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((Refimprove|date= April 2014))
((Use dmy dates|date=September 2021))
((EngvarA|date=September 2021))
((Infobox artifact
| name              = Namara inscription
| image             = [[File:Epitaph Imru-l-Qays Louvre AO4083.jpg|250px]]
| image_caption     = Epitaph of [[Imru' al-Qays ibn 'Amr]]
| material          = [[Basalt]]
| size              = 
| language          = [[Old Arabic]] ([[Nabataean Arabic|Nabataean]] dialect)
| writing           = [[Nabataean script]]
| created           = ((start date and age|328|12|7|df=yes|p=yes|br=yes))
| discovered_place  = [[Nimreh|Namara]], [[Ottoman Syria|Syria]]
| discovered_coords = 
| discovered_date   = ((start date and age|1901|4|4|df=yes|p=yes|br=yes))
| discovered_by     = [[René Dussaud]] and [[Frédéric Macler]]
| location          = [[Louvre Museum]], [[Paris]], France
| registration      = 
))

The '''Namara inscription''' (((lang-ar|نقش النمارة)) ''((transl|ar|DIN|naqš an-Namārah))''<span style="margin-left:1px">)</span> is a 4th century inscription in the [[Arabic language]], making it one of the earliest. It has also been interpreted as a late version of the Nabataean script in its transition to Arabic script. It has been described by [[Irfan Shahid]] as "the most important Arabic inscription of pre-Islamic times"<ref>Irfan Shahîd, ''Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fourth Century'', (Dumbarton Oaks, 2006), 31.</ref> and by [[Kees Versteegh]] as "the most famous Arabic inscription".<ref>Kees Versteegh and C. H. M. Versteegh, ''The Arabic Language'', (Columbia University Press, 1997), 31.</ref> It is also an important source for the relationships between the Romans and the Arabs in that period. It is currently on display at the [[Louvre Museum]] in France.

==Differences from Arabic==
The inscription is written in the [[Nabataean alphabet|Nabatean Aramaic]] script, but there are ambiguities, as the script has only 22 signs (some with added annotations), and the Arabic dialect had 28 or 29 consonants. The script has [[Typographic ligature|ligatures]] between some letters that show a transition towards an Arabic script. Some of the terms used in the text are closer to Aramaic than Arabic; for example, it uses the Aramaic [[patronymic]] "b-r", rather than the Arabic term "b-n". However, most of the text is very close to the [[Classical Arabic]] used in the [[Qur'an]] in the 7th century.

==Discovery==
The inscription was found on 4 April 1901 by two French archaeologists, [[René Dussaud]] and [[Frédéric Macler]], at al-Namara (also Namārah; modern [[Nimreh]]) near [[Shahba]] and [[Jabal al-Druze]] in southern Syria, about ((convert|100|km|sp=us|abbr=off)) south of Damascus and ((convert|50|km|sp=us|abbr=off)) northeast [[Bosra]], and ((convert|120|km|sp=us|abbr=off)) east of the [[Sea of Galilee]].  The location was near the boundary of the [[Roman Empire]] at the date it was carved, the [[Limes Arabicus]] of the province of [[Arabia Petraea]]. Al-Namara was later the site of a Roman fort.

==History==
The inscription is carved in five lines on a block of [[basalt]], which may have been the lintel for a tomb.  It is the epitaph of a recently deceased Arab king of the [[Lakhmids]], [[Imru' al-Qays ibn 'Amr]], and dated securely to AD 328.  Imru' al-Qays followed his father [['Amr ibn Adi]] in using a large army and navy to conquer much of [[Iraq]] and the [[Arabian peninsula]] from their capital at [[al-Hirah]].  At this time, they were vassals of the [[Persia]]n [[Sassanids]].  Raids on [[Iran]] triggered a campaign by Sassanid emperor [[Shapur II]] which conquered the Iraqi lands, and Imru' al-Qays retreated to [[Bahrain]].  He moved to [[Syria]] to seek help from the Roman emperor [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]]. Imru' al-Qays converted to Christianity before his death in Syria and was entombed in the [[Syrian desert]].  His conversion is mentioned in the Arab history of [[Hisham Ibn Al-Kalbi]], an early ninth century scholar, but [[Irfan Shahîd]] notes "''there is not a single Christian formula or symbol in the inscription''."<ref>((Cite book|title=Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fourth Century, Irfan Shahîd. p. 32. Although Imru' al-Qays was considered Christian [...] there is not a single Christian formula or symbol in the (Namarah) inscription.))</ref> While [[Theodor Nöldeke]] argued against a Christian affiliation of Imru' al Qays bin 'Amr,<ref>((Cite book|title=Geschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit der Sasaniden, Theodor Nöldeke. p. 47.))</ref> Shahid noted that his Christian belief could be "heretical or of the [[Manichaeism|Manichaean type]]".<ref>((Cite book|title=Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fourth Century, Irfan Shahid. pp. 33–34. Perhaps Imru' al-Qays Christianity was of the manichaean type, completely unacceptable to those in Byzantium. His father 'Amr was the protector of Manichaeism in Hira, that followed the crucifixion of Mani, as the Coptic papyri have shown.))</ref>

The first tracing and reading of the Namara inscription was published in the beginning of the twentieth century by  [[René Dussaud]]. According to his reading, the text starts by informing the reader that this inscription was the burial monument of the king, then it introduces him and lists his achievements, and finally announces the date of his death. Many other scholars have re-read and analyzed the language of the inscription over the last century but, despite their slight differences, they all agreed with Dussaud's central viewpoint that the Namara stone was the burial monument of King Imru' al-Qays. In 1985, [[James A. Bellamy]] offered the first significantly different tracing of the inscription since Dussaud, including a breakthrough tracing correction of two highly contested words in the beginning of the third line (pointed out on Dussaud's original tracing figure as words 4 and 5). However, despite Bellamy's new important re-tracings, his Arabic reading fully agreed with the general theme of Dussaud's original reading. Bellamy's widely accepted new translation of the inscription reads:<ref> James A. Bellamy, A New Reading of the Namara Inscription, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 105.1 (1985), pp.&nbsp;31–48.</ref> 

[[File:Dussad Namara.jpg|thumb|The original tracing and reading of the Namara inscription that was published by  [[René Dussaud]]in 1905 (numbers added to facilitate discussion in this article)]]

<blockquote>
This is the funerary monument of [[Imru' al-Qays ibn 'Amr|Imru' al-Qays, son of 'Amr]], king of the Arabs, and (?) his title of honor was Master of [[Banu Asad|Asad]] and [[Nizar_(Ishmaelites)|Nizar]].<br>
And he subdued the Asadis and they were overwhelmed together with their kings, and he put to flight [[Madhhij]] thereafter, and came<br>
driving them to the gates of [[Najran]], the city of [[Shammar Yahri'sh|Shammar]], and he subdued [[Ma'add]], and he dealt gently with the nobles<br>
of the tribes, and appointed them viceroys, and they became [[phylarch]]s for the Romans.  And no king has equalled his achievements.<br>
Thereafter he died in the year 223 on the 7th day of Kaslul.  Oh the good fortune of those who were his friends!
</blockquote>

Below is Bellamy's modern Arabic translation of the Namara inscription, with brief added explanations between parenthesis: 

<blockquote>
((rtl-para|ar|تي (هذه) نَفسُ (شاهدة قبر) امرؤ القيس بن عَمرو مَلِكُ العرب كله، ولقبهُ ذو أسَد ومذحج. <br>
ومَلَكَ الأسديين ونزار وملوكهمْ وهَرَّبَ مذحج عَكدي (كلمة عامية تدمج الكلمتين "عن قضى"، بمعنى بعد ذلك) وجاء (اي  امرؤ القيس) يزجها (يقاتلها بضراوة) في رُتِجِ (ابواب) نَجران، مدينة شمّر، ومَلَكَ معد (بنو مَعَدْ في اليمن) ونَبَلَ بنَبه  الشعوب (عامل نبلاءهم باحترام ولطف) ووكلهن (اي عين نبلاءهم شيوخا للقبائل) فرأسو لروم (فاعترفو بسيادة روم عليهم) فلم يبلغ ملك مَبلَغَه.<br>
 عكدي (بعد ذلك) هلك  سَنَة 223، يوم 7 بكسلول (كانون الأول)، يالِسَعْدِ ذو (الذي) والاهُ (بايعه او جعله وليا له).))
</blockquote>

The mention of the date – the 7th of [[Kaslul]] in the year 223 of the Nabatean [[era of Bostra]] – securely dates his death to the 7th day of December in AD 328.

==Ambiguities in translation==
Parts of the translation are uncertain.  For example, early translations suggested that Imru' al-Qays was king of ''all'' the Arabs, which seems unlikely after he moved to Syria. It is also not clear whether he campaigned towards Najran while he was based at al-Hirah or after his move to Syria and, in either case, whether he did so alone or with assistance from the Sassanids or the Romans.

The inscription is now held by the [[Louvre Museum]] in Paris.

== See also ==

* [[Jabal Dabub inscription]]

==References==
((reflist))

==References==
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=pUepRuQO8ZkC&pg=PA467 Arabs in Antiquity: Their History from the Assyrians to the Umayyads], Jan Retso, pp.&nbsp;467–
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=OHfse3YY6NAC&pg=PA31 The Arabic Language] By Kees Versteegh, pp.&nbsp;31–36
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=mvQ8MKpVtqkC&pg=PA31 Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fourth Century], Irfan Shahid, pp.&nbsp;31–53
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=0_KnI588AnkC&pg=PA54 The Early Alphabet], John F. Healey, p.54
* http://www.indiana.edu/~arabic/arabic_history.htm 
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=9i8L8qxSsM4C&pg=PA248 Reading the Past: Ancient Writing from Cuneiform to the Alphabet], J. T. Hooker, p.248
((Louvre Museum))
[[Category:328]]
[[Category:4th-century works]]
[[Category:4th-century inscriptions]]
[[Category:1901 archaeological discoveries]]
[[Category:Ancient Syria]]
[[Category:Arabic inscriptions]]
[[Category:Nabataean script]]
[[Category:History of Saudi Arabia]]
[[Category:Near Eastern and Middle Eastern antiquities in the Louvre]]

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