Nomads and the Hawran in the late hellenistic and roman periods : a reassessment of the epigraphic evidence (original) (raw)

NOMADS AND THE HAWRAN

IN THE LATE HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN PERIODS : A REASSESSMENT OF THE EPIGRAPHIC EVIDENCE

PAR

M.C.A. MACDONALD University of Oxford, C.N.R.S. (URA 1062)

Historians interested in the populations of Syria and Arabia at the turn of the era are making increasing use of the evidence provided by the so-called Safaitic and Thamu- dic inscriptions. * While these texts provide information on a section of the population which is otherwise largely ignored in the available sources, they are brief, enigmatic and difficult to handle. Many are published in outdated or less than adequate editions which can badly mislead the non-specialist. It is not surprising therefore that a number of misconceptions have grown up about the sort of evidence these inscriptions provide. In this article I shall attempt to correct some of these misconceptions and to show what sort of