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Paleo-Arabic

A reference page linking a name, group, or concept to the materials that discuss it.

Designation for early Arabic inscriptions in writing traditions preceding Islam; the sample is limited.

Modern explanatory diagram, not inevitable stages or object dates. “Roughly two thousand years” concerns MH09; the 40-plus sample concerns the 2026 report. Neither describes all Arabs
Modern explanatory diagram, not inevitable stages or object dates. “Roughly two thousand years” concerns MH09; the 40-plus sample concerns the 2026 report. Neither describes all ArabsIL Archive · original diagram · CC BYImage source

Text

Al-Jallad and Sidky’s February 2026 study discusses a corpus exceeding forty texts, Allah/al-ilah forms and Christian features in some inscriptions. This is the known sample at publication, not a complete population record. [1]

No cross cannot identify an author’s religion, and absent older divine names cannot prove their worship ended. The image is a modern layers diagram, not a Paleo-Arabic inscription.

References and notes

  1. Ahmad Al-Jallad and Hythem Sidky (2026). “Late Antique Allāh: Ancestral Arabian Religion and the Monotheistic Zeitgeist.” Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy. First published 15 February 2026. DOI 10.1111/aae.70019. Selected passages on the 40-plus corpus, Allah/al-ilah, intermediaries and later sources. Epigraphic observation separated from the authors’ model; their cited bibliography not all read. Return to the text ↑

Research history

Substantive changes are retained here. Minor copy edits remain in the internal operational log.

  1. Edition 2 · 11 October 2026 · editor:aladmin

    Substantive record update

    Read this revision in its original language (Arabic)

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Cite this record

IL Archive, «Paleo-Arabic», Edition 2, https://ilarchive.com/en/entities/paleo-arabic