly 200–250 years before Islam. In the first stage, a style known as "Hijazi script" emerged, followed by the development of the Medina and Kufic scripts.
Emphasising that the inscriptions are not merely names and dates, the researcher points out that they contain prayers, personal expressions, genealogies, travel and pilgrimage records, and references to some military campaigns. He even notes the existence of inscriptions that contain mutual correspondence or satirical remarks.
Clues about lineage and social status
The majority of early Islamic period inscriptions contain names and genealogical information. Yüksel says this data can be compared with the information found in classical Islamic biographical, tabaqat and sirah works. He notes that some inscriptions can help correct existing records by providing more detailed information on the names and lineages of hadith transmitters.
The presence of terms such as "mawla", "ghulam" and "fata" in the inscriptions offers indications of individuals' social status. Yüksel remarks that some inscriptions belonging to freed slaves are written in a remarkably neat script, suggesting that these individuals may have worked as scribes before Islam or in the early Islamic period.
Families inscribed the same rocks for generations
Yüksel reports that certain families left inscriptions in the same area over generations, among them the descendants of Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab and the families of the companions Zubayr ibn al-Awwam and Ka'b ibn Malik. He also mentions that inscriptions thought to belong to Abu'l-Yusr and Abu Sabra, who participated in the Battle of Badr, as well as inscriptions of their children and grandchildren, have been identified.
Yüksel states that family inscriptions assessed as belonging to the descendants of Abu Lahab, the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad, provide material evidence for the social and religious transformations outlined in general terms by Islamic sources. An inscription discovered in Taif, thought to be pre-Islamic, contains the phrase "In Your name, our Lord", offering insight into the religious expressions and writing culture of that period.
