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 concept
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 Inscriptions
The inscription mentioning
Herakles is still at the site, but the St.
George inscription has disappeared. During
the excavations, a Greek inscription on
pink limestone was found built into the
modern era wall which had been built
across the front of the cave. Although
only a few letters can be read, E. Sironen
believes it may refer to Trajan, a Roman
emperor who reigned A.D.98-117.
Three
inscriptions on basaltic stone were found.
Two of them are Safaitic, while the third
is in an early Arabic script. The first
Safaitic inscription was also found built
into the modern wall across the cave. This
stone has a drawing of a camel surrounded
by Safaitic writing and some symbolic
marks.
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According
to David Graf, it reads: l'bd'l bn hsmn bn
slm bn 'my bn h'b'l bn hsm hbkrt. "the she
camel (was drawn) by BD'L, son of HSMN,
son of SLM, son of 'MY, son of H'B'L, son
of HSM. Seven parallel lines in the top
left corner which also appear as a ladder
to the right of the camel are interpreted
as representing the seven planets
controlling man's destiny (Winnett and
Harding 1978:26). The camel, especially
the young she-camel, which is found with
many Safaitic inscriptions, played an
important role in bedouin life (Winnett
and Harding 1978:22).
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The other
stone depicts a horseman with a lance and
an animal with long horns, possibly an
oryx. The drawing is framed by a circular
line. At the top left corner are seven
lines intersecting the frame and at the
bottom left corner are seven other
parallel lines with a crossing line
passing through them. According to Fawwaz
al-Khraysheh, the Safaitic can be
transcribed as: lm'n bn msk h'r and
translated as the donkey [ass?] belongs to
M'N the son of MSK.
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Safaitic
script was used by Arab tribesmen who were
living in the desert in pre-Islamic times.
The script was used from the 1st century
B.C. until at least the 3rd century A.D.,
but it may have continued in use after
that (Winnett 1957:1-2).
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The third
inscribed stone (below left) is in Kufic
script, a form of early Arabic which was
in use in the 7th century. It has a
geometric pattern of triangular hatching,
the meaning of which is not known. Several
letters can seen, but the only word which
can be read is "Allahumme" which means the
"God of all." Finally, a fragment of a
marble altar was found with the word
"peace" inscribed on it in Arabic.
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