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Safaitic
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Safaitic ( Al-Ṣafāʾiyyah) is a variety of the South Semitic scripts that was used by the Arabs in southern Syria and northern Jordan in the Ḥarrah region, to carve rock inscriptions in various dialects of Old Arabic and Ancient North Arabian. The Safaitic script is a member of the Ancient North Arabian (ANA) sub-grouping of the South Semitic script family, the genetic unity of which has yet to be demonstrated.

Key facts

Writing system.type
Abjad
Writing system.languages
Old Arabic
Writing system.fam1
Proto-Sinaitic script
Writing system.fam2
South Semitic script
Writing system.sisters
Ancient North Arabian, Ancient South Arabian script, Ge'ez script
Writing system.name
Safaitic
Writing system.time
3rd century BCE to 4th century CE
Language.name
Safaitic
Language.altname
Safa'itic
Language.region
Syria
Language.era
3rd century BCE to 4th century CE
Language.script
Safaitic
Language.familycolor
Afro-Asiatic
Language.fam1
Afroasiatic
Language.fam2
Semitic
Language.fam3
West Semitic
Language.fam4
Central Semitic
Language.fam5
North Arabian?

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Safaitic
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Article

10 sections
Contents
  • Geographical distribution
  • Script
  • Letters
  • Language
  • Content
  • References
  • Citations
  • Sources
  • Further reading
  • External links

Safaitic ( Al-Ṣafāʾiyyah) is a variety of the South Semitic scripts that was used by the Arabs in southern Syria and northern Jordan in the Ḥarrah region, to carve rock inscriptions in various dialects of Old Arabic and Ancient North Arabian. The Safaitic script is a member of the Ancient North Arabian (ANA) sub-grouping of the South Semitic script family, the genetic unity of which has yet to be demonstrated.

The first attempt at a comprehensive Safaitic dictionary was published in 2019 by Ahmad Al-Jallad and Karolina Jaworska. thumb|Safaitic script with a figure of a camel on a red sandstone fragment, from es-Safa, currently housed in the British Museum

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