as-Safa region

E747380

The as-Safa region is a basaltic desert area in southern Syria and northern Jordan known for its extensive Safaitic rock inscriptions left by ancient nomadic tribes.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
as-Safa region canonical 2

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf basaltic desert
desert
geographical region
archaeologicalSignificance key source for history of nomads in the Syrian Desert
major corpus of Safaitic inscriptions
climate arid
country Jordan
Syria
culturalRegion ancient North Arabia
hasFeature rocky outcrops suitable for inscriptions
scattered water sources
hasRockArtType Safaitic graffiti
historicalInhabitants North Arabian pastoral nomads
ancient nomadic tribes
inscriptionLanguage Safaitic
linked to: Safaitic script
inscriptionScriptFamily Ancient North Arabian scripts
inscriptionsDocument conflicts and raids
pastoral activities
personal names
religious practices
tribal affiliations
knownFor Safaitic inscriptions
linked to: Safaitic script

archaeological remains of nomadic tribes
rock inscriptions
languageFamilyOfInscriptions Ancient North Arabian
linked to: Safaitic Arabic
locatedIn Levant
linked to: Levant region

northern Jordan
linked to: Northern Jordan

southern Syria
locatedNear Jabal al-Druze
locatedOn Harrat al-Safa
modernCountryBorderCrossed Syria–Jordan border
partOf Greater Syrian basalt desert belt
linked to: Lejah–Hauran area

Syrian Desert
researchField archaeology
epigraphy
historical linguistics
surfaceMaterial basalt
volcanic rock
terrainType basalt plateau
lava field
timePeriodOfMostInscriptions 1st century BCE
1st century CE
timeSpanOfUseByNomads roughly 1st century BCE to 4th century CE
usedFor pastoral nomadism
usedHistoricallyAs seasonal grazing area
writingMedium engraved basalt boulders

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Safaitic Arabic namedAfter as-Safa region
Safaitic script namedAfter as-Safa region