Risa Tokuanga - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Conference Presentations by Risa Tokuanga

The 57th Seminar for Arabian Studies, Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art, Paris., 2024

During the survey season of the Saudi–Japanese Archaeological Project in Tabuk in June 2023, the ... more During the survey season of the Saudi–Japanese Archaeological Project in Tabuk in June 2023, the team found a pre-Islamic bilingual inscription among photographs provided by a local collaborator. The inscription was on one of the tombstones in the modern cemetery of ʿAlaqān. Given its significance, the Saudi Heritage Commission transferred the stone to the Tabuk Museum in July 2023. This poster aims to present the inscription with a preliminary interpretation of the text and its historical significance. The inscription is composed of three lines: The first two lines are incised horizontally in Thamudic D, one of the Ancient North Arabian scripts, and the third line, smaller in size, is in the the early Arabic script in the final stage of the development from Nabataean to Arabic. Both texts show the same formula with the name of the same person. From the observation of the script of the Arabic part, this inscription can be dated to the fifth century CE, suggesting that the Ancient North Arabian, which was previously thought to have vanished by the end of the 4th century, was actually in use in the later period.

Papers by Risa Tokuanga

Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 2019

This paper provides an overview of early Islamic and Ancient North Arabian (ANA) graffiti and pet... more This paper provides an overview of early Islamic and Ancient North Arabian (ANA) graffiti and petroglyphs discovered by the Saudi-Japanese mission in Tabūk province, Saudi Arabia. Along with excavations in Wādī al-Muḥarraq, the March 2017 field season also focused on the epigraphic survey of Wādī al-Khirqah (c.75 km northwest of Tabūk), which yielded 105 new early Islamic Arabic graffiti and thirty-three ANA graffiti with some petroglyphs. Although no dated graffiti were found, we were able to establish the relative chronology of twenty-eight early Islamic graffiti by using the genealogies shown in the personal names. As for the ANA graffiti, the majority are Hismaic, but some show characteristics of Thamudic D. In addition to some graffiti, the team also found numerous petroglyphs of animals and humans in Wādī al-Ghubayy, al-Suwaylimiyyah, and Wādī Ḍamm. The importance of these petroglyphs is immense, as they provide us with clues for approaching the lives and spiritual aspects of the ancient hunters and pastoral people in the Ḥismā highlands.

Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 2022

It has long been considered that the authors of the earliest Islamic Arabic documents did not wri... more It has long been considered that the authors of the earliest Islamic Arabic documents did not write hamzah, a sign for the glottal stop. For instance, the Qurʾān was compiled with an orthography representing the Hijazi dialect, which lacked hamzah. After the expansion of Islam to those speaking other Arabic dialects and to non-Arabs, hamzah was added to some Qurʾān manuscripts as coloured dots, but a universal rule did not exist. Hamzah only came to be written consistently after the new scripts, such as Thulth, gained popularity on paper in the eleventh century. However, during the last decade a new group of hamzah, referred to as 'proto-hamzah', was discovered in early Islamic inscriptions and graffiti. At present, twelve examples of hamzah that belong to this group are known. This paper introduces a new example of proto-hamzah in Wādī al-Khirqah, Saudi Arabia, which differs in appearance from any existing example. By analysing the new material, as well as the existing proto-hamzah, in its historical and geographical contexts, the position of proto-hamzah in the development of Arabic orthography will be reconsidered.

O’Kane, Bernard, A. C. S. Peacock, and Mark Muehlhaeusler, eds. Inscriptions of the Medieval Islamic World, 2023

The Wadi al-Khirqa graffiti site lies in the Óisma plateau in the northern Hijaz, which has been ... more The Wadi al-Khirqa graffiti site lies in the Óisma plateau in the northern Hijaz, which has been known as maktabat al-Arab ('library of the Arabs') 1 due to its numerous works of rock art and inscriptions left by human beings throughout history. Many early Islamic graffiti of the plateau have been found along the pilgrim route connecting Syria and the two holy cities in the Hijaz; however, their existence is not only confined to the areas along major pilgrim routes but also sometimes found in places far removed from them. One such graffiti site, Wadi al-Khirqa, is situated about 75 km northwest of Tabuk [Figure 18.1], which is far from any major route throughout history. The nearest route from this point was the ancient caravan route called Darb al-Bakra, but it runs some 10 km east of it. 2 In March 2017 a survey of the Wadi al-Khirqa graffiti was realised as a part of the Saudi-Japanese al-Jawf/Tabk Archaeological Project, a joint mission of Kanazawa University (Japan) and the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage 3. Our team 1 This appellation is after St John Philby's description in The Land of Midian (London: Ernest Benn Limited, 1957), p. 158: 'The Hisma plateau in its entirety is an immense library and picture gallery of the literature and art of the ancient Arabs'. 2 Darb al-Bakra is an ancient route between al-Óijr (Madain Salih) and Petra discovered by Dr AlÈ al-Ghabbån. In addition to various ancient graffiti, early Islamic graffiti by the local population was found along the route. Laïla Nehmé et al.

Bulletin of the Society for Near Eastern Studies in Japan, 2022

Wādī al-Khirqa is situated about 75 km northwest of Tabūk, Saudi Arabia. In 2017, a Saudi-Japanes... more Wādī al-Khirqa is situated about 75 km northwest of Tabūk, Saudi Arabia. In 2017, a Saudi-Japanese team started graffiti surveys at the site, within the framework of al-Jawf/Tabūk Archaeological Project led by Prof. Sumio Fujii (Kanazawa University), and completed the third season in 2022. The site yielded 113 early Islamic Arabic graffiti, among which 32 were published in my previous papers. In this paper, 28 unpublished graffiti in good condition are introduced with their textual and orthographic analyses. Regarding the texts, in addition to the common invocations beginning with Allāhumma ("O Allāh"), the formula with Anā PN ("I, PN") that is typical of the Islamic period's earliest stage (the mid seventh to the beginning of the eighth centuries), the early simple proclamation of faith with Āmana PN ("PN believes") and shahāda (declaration of faith) were observed. In shahāda, the texts following the declaration of tawḥīd (Allāh's oneness) are not uniform, which suggests that the common shahāda with the declaration of Muḥammad's messengership might not have been established in this period. Similarly, some expressions for Allāh in the graffiti are rather rare in later periods. Concerning orthography, the spelling of some words does not correspond with the grammar of Classical Arabic, but they seem to follow certain rules. The period of these inscriptions corresponds to the last period of the Rashidun Caliphate and the beginning of the Abbasid period, in which Muslims had to build their own identity due to rapid territorial expansion. The graffiti of Wādī al-Khirqa seem to reflect the stage of trial and error of this period in establishing a common traditional Islamic formula, as well as providing a glimpse into the diversity and flexibility in writing before the establishment of the Classical Arabic orthography.

S. Nakamura, T. Adachi, M. Abe (eds.), Decades in Deserts: Essays on Near Eastern Archaeology in honour of Sumio Fujii, 2019

Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 2006

A great number of rock inscriptions in various scripts can be seen in south Sinai. Although the N... more A great number of rock inscriptions in various scripts can be seen in south Sinai. Although the Nabataean inscriptions, which account for the majority, have been recorded by many scholars and travellers, the records of inscriptions in other scripts-Arabic, Greek, Thamudic etc.-are rather few. The mission of the Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan has been to carry out archaeological surveys in the Rãya/al-Tur area in southwest Sinai in order to study the organic relationships between the "sea network" and the "land network" in eastwest maritime relations. In order to achieve this purpose, apart from conducting excavations in this area, the mission began surveys of rock inscriptions on Mt Nãqus and other regions in south Sinai in 2001, focusing on Arabic and Thamudic. A general description of the Arabic rock inscriptions of south Sinai is given in this paper. The Rãya/al-Tur area played an important role as a pilgrim and trade port for Muslims and Christians from Late Antiquity to the early twentieth century. Mt Nãqus, which is a large rock-inscription site situated 15 km north-northwest of al-Tür, has 1710 inscriptions written mainly in Arabic and Greek. Through an analysis of the dated Arabic inscriptions it has become clear that the eighth to the early eleventh centuries saw the peak of activity, coinciding with the prime use of the fortress of Rãya. Later, however, Arabic inscriptions on Mt Nãqus disappeared until after the eighteenth century. Nisbas attached to the names in the inscriptions illuminated this area's vast maritime relations in the early Islamic period. While the majority of Arabic inscriptions on Mt Nãqus were left by Muslims, most Arabic inscriptions from other sites in south Sinai seem to have been incised by Christian pilgrims, except for some early Islamic ones in southeast Sinai.

Bulletin of the Society for Near Eastern Studies in Japan, 1999

Ancient South Arabians had a tradition of worshipping stelae. A large number of stelae found in p... more Ancient South Arabians had a tradition of worshipping stelae. A large number of stelae found in pre-Islamic tombs and temples sometimes have short inscriptions including names of the dedicants or deceased. Followed by these names, some of them include a word nfs. Words etymologically equivalent to nfs exist not only in other South-West Semitic languages but also in North-West Semitic languages. In the latter, the original meaning of npš, which is etymologically equivalent to South Arabic nfs, is “soul”, and in the middle of the first millennium BC., npš came into use as a word which indicates “stelae” or “funeral monument”. In South Arabia, however, it is uncertain when this word began to be inscribed on stelae. By analyzing South Arabian inscriptions both containing nfs and connected with stelae this paper points out that it is not until Bedouins penetrated South Arabia that this word was adopted as indicating stelae.
As far as grammatical distinction is available, all these inscriptions are Sabaic in spite of the region. Most personal names on these inscriptions are attested in other South-West Semitic languages (Lihyanite, Safaitic, Thamudic) inscribed by Bedouins. The iconography of one of the stelae shows a man on horseback with a long lance driving a camel. Horses were not introduced into South Arabia before the first century A. D.. These facts show their close relations with Bedouins and also indicate that stelae connected with nfs came into use after the second century AD., except in the Jawf region, where according to paleographical evidence stelae connected with nfs were used from the first century BC. to the first century AD. The Jawf region is in the northern part of South Arabia and was frequently invaded by Bedouins.
In the second century BC. there was a change in Bedouin society in North Arabia, and Bedouins became very powerful and offensive. However, it was not until the second century AD. that most of South Arabia was affected by this situation. The word nfs was used for stelae in the middle of the first millennium BC. in North Arabia, but at that time in South Arabic nfs had nothing to do with stelae.
The word nfs seems to have been brought into South Arabia by the offensive Bedouins who adopted the npš-stela tradition of the sedentary people in North or East Arabia.

Bulletin of the Society for Near Eastern Studies in Japan, 2002

In the middle of the first millennium BC., South Arabian kingdoms flourished, not only as a major... more In the middle of the first millennium BC., South Arabian kingdoms flourished, not only as a major source of frankincense and myrrh but also as an entrepot of various incense from the eastern coast of Africa and the countries beyond the Indian Ocean. Egypt was one of the most important consumers of the incense throughout antiquity, and how the long-distance trade between South Arabia and Egypt was done actually is of much note. In this article, the relations between ancient Egypt and South Arabia will be considered by using archaeological and epigraphical sources from both Egypt and Yemen.
Except the coffin of a Minaean, all South Arabic inscriptions from Egypt were found in the Eastern Desert, on the ancient route either between Qift (Coptos) and Qusayr (Myos Hormos) or between Qift and Berenike. Though it is impossible to date three inscriptions from the former route, one of them is supposed to be incised after the third century AD. One from the latter route was incised by a Minaean. Himyarite symbols from the same route suggest that it was used by the Himyarites around the fourth century AD. From Qusayr al-Qadim, a pottery sherd with a South Arabic graffito was excavated and it mostly belongs to the first century AD.
Greek inscriptions from Egypt show the existence of a Greek-Egyptian who returned from South Arabia to Idfu (Apollinopolis Magna) via Berenike in the Hellenistic period, and also that of a merchant of Aden who was active in Berenike and Qift between 54 and 70 AD.
As for South Arabic inscriptions referring to Egypt (Msr), the texts date back from the fifth century BC. to the beginning of the Ptolemaic Period, and are all Minaean. Together with Msr, they exhibit the names of the caravan cities (Didan, Yathrib, Ghazza etc.) which Minaeans visited on their way to Egypt.
Summing up the information from those materials, the following conclusions can be drawn.
1. Before the Ptolemaic Period, the Minaean merchants came to Egypt via the inland route of Arabia which ran along the Red Sea coast, and most probably they entered Egypt by way of Ghazza.
2. After the foundations of the Egyptian Red Sea ports by Ptolemy II, it seems that Minaeans used the Berenike-Coptos route as well as the Arabian inland route to enter Egypt. A route to Idfu was also available from Berenike. Until this period, it seems that a considerable number of Minaeans were staying in Egypt.
3. In the Roman Period, the main transportation route between South Arabia and Egypt was the seaway. Among the Egyptian ports, Berenike and Qusayr were the most utilized for loading and unloading the merchandise from South Arabia, and for other purpose.